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 13 December 2056 at 20:54 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 is entering ♈ Aries
Moon is passing first ∠0° of ♈ Aries tropical zodiac sector.
Apparent angular diameter ∠1819"
Lunar disc appears visually 6.9% narrower than solar disc. Moon and Sun apparent angular diameters are ∠1819" and ∠1950".
Cold Moon after 7 days
Next Full Moon is the Cold Moon of December 2056 after 7 days on 22 December 2056 at 01:34.
Upcoming main Moon phases
- Full Moon in Cancer ♋ on 22 December 2056 at 01:34
- Last Quarter in Libra ♎ on 29 December 2056 at 18:22
- New Moon in Capricorn ♑ on 5 January 2057 at 09:49
- First Quarter in Aries ♈ on 12 January 2057 at 15:34
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 704 / 1657
The Moon is 8 days young. Earth's natural satellite is moving through the first part of current synodic month. This is lunation 704 of Meeus index or 1657 from Brown series.
Synodic month length 29.47 days
Length of current 704 lunation is 29 days, 11 hours and 18 minutes. It is 1 hour and 3 minutes shorter than next lunation 705 length.
Lunation length shorter than mean
Length of current synodic month is 1 hour and 26 minutes shorter than the mean length of synodic month, but it is still 4 hours and 43 minutes longer, compared to 21st century shortest.
Lunar orbit position on
True anomaly ∠9.2°
This New Moon true anomaly is ∠9.2°. At beginning of next synodic month true anomaly will be ∠26.4°. 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
8 days after point of perigee on 6 December 2056 at 09:40 in ♐ Sagittarius. The lunar orbit is getting wider, while the Moon is moving outward the Earth. It will keep this direction for the next 4 days, until it get to the point of next apogee on 19 December 2056 at 02:50 in ♉ Taurus.
Distance to Moon 394 068 km
Moon is 394 068 km (244 863 mi) away from Earth on this date. Moon moves farther next 4 days until apogee, when Earth-Moon distance will reach 406 059 km (252 313 mi).
Moon after descending node
5 days after its descending node on 8 December 2056 at 17:42 in ♑ Capricorn, the Moon is following the southern part of its orbit for the next 8 days, until it will cross the ecliptic from South to North in ascending node on 23 December 2056 at 00:24 in ♋ Cancer.
Draconic month
18 days after beginning of current draconic month in ♋ Cancer, the Moon is moving from the second to the final part of it.
Moon after southern standstill
5 days after previous South standstill on 8 December 2056 at 17:13 in ♑ Capricorn, when Moon has reached southern declination of ∠-22.839°. Next 8 days the lunar orbit moves northward to face North declination of ∠22.858° in the next northern standstill on 23 December 2056 at 00:17 in ♋ Cancer.
Syzygy in 7 days
After 7 days on 22 December 2056 at 01:34 in ♋ Cancer, the Moon will be in Full Moon geocentric opposition with the Sun and this alignment forms next Sun-Earth-Moon syzygy.