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

First Quarter in Libra

First Quarter on . Illuminated surface of the Moon is 55% and growing larger. Lunar cycle is 8 days young.

* The exact date and time of this First Quarter phase is on 15 July 2051 at 23:21 UTC.

Moonrise and moonset

Moon rises at noon and sets at midnight. It is visible high in the southern sky in early evening.

Upcoming main moon phases

Main moon phases of the following lunar cycle.

Moon phase and lunation details

Moon is entering ♎ Libra

Moon is passing first ∠0° of ♎ Libra tropical zodiac sector.

Buck Moon after 7 days

Next Full Moon is the Buck Moon of July 2051 after 7 days on 23 July 2051 at 16:36.

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 ∠1769"

Lunar disc appears visually 6.5% narrower than solar disc. Moon and Sun apparent angular diameters are ∠1769" and ∠1888".

Lunation 637 / 1590

The Moon is 8 days young and navigating through the first part of the current synodic month. This is lunation 637 of Meeus index or 1590 from Brown series.

Synodic month length 29.46 days

The length of this lunation is 29 days, 10 hours and 56 minutes and it is 2 hours and 32 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 48 minutes shorter than the mean synodic month length. It is 4 hours and 21 minutes longer compared to 21st century's shortest synodic month length.

Lunar orbit details for

True anomaly ∠70.2°

The true anomaly of the Moon orbit at the beginning of this lunation cycle is ∠70.2° and at the beginning of the next lunar synodic month the true anomaly is going to be ∠104.1°.

Moon after apogee

1 day since point of apogee on 15 July 2051 at 16:49 in ♎ Libra the lunar orbit is getting narrow while the Moon is moving towards the Earth. It will keep this direction over the next 11 days until the Moon reaches the point of next perigee on 28 July 2051 at 00:46 in ♈ Aries.

Distance to Moon 405 188 km

The Moon is 405 188 km (251 772 mi) away from Earth and getting closer over the next 11 days until the point perigee when Earth-Moon distance is going to be 368 220 km (228 801 mi).

Moon in ascending node

Moon is in ascending node in ♎ Libra at 09:35 crossing the ecliptic from South to North. Lunar position remains north of if for the upcoming 13 days until Moon's next descending node later on 29 July 2051 at 18:33 in ♈ Aries.

Moon before southern standstill

10 days since the last northern standstill on 6 July 2051 at 11:58 in ♊ Gemini when the Moon has reached North declination of ∠19.198° the lunar orbit is extending southward over the next 4 days to face maximum declination of ∠-19.133° at the point of next southern standstill on 20 July 2051 at 20:52 in ♐ Sagittarius.

New draconic month

At 09:35 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 7 days

In 7 days on 23 July 2051 at 16:36 in ♑ Capricorn 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.

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