Waxing
Gibbous ♈ Aries
Moon phase for
Image credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio.
First Quarter 56% illuminated
First Quarter is the lunar phase on . Seen from Earth, illuminated fraction of the Moon surface is 56% and growing larger. The 8 days young Moon is in ♈ Aries.
* The exact date and time of this First Quarter phase is on 23 December 2028 at 21:45 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 ♈ Aries
Moon is passing about ∠10° of ♈ Aries tropical zodiac sector.
Apparent angular diameter ∠1768"
Lunar disc appears visually 9.8% narrower than solar disc. Moon and Sun apparent angular diameters are ∠1768" and ∠1951".
Cold Moon after 7 days
Next Full Moon is the Cold Moon of December 2028 after 7 days on 31 December 2028 at 16:48.
Upcoming main Moon phases
- Full Moon in Cancer ♋ on 31 December 2028 at 16:48
- Last Quarter in Libra ♎ on 7 January 2029 at 13:26
- New Moon in Capricorn ♑ on 14 January 2029 at 17:24
- First Quarter in Aries ♈ on 22 January 2029 at 19:23
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 358 / 1311
The Moon is 8 days young. Earth's natural satellite is moving through the first part of current synodic month. This is lunation 358 of Meeus index or 1311 from Brown series.
Synodic month length 29.64 days
Length of current 358 lunation is 29 days, 15 hours and 18 minutes. It is 1 hour and 49 minutes shorter than next lunation 359 length.
Lunation length longer than mean
Length of current synodic month is 2 hours and 34 minutes longer than the mean length of synodic month, but it is still 4 hours and 29 minutes shorter, compared to 21st century longest.
Lunar orbit position on
True anomaly ∠63.8°
This New Moon true anomaly is ∠63.8°. At beginning of next synodic month true anomaly will be ∠99.9°. 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 apogee
1 day after point of apogee on 23 December 2028 at 21:00 in ♓ Pisces. The lunar orbit is getting closer, while the Moon is moving inward the Earth. It will keep this direction for the next 11 days, until it get to the point of next perigee on 5 January 2029 at 04:16 in ♍ Virgo.
Distance to Moon 405 316 km
Moon is 405 316 km (251 852 mi) away from Earth on this date. Moon moves closer next 11 days until perigee, when Earth-Moon distance will reach 368 918 km (229 235 mi).
Moon after ascending node
6 days after its ascending node on 17 December 2028 at 12:41 in ♑ Capricorn, the Moon is following the northern part of its orbit for the next 7 days, until it will cross the ecliptic from North to South in descending node on 31 December 2028 at 22:49 in ♋ Cancer.
Draconic month
6 days after beginning of current draconic month in ♑ Capricorn, the Moon is moving from the beginning to the first part of it.
Moon before northern standstill
8 days after previous South standstill on 15 December 2028 at 16:37 in ♐ Sagittarius, when Moon has reached southern declination of ∠-25.184°. Next 5 days the lunar orbit moves northward to face North declination of ∠25.195° in the next northern standstill on 30 December 2028 at 02:35 in ♊ Gemini.
Syzygy in 7 days
After 7 days on 31 December 2028 at 16:48 in ♋ Cancer, the Moon will be in Full Moon geocentric opposition with the Sun and this alignment forms next Sun-Earth-Moon syzygy.