Waxing
Gibbous ♊ Gemini
Moon phase for
Image credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio.
Waxing Gibbous 87% illuminated
Waxing Gibbous is the lunar phase on . Seen from Earth, illuminated fraction of the Moon surface is 87% and growing larger. The 11 days young Moon is in ♉ Taurus.
Moon phases for next 7 days
Tuesday Tue
Wednesday Wed
Thursday Thu
Friday Fri
Saturday Sat
Sunday Sun
Monday Mon
Moon phase and lunation details
4 days after First Quarter
Previous main lunar phase is the First Quarter before 4 days on 20 December 2012 at 05:19.
Moonrise and moonset
Moon rises in the afternoon and sets after midnight to early morning. It is visible to the southeast in early evening and it is up for most of the night.
Moon in ♉ Taurus
Moon is passing about ∠21° of ♉ Taurus tropical zodiac sector.
Apparent angular diameter ∠1774"
Lunar disc appears visually 9.5% narrower than solar disc. Moon and Sun apparent angular diameters are ∠1774" and ∠1951".
Cold Moon after 3 days
Next Full Moon is the Cold Moon of December 2012 after 3 days on 28 December 2012 at 10:21.
Upcoming main Moon phases
- Full Moon in Cancer ♋ on 28 December 2012 at 10:21
- Last Quarter in Libra ♎ on 5 January 2013 at 03:58
- New Moon in Capricorn ♑ on 11 January 2013 at 19:44
- First Quarter in Aries ♈ on 18 January 2013 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 160 / 1113
The Moon is 11 days young. Earth's natural satellite is moving from the first to the middle part of current synodic month. This is lunation 160 of Meeus index or 1113 from Brown series.
Synodic month length 29.46 days
Length of current 160 lunation is 29 days, 11 hours and 2 minutes. It is 34 minutes shorter than next lunation 161 length.
Lunation length shorter than mean
Length of current synodic month is 1 hour and 42 minutes shorter than the mean length of synodic month, but it is still 4 hours and 27 minutes longer, compared to 21st century shortest.
Lunar orbit position on
True anomaly ∠6.8°
This New Moon true anomaly is ∠6.8°. At beginning of next synodic month true anomaly will be ∠23.3°. 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 before apogee
11 days after point of perigee on 12 December 2012 at 23:14 in ♐ Sagittarius. The lunar orbit is getting wider, while the Moon is moving outward the Earth. It will keep this direction for the next day, until it get to the point of next apogee on 25 December 2012 at 21:19 in ♊ Gemini.
Distance to Moon 404 057 km
Moon is 404 057 km (251 069 mi) away from Earth on this date. Moon moves farther next day until apogee, when Earth-Moon distance will reach 406 101 km (252 339 mi).
Moon in descending node
Moon is in descending node in ♉ Taurus at 22:27 on this date, it crosses the ecliptic from North to South. Moon will follow the southern part of its orbit for the next 14 days to meet ascending node on 7 January 2013 at 23:50 in ♏ Scorpio.
Draconic month
12 days after beginning of current draconic month in ♏ Scorpio, the Moon is moving from the middle to the last part of it.
Moon before northern standstill
11 days after previous South standstill on 13 December 2012 at 03:48 in ♐ Sagittarius, when Moon has reached southern declination of ∠-20.926°. Next 2 days the lunar orbit moves northward to face North declination of ∠20.927° in the next northern standstill on 26 December 2012 at 21:24 in ♊ Gemini.
Syzygy in 3 days
After 3 days on 28 December 2012 at 10:21 in ♋ Cancer, the Moon will be in Full Moon geocentric opposition with the Sun and this alignment forms next Sun-Earth-Moon syzygy.