Waxing
Gibbous ♈ Aries
Moon phase for
Image credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio.
First Quarter 61% illuminated
First Quarter is the lunar phase on . Seen from Earth, illuminated fraction of the Moon surface is 61% and growing larger. The 8 days young Moon is in ♓ Pisces.
* The exact date and time of this First Quarter phase is on 5 December 2046 at 07:56 UTC.
Moon phases for next 7 days
Friday Fri
Saturday Sat
Sunday Sun
Monday Mon
Tuesday Tue
Wednesday Wed
Thursday Thu
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 ♓ Pisces
Moon is leaving the last ∠3° of ♓ Pisces tropical zodiac sector and will enter ♈ Aries later.
Apparent angular diameter ∠1771"
Lunar disc appears visually 9.5% narrower than solar disc. Moon and Sun apparent angular diameters are ∠1771" and ∠1948".
Cold Moon after 6 days
Next Full Moon is the Cold Moon of December 2046 after 6 days on 13 December 2046 at 09:55.
Upcoming main Moon phases
- Full Moon in Gemini ♊ on 13 December 2046 at 09:55
- Last Quarter in Virgo ♍ on 20 December 2046 at 14:43
- New Moon in Capricorn ♑ on 27 December 2046 at 10:39
- First Quarter in Aries ♈ on 4 January 2047 at 05:31
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.
Lunation 580 / 1533
The Moon is 8 days young. Earth's natural satellite is moving through the first part of current synodic month. This is lunation 580 of Meeus index or 1533 from Brown series.
Synodic month length 29.53 days
Length of current 580 lunation is 29 days, 12 hours and 49 minutes. It is 2 hours and 16 minutes shorter than next lunation 581 length.
Lunation length longer than mean
Length of current synodic month is 5 minutes longer than the mean length of synodic month, but it is still 6 hours and 58 minutes shorter, compared to 21st century longest.
Lunar orbit position on
True anomaly ∠35.1°
This New Moon true anomaly is ∠35.1°. At beginning of next synodic month true anomaly will be ∠60.8°. 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 before apogee
10 days after point of perigee on 25 November 2046 at 18:09 in ♎ Libra. The lunar orbit is getting wider, while the Moon is moving outward the Earth. It will keep this direction for the next day, until it get to the point of next apogee on 7 December 2046 at 12:36 in ♈ Aries.
Distance to Moon 404 691 km
Moon is 404 691 km (251 463 mi) away from Earth on this date. Moon moves farther next day until apogee, when Earth-Moon distance will reach 404 833 km (251 552 mi).
Moon after ascending node
4 days after its ascending node on 1 December 2046 at 12:55 in ♑ Capricorn, the Moon is following the northern part of its orbit for the next 9 days, until it will cross the ecliptic from North to South in descending node on 16 December 2046 at 00:01 in ♌ Leo.
Draconic month
4 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
7 days after previous South standstill on 28 November 2046 at 22:56 in ♐ Sagittarius, when Moon has reached southern declination of ∠-26.048°. Next 6 days the lunar orbit moves northward to face North declination of ∠26.034° in the next northern standstill on 13 December 2046 at 08:12 in ♊ Gemini.
Syzygy in 6 days
After 6 days on 13 December 2046 at 09:55 in ♊ Gemini, the Moon will be in Full Moon geocentric opposition with the Sun and this alignment forms next Sun-Earth-Moon syzygy.