Waxing
Gibbous ♊ Gemini
Moon phase for
Image credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio.
Waxing Gibbous 92% illuminated
Waxing Gibbous is the lunar phase on . Seen from Earth, illuminated fraction of the Moon surface is 92% and growing larger. The 12 days young Moon is in ♊ Gemini.
Moon phases for next 7 days
Wednesday Wed
Thursday Thu
Friday Fri
Saturday Sat
Sunday Sun
Monday Mon
Tuesday Tue
Moon phase and lunation details
5 days after First Quarter
Previous main lunar phase is the First Quarter before 5 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 is entering ♊ Gemini
Moon is passing first ∠2° of ♊ Gemini tropical zodiac sector.
Apparent angular diameter ∠1769"
Lunar disc appears visually 9.8% narrower than solar disc. Moon and Sun apparent angular diameters are ∠1769" and ∠1951".
Cold Moon after 2 days
Next Full Moon is the Cold Moon of December 2012 after 2 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 12 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
The length of the lunation is 29 days, 11 hours and 2 minutes. It is 34 minutes shorter than the next lunation's length. The lengths of the following synodic months are going to increasing with the true anomaly getting closer to the value it has at the point of New Moon at apogee (∠180°).
Lunation length shorter than mean
The length of the current synodic month is 1 hour and 42 minutes shorter than the mean synodic month length. It is 4 hours and 27 minutes longer compared to 21st century's shortest synodic month length.
Lunar orbit position on
True anomaly ∠6.8°
At the beginning of the lunation cycle the true anomaly is ∠6.8°. At the beginning of next synodic month the true anomaly is going to be ∠23.3°.
Moon at apogee
Moon is at apogee at 21:19. It is 12 days after previous perigee on 12 December 2012 at 23:14 in ♐ Sagittarius. Lunar orbit is going to narrow while the Moon is moving towards the Earth over the next 15 days, until point of next perigee on 10 January 2013 at 10:26 in ♑ Capricorn.
Distance to Moon 406 101 km
This apogee Moon is 406 101 km (252 339 mi) away from Earth. It is 693 km further than the mean apogee distance, but it is still 608 km closer than the farthest apogee of 21st century.
Moon after descending node
1 day after descending node on 24 December 2012 at 22:27 in ♉ Taurus. The Moon is located south of the ecliptic over the following 13 days, until the lunar orbit crosses from South to North in ascending node on 7 January 2013 at 23:50 in ♏ Scorpio.
Draconic month
13 days since the beginning of current draconic month in ♏ Scorpio, the Moon is navigating from the second to the final part of the cycle.
Moon before northern standstill
12 days since the previous standstill on 13 December 2012 at 03:48 in ♐ Sagittarius when the Moon has reached South declination of ∠-20.926°, the lunar orbit is extending northward over the next day to face maximum declination of ∠20.927° at the point of next northern standstill on 26 December 2012 at 21:24 in ♊ Gemini.
Syzygy in 2 days
In 2 days on 28 December 2012 at 10:21 in ♋ Cancer the Moon is going to be in a Full Moon geocentric opposition with the Sun and thus forming the next Sun-Earth-Moon syzygy alignment.
