Major Bodies»
Above the horizon.Rise:13:12|Tran:18:00|Set:22:38
Alt: 20.47°Az: 174.44°Direction: South
The Moon tonight is in First Quarter phase in the constellation of Virgo,at a distance of
This image accurately depicts the Moon's current appearance, highlighting the key features near its terminator:
Phase: First QuarterAge: 6.74 days
View Moon Position in the Sky
Credits: this image is derived from original work by NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
Map showing The Moon in Virgo on August, 11 2024. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite and is the fifth-largest satellite in the solar system. It has a diameter of 3,474 kilometers and a mass of 7.34 x 10^22 kilograms, making it about 1/81st the mass of Earth. The Moon's surface is covered in craters, mountains, and plains, with the largest feature being the Imbrium Basin. The Moon has no atmosphere and no magnetic field, which means that it is exposed to the solar wind and cosmic rays. It has a day length of 29.5 Earth days, which is also the length of its orbital period around Earth. The Moon has been used as a celestial body for human exploration and scientific study. The first human landing on the Moon was in 1969 during NASA's Apollo 11 mission, and since then, several missions have been sent to study the Moon's geology, surface features, and potential for future human exploration and colonization.
Today's rise,transit and set times ofThe Moon fromGreenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
- Moon isabove the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
- Right now it is placed in the South direction at an altitude of 20.47° above the horizon.
- Go to interactive sky chart
If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page,so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.
Sky map showing The Moon in Virgo on August, 11 2024.Field of view: 10x6 degrees. View in interactive sky chart
Also check out Where is The Moon?,a page that provides all the information needed to find The Moon in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
The distance of The Moon from Earth is currently
The following chart shows the distance of The Moon from Earth as a function of time.In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.
Chart of the distance of The Moon from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)
The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth.
Between 1 January 1600 and 30 December 2499,the closest approach ofThe Moon to Earth happens on Wed Jan 13 2275 at a distance of 0.002382 Astronomical Units, or356,377 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computedwith a sampling interval of 1 day.
The following chart is the predicted light curve(visual magnitude as a function of time) of The Moon,according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuraciesfor objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepanciesbetween the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.
Chart of the magnitude of The Moon as a function of time
The following shows the known values of the most important physical parameters of The Moon.Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Physical Parameter | Value | Relative to Earth |
|---|---|---|
| Diameter | 3474.2 km | 0.2727 |
| Mass | 0.07342 x 1024 kg | 0.0123 |
| Density | 3.344 gr/cm3 | 0.6065 |
| Escape Velocity | 2.38 km/s | 0.2127 |
| Sideral Rotation | 655.7199 hours | 27.3965 |
| Absolute Magnitude | -12.6 | |
| Geometric Albedo | 0.136 |
The following table lists the ephemerides of The Moon computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval.Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Apparent DiameterDiameter | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 Aug 04 | 08h 38m 54s | +22° 16’ 29” | -4.55 | 1,812.5” | Cancer |
| 2024 Aug 05 | 09h 29m 07s | +18° 06’ 17” | -4.56 | 1,798.6” | Leo |
| 2024 Aug 06 | 10h 16m 06s | +13° 12’ 05” | -5.60 | 1,786.5” | Leo |
| 2024 Aug 07 | 11h 00m 31s | +07° 49’ 20” | -6.55 | 1,776.9” | Leo |
| 2024 Aug 08 | 11h 43m 14s | +02° 11’ 21” | -7.37 | 1,770.5” | Virgo |
| 2024 Aug 09 | 12h 25m 17s | -03° 30’ 37” | -8.08 | 1,768.0” | Virgo |
| 2024 Aug 10 | 13h 07m 37s | -09° 06’ 30” | -8.69 | 1,770.0” | Virgo |
| 2024 Aug 11 | 13h 51m 20s | -14° 26’ 17” | -9.24 | 1,777.2” | Virgo |
| 2024 Aug 12 | 14h 37m 26s | -19° 18’ 55” | -9.73 | 1,789.7” | Libra |
| 2024 Aug 13 | 15h 26m 51s | -23° 31’ 10” | -10.18 | 1,807.5” | Libra |
| 2024 Aug 14 | 16h 20m 12s | -26° 47’ 08” | -10.60 | 1,830.3” | Scorpius |
| 2024 Aug 15 | 17h 17m 33s | -28° 48’ 48” | -11.00 | 1,857.1” | Ophiucus |
| 2024 Aug 16 | 18h 18m 03s | -29° 19’ 00” | -11.38 | 1,886.4” | Sagittarius |
| 2024 Aug 17 | 19h 20m 04s | -28° 05’ 56” | -11.76 | 1,916.3” | Sagittarius |
Compute the position of The Moonfor any date and time between 1 January 1600and 30 December 2499and display the results on an interactive star map.
- Current Phase of the Moon
- Moon Calendar: track the phases of the moon for each day
- Position and finder charts (see also Where is The Moon?)
- Distance from Earth (see also How far is The Moon from Earth?)
- When does The Moon rise and set?
- Brightness (see also How bright is The Moon?)
- Physical data. Detailedinformation about physical properties of The Moon, such as mass and geometric properties.
- 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of The Moon for the past and next 7 days.
- Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate The Moonin the sky from your location.
