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
Length of current 298 lunation is 29 days, 10 hours and 1 minute. It is 41 minutes longer than next lunation 299 length.
Lunation length shorter than mean
Length of current synodic month is 2 hours and 43 minutes shorter than the mean length of synodic month, but it is still 3 hours and 26 minutes longer, compared to 21st century shortest.
Lunar orbit position on
True anomaly ∠345.9°
This New Moon true anomaly is ∠345.9°. At beginning of next synodic month true anomaly will be ∠1.4°. The length of upcoming synodic months will keep increasing since the true anomaly gets closer to the value of New Moon at point of apogee (∠180°).
Moon after perigee
5 days after point of perigee on 10 February 2024 at 18:49 in ♒ Aquarius. The lunar orbit is getting wider, while the Moon is moving outward the Earth. It will keep this direction for the next 9 days, until it get to the point of next apogee on 25 February 2024 at 15:00 in ♍ Virgo.
Distance to Moon 376 255 km
Moon is 376 255 km (233 794 mi) away from Earth on this date. Moon moves farther next 9 days until apogee, when Earth-Moon distance will reach 406 316 km (252 473 mi).
Moon after ascending node
2 days after its ascending node on 13 February 2024 at 17:01 in ♈ Aries, the Moon is following the northern part of its orbit for the next 11 days, until it will cross the ecliptic from North to South in descending node on 27 February 2024 at 22:53 in ♎ Libra.
Draconic month
2 days after beginning of current draconic month in ♈ Aries, the Moon is moving from the beginning to the first part of it.
Moon before northern standstill
9 days after previous South standstill on 6 February 2024 at 17:06 in ♐ Sagittarius, when Moon has reached southern declination of ∠-28.304°. Next 2 days the lunar orbit moves northward to face North declination of ∠28.376° in the next northern standstill on 19 February 2024 at 08:47 in ♋ Cancer.
Syzygy in 8 days
After 8 days on 24 February 2024 at 12:30 in ♍ Virgo, the Moon will be in Full Moon geocentric opposition with the Sun and this alignment forms next Sun-Earth-Moon syzygy.