Waxing
Gibbous ♈ Aries
Moon phase for
Image credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio.
First Quarter 59% illuminated
First Quarter is the lunar phase on . Seen from Earth, illuminated fraction of the Moon surface is 59% and growing larger. The 8 days young Moon is in ♓ Pisces.
* The exact date and time of this First Quarter phase is on 9 December 2013 at 15:12 UTC.
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
Moonrise and moonset
Moon rises at noon and sets at midnight. It is visible high in the southern sky in early evening.
Moon in ♓ Pisces
Moon is leaving the last ∠1° of ♓ Pisces tropical zodiac sector and will enter ♈ Aries later.
Apparent angular diameter ∠1908"
Lunar disc appears visually 2.1% narrower than solar disc. Moon and Sun apparent angular diameters are ∠1908" and ∠1949".
Cold Moon after 6 days
Next Full Moon is the Cold Moon of December 2013 after 6 days on 17 December 2013 at 09:28.
Upcoming main Moon phases
- Full Moon in Gemini ♊ on 17 December 2013 at 09:28
- Last Quarter in Virgo ♍ on 25 December 2013 at 13:48
- New Moon in Capricorn ♑ on 1 January 2014 at 11:14
- First Quarter in Aries ♈ on 8 January 2014 at 03:39
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 172 / 1125
The Moon is 8 days young. Earth's natural satellite is moving through the first part of current synodic month. This is lunation 172 of Meeus index or 1125 from Brown series.
Synodic month length 29.45 days
The length of the lunation is 29 days, 10 hours and 52 minutes. This is the year's shortest synodic month of 2013. It is 28 minutes longer than the next lunation's length. The lengths of the following synodic months are going to decreasing with the true anomaly getting closer to the value it has at the point of New Moon at perigee (∠0° or ∠360°).
Lunation length shorter than mean
The length of the current synodic month is 1 hour and 52 minutes shorter than the mean synodic month length. It is 4 hours and 17 minutes longer compared to 21st century's shortest synodic month length.
Lunar orbit position on
True anomaly ∠336.4°
At the beginning of the lunation cycle the true anomaly is ∠336.4°. At the beginning of next synodic month the true anomaly is going to be ∠353°.
Moon after perigee
6 days after point of perigee on 4 December 2013 at 10:15 in ♑ Capricorn. The lunar orbit is getting widen, while the Moon is moving away from the Earth. It will keep this direction over the next 9 days, until the Moon reaches the point of next apogee on 19 December 2013 at 23:49 in ♋ Cancer.
Distance to Moon 375 770 km
The Moon is 375 770 km (233 493 mi) away from Earth and getting further over the next 9 days until the point apogee when Earth-Moon distance is going to be 406 269 km (252 444 mi).
Moon before descending node
9 days after ascending node on 30 November 2013 at 16:59 in ♏ Scorpio. The Moon is located north of the ecliptic over the following 2 days, until the lunar orbit crosses from North to South in descending node on 13 December 2013 at 10:10 in ♉ Taurus.
Draconic month
9 days since the beginning of current draconic month in ♏ Scorpio, the Moon is navigating from the beginning to the first part of the cycle.
Moon before northern standstill
6 days since the previous standstill on 3 December 2013 at 16:38 in ♐ Sagittarius when the Moon has reached South declination of ∠-19.552°, the lunar orbit is extending northward over the next 6 days to face maximum declination of ∠19.570° at the point of next northern standstill on 17 December 2013 at 01:00 in ♊ Gemini.
Syzygy in 6 days
In 6 days on 17 December 2013 at 09:28 in ♊ Gemini 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.
