Gibbous ♎ Libra
Moon phase on 21 June 2018 Thursday is First Quarter, 8 days young Moon is in Libra.Share this page: twitter facebook linkedin
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 ♎ Libra.
* The exact date and time of this First Quarter phase is on 20 June 2018 at 10:51 UTC.
Moon rises at noon and sets at midnight. It is visible high in the southern sky in early evening.
Moon is passing about ∠13° of ♎ Libra tropical zodiac sector.
Lunar disc appears visually 0.2% wider than solar disc. Moon and Sun apparent angular diameters are ∠1891" and ∠1888".
Next Full Moon is the Strawberry Moon of June 2018 after 6 days on 28 June 2018 at 04:53.
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.
The Moon is 8 days young. Earth's natural satellite is moving through the first part of current synodic month. This is lunation 228 of Meeus index or 1181 from Brown series.
Length of current 228 lunation is 29 days, 7 hours and 5 minutes. This is the year's shortest synodic month of 2018. It is 5 minutes shorter than next lunation 229 length.
Length of current synodic month is 5 hours and 39 minutes shorter than the mean length of synodic month, but it is still 30 minutes longer, compared to 21st century shortest.
This lunation true anomaly is ∠340.3°. At the beginning of next synodic month true anomaly will be ∠356°. The length of upcoming synodic months will keep decreasing since the true anomaly gets closer to the value of New Moon at point of perigee (∠0° or ∠360°).
6 days after point of perigee on 14 June 2018 at 23:55 in ♋ Cancer. The lunar orbit is getting wider, while the Moon is moving outward the Earth. It will keep this direction for the next 8 days, until it get to the point of next apogee on 30 June 2018 at 02:43 in ♑ Capricorn.
Moon is 379 044 km (235 527 mi) away from Earth on this date. Moon moves farther next 8 days until apogee, when Earth-Moon distance will reach 406 061 km (252 315 mi).
4 days after its ascending node on 16 June 2018 at 17:50 in ♋ Cancer, 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 30 June 2018 at 16:44 in ♒ Aquarius.
4 days after beginning of current draconic month in ♋ Cancer, the Moon is moving from the beginning to the first part of it.
6 days after previous North standstill on 15 June 2018 at 00:52 in ♋ Cancer, when Moon has reached northern declination of ∠20.754°. Next 7 days the lunar orbit moves southward to face South declination of ∠-20.775° in the next southern standstill on 28 June 2018 at 14:30 in ♑ Capricorn.
After 6 days on 28 June 2018 at 04:53 in ♑ Capricorn, the Moon will be in Full Moon geocentric opposition with the Sun and this alignment forms next Sun-Earth-Moon syzygy.