Last Quarter on

Moon phase on 9 March 2018 Friday is Last Quarter, 22 days old Moon is in Sagittarius.

Share this page: twitter facebook linkedin

Moon phase for

Lunar calendar 2018 | March 2018

Last Quarter phase
Last Quarter phase
Image credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio.

Last Quarter 50% illuminated

Last Quarter is the lunar phase on . Seen from Earth, illuminated fraction of the Moon surface is 50% and getting smaller. The 22 days old Moon is in ♐ Sagittarius.

* The exact date and time of this Last Quarter phase is on 9 March 2018 at 11:20 UTC.

Previous date | Moon Today | Next date

Moon phases for next 7 days

7 days ago | 7 days after

Moon phase and lunation details

Moonrise and moonset

Moon rises at midnight and sets at noon. It is visible to the south in the morning.

Moon in ♐ Sagittarius

Moon is passing about ∠19° of ♐ Sagittarius tropical zodiac sector.

Apparent angular diameter ∠1777"

Lunar disc appears visually 8.4% narrower than solar disc. Moon and Sun apparent angular diameters are ∠1777" and ∠1932".

Worm Moon after 22 days

Next Full Moon is the Worm Moon of March 2018 after 22 days on 31 March 2018 at 12:37.

Upcoming main Moon phases

  • New Moon in Pisces ♓ on 17 March 2018 at 13:12
  • First Quarter in Gemini ♊ on 24 March 2018 at 15:35
  • Full Moon in Libra ♎ on 31 March 2018 at 12:37
  • Last Quarter in Capricorn ♑ on 8 April 2018 at 07:18

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 224 / 1177

The Moon is 22 days old. Earth's natural satellite is moving through the last part of current synodic month. This is lunation 224 of Meeus index or 1177 from Brown series.

PreviousCurrent lunationNext

Synodic month length 29.67 days

The length of the lunation is 29 days, 16 hours and 6 minutes. It is 3 hours and 20 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 longer than mean

The length of the current synodic month is 3 hours and 22 minutes longer than the mean synodic month length. It is 3 hours and 41 minutes shorter compared to 21st century's longest synodic month length.

Lunar orbit position on

True anomaly ∠227.1°

At the beginning of the lunation cycle the true anomaly is ∠227.1°. At the beginning of next synodic month the true anomaly is going to be ∠262.6°.

Moon before perigee

9 days after point of perigee on 27 February 2018 at 14:48 in ♋ Cancer. The lunar orbit is getting widen, while the Moon is moving away from the Earth. It will keep this direction over the next day, until the Moon reaches the point of next apogee on 11 March 2018 at 09:13 in ♑ Capricorn.

Previous perigeeNext apogee

Distance to Moon 403 395 km

The Moon is 403 395 km (250 658 mi) away from Earth and getting further over the next day until the point apogee when Earth-Moon distance is going to be 404 682 km (251 458 mi).

Moon before descending node

9 days after ascending node on 28 February 2018 at 05:03 in ♌ Leo. The Moon is located north of the ecliptic over the following 4 days, until the lunar orbit crosses from North to South in descending node on 14 March 2018 at 03:48 in ♒ Aquarius.

Previous nodeNext node

Draconic month

9 days since the beginning of current draconic month in ♌ Leo, the Moon is navigating from the beginning to the first part of the cycle.

PreviousCurrent draconic monthNext

Moon before southern standstill

11 days since the previous standstill on 25 February 2018 at 20:07 in ♋ Cancer when the Moon has reached North declination of ∠20.056°, the lunar orbit is extending southward over the next day to face maximum declination of ∠-20.112° at the point of next southern standstill on 11 March 2018 at 06:39 in ♑ Capricorn.

Previous standstillNext standstill

Syzygy in 8 days

In 8 days on 17 March 2018 at 13:12 in ♓ Pisces the Moon is going to be in a New Moon geocentric conjunction with the Sun and thus forming the next Sun-Moon-Earth syzygy alignment.

Previous syzygyNext syzygy

Share this page: twitter facebook linkedin
Back to: Top of page