<p>In short, no.</p>

<p>The lunar nodes vary in a roughly uniform fashion, taking about 18 years to vary by 360 degrees. The longitude of the moon at a given time is not part of the calculation.</p>

<p>The details are complex, since they involve the dynamics of a three body system. Nasa has a system called "SPICE" that lets you calculate positions of orbiting bodies. There is <a href="http://wgc.jpl.nasa.gov:8080/webgeocalc/#NewCalculation" rel="nofollow noreferrer">a web interface to spice</a> available. And the details of using this to calculate lunar nodes is described on the <a href="https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/18718/calculating-positions-of-moons-ascending-and-descending-nodes-from-ephemeris-fi">space exploration stack exchange</a></p>

<p>A rough calculation can be done by approximating by a linear function of time.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-13T21:43:25.927Z
2017-05-13T21:43:25.927Z
James K
<p>If the planetary geocentric position of the moon is known (say, longitude 
"254°31'35"") is it possible to calculate such position for north/south (ascending/descending) moon nodes? Or what else needs to be known?</p>

<the-moon>
How moon north/south nodes can be calculated
WHITECOLOR
# How moon north/south nodes can be calculated

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-05-13)

If the planetary geocentric position of the moon is known (say, longitude
"254°31'35"") is it possible to calculate such position for north/south (ascending/descending) moon nodes? Or what else needs to be known?

**Tags:** the-moon


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-05-13. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

In short, no.

The lunar nodes vary in a roughly uniform fashion, taking about 18 years to vary by 360 degrees. The longitude of the moon at a given time is not part of the calculation.

The details are complex, since they involve the dynamics of a three body system. Nasa has a system called "SPICE" that lets you calculate positions of orbiting bodies. There is [a web interface to spice](http://wgc.jpl.nasa.gov:8080/webgeocalc/#NewCalculation) available. And the details of using this to calculate lunar nodes is described on the [space exploration stack exchange](https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/18718/calculating-positions-of-moons-ascending-and-descending-nodes-from-ephemeris-fi)

A rough calculation can be done by approximating by a linear function of time.


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