Last Quarter Moon
Last Quarter MoonImage credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio.(large image)

Last Quarter in Sagittarius

Last Quarter on . Illuminated surface of the Moon is 44% and getting smaller. Lunar cycle is 22 days old.

* The exact date and time of this Last Quarter phase is on 14 February 2031 at 22:50 UTC.

Moonrise and moonset

Moon rises at midnight and sets at noon. It is visible to the south in the morning.

Upcoming main moon phases

Main moon phases of the following lunar cycle.

Moon phase and lunation details

Moon is entering ♐ Sagittarius

Moon is passing first ∠4° of ♐ Sagittarius tropical zodiac sector.

Worm Moon after 21 days

Next Full Moon is the Worm Moon of March 2031 after 21 days on 9 March 2031 at 04:30.

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.

Apparent angular diameter ∠1963"

Lunar disc appears visually 1% wider than solar disc. Moon and Sun apparent angular diameters are ∠1963" and ∠1942".

Lunation 384 / 1337

The Moon is 22 days old and navigating through the last part of the current synodic month. This is lunation 384 of Meeus index or 1337 from Brown series.

Synodic month length 29.47 days

The length of this lunation is 29 days, 11 hours and 18 minutes and it is 42 minutes shorter than the upcoming lunation's length. The lengths of the following synodic months are going to increase with the lunar orbit 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 1 hour and 26 minutes shorter than the mean synodic month length. It is 4 hours and 43 minutes longer compared to 21st century's shortest synodic month length.

Lunar orbit details for

True anomaly ∠21.6°

The true anomaly of the Moon orbit at the beginning of this lunation cycle is ∠21.6° and at the beginning of the next lunar synodic month the true anomaly is going to be ∠41.9°.

Moon before perigee

12 days since point of apogee on 2 February 2031 at 23:45 in ♊ Gemini the lunar orbit is getting narrow while the Moon is moving towards the Earth. It will keep this direction over the next 3 days until the Moon reaches the point of next perigee on 19 February 2031 at 00:35 in ♒ Aquarius.

Distance to Moon 365 217 km

The Moon is 365 217 km (226 935 mi) away from Earth and getting closer over the next 3 days until the point perigee when Earth-Moon distance is going to be 364 745 km (226 642 mi).

Moon in ascending node

Moon is in ascending node in ♐ Sagittarius at 11:21 crossing the ecliptic from South to North. Lunar position remains north of if for the upcoming 12 days until Moon's next descending node later on 28 February 2031 at 11:02 in ♊ Gemini.

Moon before southern standstill

12 days since the last northern standstill on 2 February 2031 at 12:52 in ♊ Gemini when the Moon has reached North declination of ∠21.745° the lunar orbit is extending southward over the next day to face maximum declination of ∠-21.615° at the point of next southern standstill on 16 February 2031 at 13:25 in ♐ Sagittarius.

New draconic month

At 11:21 in the point ot ascending node the Moon is completing the last draconic month and is entering a new one while the lunar orbit is crossing the ecliptic from South to North.

Syzygy in 6 days

In 6 days on 21 February 2031 at 15:49 in ♒ Aquarius 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.

Lunar calendar

Sources and credits

Parts of this Lunar Calendar are based on Planetary Ephemeris Data Courtesy of Fred Espenak, www.Astropixels.com

Moon phase image credit to NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio, svs.gsfc.nasa.gov