First
Quarter ♊ Gemini
Moon phase for
Image credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio.
First Quarter 49% illuminated
First Quarter is the lunar phase on . Seen from Earth, illuminated fraction of the Moon surface is 49% and growing larger. The 7 days young Moon is in ♉ Taurus.
* The exact date and time of this First Quarter phase is on 16 February 2024 at 15:01 UTC.
Moon phases for next 7 days
Saturday Sat
Sunday Sun
Monday Mon
Tuesday Tue
Wednesday Wed
Thursday Thu
Friday Fri
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 ♉ Taurus
Moon is leaving the last ∠4° of ♉ Taurus tropical zodiac sector and will enter ♊ Gemini later.
Apparent angular diameter ∠1905"
Lunar disc appears visually 1.9% narrower than solar disc. Moon and Sun apparent angular diameters are ∠1905" and ∠1942".
Snow Moon after 8 days
Next Full Moon is the Snow Moon of February 2024 after 8 days on 24 February 2024 at 12:30.
Upcoming main Moon phases
- Full Moon in Virgo ♍ on 24 February 2024 at 12:30
- Last Quarter in Sagittarius ♐ on 3 March 2024 at 15:24
- New Moon in Pisces ♓ on 10 March 2024 at 09:00
- First Quarter in Gemini ♊ on 17 March 2024 at 04:11
Moderate tide
There is medium ocean tide on this date. Sun and Moon gravitational forces are not aligned, but meet at very acute angle, so their combined tidal force is moderate.
Lunation 298 / 1251
The Moon is 7 days young. Earth's natural satellite is moving through the first part of current synodic month. This is lunation 298 of Meeus index or 1251 from Brown series.
Synodic month length 29.42 days
The length of the lunation is 29 days, 10 hours and 1 minute. It is 41 minutes longer 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 2 hours and 43 minutes shorter than the mean synodic month length. It is 3 hours and 26 minutes longer compared to 21st century's shortest synodic month length.
Lunar orbit position on
True anomaly ∠345.9°
At the beginning of the lunation cycle the true anomaly is ∠345.9°. At the beginning of next synodic month the true anomaly is going to be ∠1.4°.
Moon after perigee
5 days after point of perigee on 10 February 2024 at 18:49 in ♒ Aquarius. The lunar orbit is getting widen, while the Moon is moving away from the Earth. It will keep this direction over the next 9 days, until the Moon reaches the point of next apogee on 25 February 2024 at 15:00 in ♍ Virgo.
Distance to Moon 376 255 km
The Moon is 376 255 km (233 794 mi) away from Earth and getting further over the next 9 days until the point apogee when Earth-Moon distance is going to be 406 316 km (252 473 mi).
Moon after ascending node
2 days after ascending node on 13 February 2024 at 17:01 in ♈ Aries. The Moon is located north of the ecliptic over the following 11 days, until the lunar orbit crosses from North to South in descending node on 27 February 2024 at 22:53 in ♎ Libra.
Draconic month
2 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 northern standstill
9 days since the previous standstill on 6 February 2024 at 17:06 in ♐ Sagittarius when the Moon has reached South declination of ∠-28.304°, the lunar orbit is extending northward over the next 2 days to face maximum declination of ∠28.376° at the point of next northern standstill on 19 February 2024 at 08:47 in ♋ Cancer.
Syzygy in 8 days
In 8 days on 24 February 2024 at 12:30 in ♍ Virgo 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.
