Waxing
Gibbous ♐ Sagittarius
Moon phase for
Image credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio.
First Quarter 62% illuminated
First Quarter is the lunar phase on . Seen from Earth, illuminated fraction of the Moon surface is 62% and growing larger. The 8 days young Moon is in ♐ Sagittarius.
* The exact date and time of this First Quarter phase is on 18 August 2018 at 07:49 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 ♐ Sagittarius
Moon is passing about ∠10° of ♐ Sagittarius tropical zodiac sector.
Apparent angular diameter ∠1806"
Lunar disc appears visually 4.9% narrower than solar disc. Moon and Sun apparent angular diameters are ∠1806" and ∠1896".
Sturgeon Moon after 6 days
Next Full Moon is the Sturgeon Moon of August 2018 after 6 days on 26 August 2018 at 11:56.
Upcoming main Moon phases
- Full Moon in Pisces ♓ on 26 August 2018 at 11:56
- Last Quarter in Gemini ♊ on 3 September 2018 at 02:37
- New Moon in Virgo ♍ on 9 September 2018 at 18:01
- First Quarter in Sagittarius ♐ on 16 September 2018 at 23:15
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 230 / 1183
The Moon is 8 days young. Earth's natural satellite is moving through the first part of current synodic month. This is lunation 230 of Meeus index or 1183 from Brown series.
Synodic month length 29.34 days
The length of the lunation is 29 days, 8 hours and 4 minutes. It is 1 hour and 41 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 4 hours and 40 minutes shorter than the mean synodic month length. It is 1 hour and 29 minutes longer compared to 21st century's shortest synodic month length.
Lunar orbit position on
True anomaly ∠11.2°
At the beginning of the lunation cycle the true anomaly is ∠11.2°. At the beginning of next synodic month the true anomaly is going to be ∠28°.
Moon before perigee
8 days after point of perigee on 10 August 2018 at 18:05 in ♌ Leo. The lunar orbit is getting widen, while the Moon is moving away from the Earth. It will keep this direction over the next 3 days, until the Moon reaches the point of next apogee on 23 August 2018 at 11:23 in ♑ Capricorn.
Distance to Moon 396 977 km
The Moon is 396 977 km (246 670 mi) away from Earth and getting further over the next 3 days until the point apogee when Earth-Moon distance is going to be 405 744 km (252 118 mi).
Moon before descending node
8 days after ascending node on 10 August 2018 at 13:40 in ♋ Cancer. 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 24 August 2018 at 04:51 in ♒ Aquarius.
Draconic month
8 days since the beginning of current draconic month in ♋ Cancer, the Moon is navigating from the beginning to the first part of the cycle.
Moon before southern standstill
10 days since the previous standstill on 8 August 2018 at 22:33 in ♋ Cancer when the Moon has reached North declination of ∠20.757°, the lunar orbit is extending southward over the next 2 days to face maximum declination of ∠-20.773° at the point of next southern standstill on 22 August 2018 at 02:58 in ♑ Capricorn.
Syzygy in 6 days
In 6 days on 26 August 2018 at 11:56 in ♓ Pisces 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.
