First
Quarter ♊ Gemini
Moon phase for
Image credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio.
First Quarter 47% illuminated
First Quarter is the lunar phase on . Seen from Earth, illuminated fraction of the Moon surface is 47% and growing larger. The 7 days young Moon is in ♉ Taurus.
* The exact date and time of this First Quarter phase is on 17 February 2013 at 20:31 UTC.
Moon phases for next 7 days
Monday Mon
Tuesday Tue
Wednesday Wed
Thursday Thu
Friday Fri
Saturday Sat
Sunday Sun
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 ∠1776"
Lunar disc appears visually 8.9% narrower than solar disc. Moon and Sun apparent angular diameters are ∠1776" and ∠1941".
Snow Moon after 8 days
Next Full Moon is the Snow Moon of February 2013 after 8 days on 25 February 2013 at 20:26.
Upcoming main Moon phases
- Full Moon in Virgo ♍ on 25 February 2013 at 20:26
- Last Quarter in Sagittarius ♐ on 4 March 2013 at 21:53
- New Moon in Pisces ♓ on 11 March 2013 at 19:51
- First Quarter in Gemini ♊ on 19 March 2013 at 17:27
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 162 / 1115
The Moon is 7 days young. Earth's natural satellite is moving through the first part of current synodic month. This is lunation 162 of Meeus index or 1115 from Brown series.
Synodic month length 29.52 days
Length of current 162 lunation is 29 days, 12 hours and 31 minutes. It is 1 hour and 13 minutes shorter than next lunation 163 length.
Lunation length shorter than mean
Length of current synodic month is 13 minutes shorter than the mean length of synodic month, but it is still 5 hours and 56 minutes longer, compared to 21st century shortest.
Lunar orbit position on
True anomaly ∠44.2°
This New Moon true anomaly is ∠44.2°. At beginning of next synodic month true anomaly will be ∠73.6°. 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
9 days after point of perigee on 7 February 2013 at 12:09 in ♑ Capricorn. 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 19 February 2013 at 06:30 in ♊ Gemini.
Distance to Moon 403 678 km
Moon is 403 678 km (250 834 mi) away from Earth on this date. Moon moves farther next day until apogee, when Earth-Moon distance will reach 404 475 km (251 329 mi).
Moon in descending node
Moon is in descending node in ♉ Taurus at 02:57 on this date, it crosses the ecliptic from North to South. Moon will follow the southern part of its orbit for the next 13 days to meet ascending node on 3 March 2013 at 02:30 in ♏ Scorpio.
Draconic month
13 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 6 February 2013 at 00:27 in ♐ Sagittarius, when Moon has reached southern declination of ∠-20.704°. Next 2 days the lunar orbit moves northward to face North declination of ∠20.583° in the next northern standstill on 19 February 2013 at 13:35 in ♊ Gemini.
Syzygy in 8 days
After 8 days on 25 February 2013 at 20:26 in ♍ Virgo, the Moon will be in Full Moon geocentric opposition with the Sun and this alignment forms next Sun-Earth-Moon syzygy.