First
Quarter ♏ Scorpio
Moon phase for
Image credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio.
First Quarter 50% illuminated
First Quarter is the lunar phase on . Seen from Earth, illuminated fraction of the Moon surface is 50% and growing larger. The 7 days young Moon is in ♏ Scorpio.
* The exact date and time of this First Quarter phase is on 6 August 2011 at 11:08 UTC.
Moon phases for next 7 days
Sunday Sun
Monday Mon
Tuesday Tue
Wednesday Wed
Thursday Thu
Friday Fri
Saturday Sat
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 ♏ Scorpio
Moon is passing about ∠14° of ♏ Scorpio tropical zodiac sector.
Apparent angular diameter ∠1960"
Lunar disc appears visually 3.5% wider than solar disc. Moon and Sun apparent angular diameters are ∠1960" and ∠1892".
Sturgeon Moon after 7 days
Next Full Moon is the Sturgeon Moon of August 2011 after 7 days on 13 August 2011 at 18:58.
Upcoming main Moon phases
- Full Moon in Aquarius ♒ on 13 August 2011 at 18:58
- Last Quarter in Taurus ♉ on 21 August 2011 at 21:55
- New Moon in Virgo ♍ on 29 August 2011 at 03:04
- First Quarter in Sagittarius ♐ on 4 September 2011 at 17:39
Neap tide
There is low ocean tide on this date. Sun and Moon gravitational forces are not aligned, but meet at big angle, so their combined tidal force is weak.
Lunation 143 / 1096
The Moon is 7 days young. Earth's natural satellite is moving through the first part of current synodic month. This is lunation 143 of Meeus index or 1096 from Brown series.
Synodic month length 29.35 days
Length of current 143 lunation is 29 days, 8 hours and 24 minutes. It is 19 minutes longer than next lunation 144 length.
Lunation length shorter than mean
Length of current synodic month is 4 hours and 20 minutes shorter than the mean length of synodic month, but it is still 1 hour and 49 minutes longer, compared to 21st century shortest.
Lunar orbit position on
True anomaly ∠312.1°
This lunation true anomaly is ∠312.1°. At the beginning of next synodic month true anomaly will be ∠333.4°. The length of upcoming synodic months will keep decreasing since the true anomaly gets closer to the value of New Moon at point of perigee (∠0° or ∠360°).
Moon after perigee
3 days after point of perigee on 2 August 2011 at 20:59 in ♍ Virgo. The lunar orbit is getting wider, while the Moon is moving outward the Earth. It will keep this direction for the next 12 days, until it get to the point of next apogee on 18 August 2011 at 16:23 in ♈ Aries.
Distance to Moon 365 675 km
Moon is 365 675 km (227 220 mi) away from Earth on this date. Moon moves farther next 12 days until apogee, when Earth-Moon distance will reach 405 161 km (251 755 mi).
Moon before ascending node
9 days after its descending node on 27 July 2011 at 12:03 in ♊ Gemini, the Moon is following the southern part of its orbit for the next 2 days, until it will cross the ecliptic from South to North in ascending node on 9 August 2011 at 06:35 in ♐ Sagittarius.
Draconic month
24 days after beginning of current draconic month in ♐ Sagittarius, the Moon is moving from the second to the final part of it.
Moon before southern standstill
10 days after previous North standstill on 27 July 2011 at 03:02 in ♊ Gemini, when Moon has reached northern declination of ∠23.333°. Next 2 days the lunar orbit moves southward to face South declination of ∠-23.270° in the next southern standstill on 8 August 2011 at 23:15 in ♐ Sagittarius.
Syzygy in 7 days
After 7 days on 13 August 2011 at 18:58 in ♒ Aquarius, the Moon will be in Full Moon geocentric opposition with the Sun and this alignment forms next Sun-Earth-Moon syzygy.