Waxing
Gibbous ♉ Taurus
Moon phase for
Image credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio.
First Quarter 63% illuminated
First Quarter is the lunar phase on . Seen from Earth, illuminated fraction of the Moon surface is 63% and growing larger. The 8 days young Moon is in ♉ Taurus.
* The exact date and time of this First Quarter phase is on 21 January 2040 at 02:21 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 ♉ Taurus
Moon is passing about ∠18° of ♉ Taurus tropical zodiac sector.
Apparent angular diameter ∠1798"
Lunar disc appears visually 8.1% narrower than solar disc. Moon and Sun apparent angular diameters are ∠1798" and ∠1950".
Wolf Moon after 6 days
Next Full Moon is the Wolf Moon of January 2040 after 6 days on 29 January 2040 at 07:54.
Upcoming main Moon phases
- Full Moon in Leo ♌ on 29 January 2040 at 07:54
- Last Quarter in Scorpio ♏ on 5 February 2040 at 22:32
- New Moon in Aquarius ♒ on 12 February 2040 at 14:24
- First Quarter in Taurus ♉ on 19 February 2040 at 21:33
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 495 / 1448
The Moon is 8 days young. Earth's natural satellite is moving through the first part of current synodic month. This is lunation 495 of Meeus index or 1448 from Brown series.
Synodic month length 29.46 days
The length of the lunation is 29 days, 10 hours and 59 minutes. This is the year's shortest synodic month of 2040. It is 23 minutes shorter 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 1 hour and 45 minutes shorter than the mean synodic month length. It is 4 hours and 24 minutes longer compared to 21st century's shortest synodic month length.
Lunar orbit position on
True anomaly ∠12.4°
At the beginning of the lunation cycle the true anomaly is ∠12.4°. At the beginning of next synodic month the true anomaly is going to be ∠30.1°.
Moon before perigee
9 days after point of perigee on 13 January 2040 at 10:03 in ♑ Capricorn. The lunar orbit is getting widen, while the Moon is moving away from the Earth. It will keep this direction over the next 3 days, until the Moon reaches the point of next apogee on 25 January 2040 at 22:42 in ♊ Gemini.
Distance to Moon 398 641 km
The Moon is 398 641 km (247 704 mi) away from Earth and getting further over the next 3 days until the point apogee when Earth-Moon distance is going to be 405 896 km (252 212 mi).
Moon before ascending node
11 days after descending node on 11 January 2040 at 10:06 in ♐ Sagittarius. The Moon is located south of the ecliptic over the following 2 days, until the lunar orbit crosses from South to North in ascending node on 24 January 2040 at 12:28 in ♊ Gemini.
Draconic month
25 days since the beginning of current draconic month in ♊ Gemini, the Moon is navigating from the second to the final part of the cycle.
Moon before northern standstill
9 days since the previous standstill on 13 January 2040 at 06:43 in ♑ Capricorn when the Moon has reached South declination of ∠-25.460°, the lunar orbit is extending northward over the next 4 days to face maximum declination of ∠25.480° at the point of next northern standstill on 26 January 2040 at 22:14 in ♋ Cancer.
Syzygy in 6 days
In 6 days on 29 January 2040 at 07:54 in ♌ Leo 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.
