Waxing
Gibbous ♌ Leo
Moon phase for
Image credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio.
First Quarter 57% illuminated
First Quarter is the lunar phase on . Seen from Earth, illuminated fraction of the Moon surface is 57% and growing larger. The 8 days young Moon is in ♌ Leo.
* The exact date and time of this First Quarter phase is on 22 April 2018 at 21:46 UTC.
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
Moonrise and moonset
Moon rises at noon and sets at midnight. It is visible high in the southern sky in early evening.
Moon in ♌ Leo
Moon is passing about ∠11° of ♌ Leo tropical zodiac sector.
Apparent angular diameter ∠1965"
Lunar disc appears visually 3% wider than solar disc. Moon and Sun apparent angular diameters are ∠1965" and ∠1908".
Pink Moon after 6 days
Next Full Moon is the Pink Moon of April 2018 after 6 days on 30 April 2018 at 00:58.
Upcoming main Moon phases
- Full Moon in Scorpio ♏ on 30 April 2018 at 00:58
- Last Quarter in Aquarius ♒ on 8 May 2018 at 02:09
- New Moon in Taurus ♉ on 15 May 2018 at 11:48
- First Quarter in Virgo ♍ on 22 May 2018 at 03:49
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 226 / 1179
The Moon is 8 days young. Earth's natural satellite is moving through the first part of current synodic month. This is lunation 226 of Meeus index or 1179 from Brown series.
Synodic month length 29.41 days
The length of the lunation is 29 days, 9 hours and 51 minutes. It is 1 hour and 56 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 2 hours and 53 minutes shorter than the mean synodic month length. It is 3 hours and 16 minutes longer compared to 21st century's shortest synodic month length.
Lunar orbit position on
True anomaly ∠296.5°
At the beginning of the lunation cycle the true anomaly is ∠296.5°. At the beginning of next synodic month the true anomaly is going to be ∠321.7°.
Moon after perigee
2 days after point of perigee on 20 April 2018 at 14:44 in ♊ Gemini. The lunar orbit is getting widen, while the Moon is moving away from the Earth. It will keep this direction over the next 12 days, until the Moon reaches the point of next apogee on 6 May 2018 at 00:35 in ♑ Capricorn.
Distance to Moon 364 733 km
The Moon is 364 733 km (226 635 mi) away from Earth and getting further over the next 12 days until the point apogee when Earth-Moon distance is going to be 404 458 km (251 319 mi).
Moon in ascending node
Moon is in ascending node in ♌ Leo at 12:19 crossing the ecliptic from South to North to meet descending node 13 days later on 7 May 2018 at 10:24 in ♒ Aquarius.
New draconic month
At 12:19 the Moon completes the previous draconic month and enters the new one.
Moon after northern standstill
2 days since the previous standstill on 21 April 2018 at 07:38 in ♋ Cancer when the Moon has reached North declination of ∠20.445°, the lunar orbit is extending southward over the next 11 days to face maximum declination of ∠-20.562° at the point of next southern standstill on 4 May 2018 at 23:00 in ♑ Capricorn.
Syzygy in 6 days
In 6 days on 30 April 2018 at 00:58 in ♏ Scorpio 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.
