Last
Quarter* ♍ Virgo
Moon phase for
Image credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio.
Last Quarter 57% illuminated
Last Quarter is the lunar phase on . Seen from Earth, illuminated fraction of the Moon surface is 57% and getting smaller. The 21 days old Moon is in ♍ Virgo.
* The exact date and time of this Last Quarter phase is on 5 December 2023 at 05:49 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 midnight and sets at noon. It is visible to the south in the morning.
Moon is entering ♍ Virgo
Moon is passing first ∠4° of ♍ Virgo tropical zodiac sector.
Apparent angular diameter ∠1768"
Lunar disc appears visually 9.6% narrower than solar disc. Moon and Sun apparent angular diameters are ∠1768" and ∠1947".
Cold Moon after 22 days
Next Full Moon is the Cold Moon of December 2023 after 22 days on 27 December 2023 at 00:33.
Upcoming main Moon phases
- Last Quarter in Virgo ♍ on 5 December 2023 at 05:49
- New Moon in Sagittarius ♐ on 12 December 2023 at 23:32
- First Quarter in Pisces ♓ on 19 December 2023 at 18:39
- Full Moon in Cancer ♋ on 27 December 2023 at 00:33
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 295 / 1248
The Moon is 21 days old. Earth's natural satellite is moving through the last part of current synodic month. This is lunation 295 of Meeus index or 1248 from Brown series.
Synodic month length 29.59 days
The length of the lunation is 29 days, 14 hours and 5 minutes. It is 1 hour and 40 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 1 hour and 21 minutes longer than the mean synodic month length. It is 5 hours and 42 minutes shorter compared to 21st century's longest synodic month length.
Lunar orbit position on
True anomaly ∠269.5°
At the beginning of the lunation cycle the true anomaly is ∠269.5°. At the beginning of next synodic month the true anomaly is going to be ∠303.6°.
Moon at apogee
Moon is at apogee at 18:42. It is 12 days after previous perigee on 21 November 2023 at 21:03 in ♓ Pisces. Lunar orbit is going to narrow while the Moon is moving towards the Earth over the next 12 days, until point of next perigee on 16 December 2023 at 18:53 in ♒ Aquarius.
Distance to Moon 404 348 km
This apogee Moon is 404 348 km (251 250 mi) away from Earth. It is 1 060 km further than the mean apogee distance, but it is still 2 361 km closer than the farthest apogee of 21st century.
Moon before descending node
10 days after ascending node on 24 November 2023 at 11:02 in ♈ Aries. 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 8 December 2023 at 15:24 in ♎ Libra.
Draconic month
10 days since the beginning of current draconic month in ♈ Aries, the Moon is navigating from the beginning to the first part of the cycle.
Moon after northern standstill
4 days since the previous standstill on 29 November 2023 at 14:08 in ♊ Gemini when the Moon has reached North declination of ∠28.191°, the lunar orbit is extending southward over the next 9 days to face maximum declination of ∠-28.151° at the point of next southern standstill on 13 December 2023 at 21:51 in ♐ Sagittarius.
Syzygy in 8 days
In 8 days on 12 December 2023 at 23:32 in ♐ Sagittarius 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.
