Last
Quarter* ♎ Libra
Moon phase for
Image credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio.
Last Quarter 56% illuminated
Last Quarter is the lunar phase on . Seen from Earth, illuminated fraction of the Moon surface is 56% and getting smaller. The 21 days old Moon is in ♎ Libra.
* The exact date and time of this Last Quarter phase is on 4 January 2024 at 03:30 UTC.
Moon phases for next 7 days
Thursday Thu
Friday Fri
Saturday Sat
Sunday Sun
Monday Mon
Tuesday Tue
Wednesday Wed
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 ♎ Libra
Moon is passing about ∠6° of ♎ Libra tropical zodiac sector.
Apparent angular diameter ∠1777"
Lunar disc appears visually 9.3% narrower than solar disc. Moon and Sun apparent angular diameters are ∠1777" and ∠1951".
Wolf Moon after 22 days
Next Full Moon is the Wolf Moon of January 2024 after 22 days on 25 January 2024 at 17:54.
Upcoming main Moon phases
- Last Quarter in Libra ♎ on 4 January 2024 at 03:30
- New Moon in Capricorn ♑ on 11 January 2024 at 11:57
- First Quarter in Aries ♈ on 18 January 2024 at 03:53
- Full Moon in Cancer ♋ on 25 January 2024 at 17:54
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 296 / 1249
The Moon is 21 days old. Earth's natural satellite is moving through the last part of current synodic month. This is lunation 296 of Meeus index or 1249 from Brown series.
Synodic month length 29.52 days
The length of the lunation is 29 days, 12 hours and 25 minutes. It is 1 hour and 23 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 19 minutes shorter than the mean synodic month length. It is 5 hours and 50 minutes longer compared to 21st century's shortest synodic month length.
Lunar orbit position on
True anomaly ∠303.6°
At the beginning of the lunation cycle the true anomaly is ∠303.6°. At the beginning of next synodic month the true anomaly is going to be ∠328°.
Moon after apogee
1 day after point of apogee on 1 January 2024 at 15:28 in ♍ Virgo. The lunar orbit is getting narrow, while the Moon is moving towards the Earth. It will keep this direction over the next 9 days, until the Moon reaches the point of next perigee on 13 January 2024 at 10:35 in ♒ Aquarius.
Distance to Moon 403 292 km
The Moon is 403 292 km (250 594 mi) away from Earth and getting closer over the next 9 days until the point perigee when Earth-Moon distance is going to be 362 264 km (225 100 mi).
Moon before descending node
12 days after ascending node on 21 December 2023 at 13:54 in ♈ Aries. The Moon is located north of the ecliptic over the following day, until the lunar orbit crosses from North to South in descending node on 4 January 2024 at 18:52 in ♎ Libra.
Draconic month
12 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 before southern standstill
7 days since the previous standstill on 26 December 2023 at 21:50 in ♊ Gemini when the Moon has reached North declination of ∠28.131°, the lunar orbit is extending southward over the next 6 days to face maximum declination of ∠-28.164° at the point of next southern standstill on 10 January 2024 at 07:04 in ♑ Capricorn.
Syzygy in 7 days
In 7 days on 11 January 2024 at 11:57 in ♑ Capricorn 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.
