Waxing
Gibbous ♊ Gemini
Moon phase for
Image credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio.
First Quarter 62% illuminated
First Quarter is the lunar phase on . Seen from Earth, illuminated fraction of the Moon surface is 62% and growing larger. The 8 days young Moon is in ♉ Taurus.
* The exact date and time of this First Quarter phase is on 31 January 2012 at 04:10 UTC.
Moon phases for next 7 days
Thursday Thu
Friday Fri
Saturday Sat
Sunday Sun
Monday Mon
Tuesday Tue
Wednesday Wed
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 leaving the last ∠4° of ♉ Taurus tropical zodiac sector and will enter ♊ Gemini later.
Apparent angular diameter ∠1775"
Lunar disc appears visually 9.3% narrower than solar disc. Moon and Sun apparent angular diameters are ∠1775" and ∠1947".
Snow Moon after 6 days
Next Full Moon is the Snow Moon of February 2012 after 6 days on 7 February 2012 at 21:54.
Upcoming main Moon phases
- Full Moon in Leo ♌ on 7 February 2012 at 21:54
- Last Quarter in Scorpio ♏ on 14 February 2012 at 17:04
- New Moon in Aquarius ♒ on 21 February 2012 at 22:35
- First Quarter in Gemini ♊ on 1 March 2012 at 01:22
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 149 / 1102
The Moon is 8 days young. Earth's natural satellite is moving through the first part of current synodic month. This is lunation 149 of Meeus index or 1102 from Brown series.
Synodic month length 29.62 days
Length of current 149 lunation is 29 days, 14 hours and 55 minutes. It is 1 hour and 8 minutes shorter than next lunation 150 length.
Lunation length longer than mean
Length of current synodic month is 2 hours and 11 minutes longer than the mean length of synodic month, but it is still 4 hours and 52 minutes shorter, compared to 21st century longest.
Lunar orbit position on
True anomaly ∠70.8°
This New Moon true anomaly is ∠70.8°. At beginning of next synodic month true anomaly will be ∠107.8°. 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
1 day after point of apogee on 30 January 2012 at 17:42 in ♈ Aries. The lunar orbit is getting closer, while the Moon is moving inward the Earth. It will keep this direction for the next 10 days, until it get to the point of next perigee on 11 February 2012 at 18:32 in ♎ Libra.
Distance to Moon 403 909 km
Moon is 403 909 km (250 977 mi) away from Earth on this date. Moon moves closer next 10 days until perigee, when Earth-Moon distance will reach 367 920 km (228 615 mi).
Moon before descending node
12 days after its ascending node on 19 January 2012 at 18:26 in ♐ Sagittarius, the Moon is following the northern part of its orbit for the next day, until it will cross the ecliptic from North to South in descending node on 2 February 2012 at 20:02 in ♊ Gemini.
Draconic month
12 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 20 January 2012 at 02:12 in ♐ Sagittarius, when Moon has reached southern declination of ∠-22.492°. Next day the lunar orbit moves northward to face North declination of ∠22.404° in the next northern standstill on 3 February 2012 at 07:11 in ♊ Gemini.
Syzygy in 6 days
After 6 days on 7 February 2012 at 21:54 in ♌ Leo, the Moon will be in Full Moon geocentric opposition with the Sun and this alignment forms next Sun-Earth-Moon syzygy.