First
Quarter ♊ Gemini
Moon phase for
Image credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio.
First Quarter 52% illuminated
First Quarter is the lunar phase on . Seen from Earth, illuminated fraction of the Moon surface is 52% and growing larger. The 7 days young Moon is in ♉ Taurus.
* The exact date and time of this First Quarter phase is on 11 February 2011 at 07:18 UTC.
Moon phases for next 7 days
Saturday Sat
Sunday Sun
Monday Mon
Tuesday Tue
Wednesday Wed
Thursday Thu
Friday Fri
Moon phase and lunation details
Moonrise and moonset
Moon rises at noon and sets at midnight. It is visible high in the southern sky in early evening.
Moon in ♉ Taurus
Moon is passing about ∠25° of ♉ Taurus tropical zodiac sector.
Apparent angular diameter ∠1817"
Lunar disc appears visually 6.7% narrower than solar disc. Moon and Sun apparent angular diameters are ∠1817" and ∠1944".
Snow Moon after 6 days
Next Full Moon is the Snow Moon of February 2011 after 6 days on 18 February 2011 at 08:36.
Upcoming main Moon phases
- Full Moon in Leo ♌ on 18 February 2011 at 08:36
- Last Quarter in Scorpio ♏ on 24 February 2011 at 23:26
- New Moon in Pisces ♓ on 4 March 2011 at 20:46
- First Quarter in Gemini ♊ on 12 March 2011 at 23:45
Moderate tide
There is medium ocean tide on this date. Sun and Moon gravitational forces are not aligned, but meet at very acute angle, so their combined tidal force is moderate.
Lunation 137 / 1090
The Moon is 7 days young. Earth's natural satellite is moving through the first part of current synodic month. This is lunation 137 of Meeus index or 1090 from Brown series.
Synodic month length 29.76 days
Length of current 137 lunation is 29 days, 18 hours and 15 minutes. This is the year's longest synodic month of 2011. It is 29 minutes longer than next lunation 138 length.
Lunation length longer than mean
Length of current synodic month is 5 hours and 31 minutes longer than the mean length of synodic month, but it is still 1 hour and 32 minutes shorter, compared to 21st century longest.
Lunar orbit position on
True anomaly ∠139.2°
This New Moon true anomaly is ∠139.2°. At beginning of next synodic month true anomaly will be ∠167°. The length of upcoming synodic months will keep increasing since the true anomaly gets closer to the value of New Moon at point of apogee (∠180°).
Moon after apogee
4 days after point of apogee on 6 February 2011 at 23:13 in ♓ Pisces. The lunar orbit is getting closer, while the Moon is moving inward the Earth. It will keep this direction for the next 7 days, until it get to the point of next perigee on 19 February 2011 at 07:27 in ♍ Virgo.
Distance to Moon 394 462 km
Moon is 394 462 km (245 107 mi) away from Earth on this date. Moon moves closer next 7 days until perigee, when Earth-Moon distance will reach 358 247 km (222 604 mi).
Moon before descending node
11 days after its ascending node on 30 January 2011 at 18:29 in ♐ Sagittarius, the Moon is following the northern part of its orbit for the next 2 days, until it will cross the ecliptic from North to South in descending node on 14 February 2011 at 08:14 in ♋ Cancer.
Draconic month
11 days after beginning of current draconic month in ♐ Sagittarius, the Moon is moving from the beginning to the first part of it.
Moon before northern standstill
12 days after previous South standstill on 29 January 2011 at 16:26 in ♐ Sagittarius, when Moon has reached southern declination of ∠-24.180°. Next day the lunar orbit moves northward to face North declination of ∠24.080° in the next northern standstill on 13 February 2011 at 09:00 in ♊ Gemini.
Syzygy in 6 days
After 6 days on 18 February 2011 at 08:36 in ♌ Leo, the Moon will be in Full Moon geocentric opposition with the Sun and this alignment forms next Sun-Earth-Moon syzygy.