Major Bodies»
Above the horizon.Rise:18:03|Tran:21:47|Set:0:52
Alt: 4.96°Az: 147.06°Direction: South-South-East
The Moon tonight is in Waxing Gibbous phase in the constellation of Libra,at a distance of
This image accurately depicts the Moon's current appearance, highlighting the key features near its terminator:
Phase: Waxing GibbousAge: 11.34 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 Libra on July, 17 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-South-East direction at an altitude of 4.96° 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 Libra on July, 17 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 Jul 10 | 10h 30m 23s | +11° 41’ 12” | -7.89 | 1,785.8” | Leo |
| 2024 Jul 11 | 11h 14m 11s | +06° 14’ 43” | -8.53 | 1,776.7” | Leo |
| 2024 Jul 12 | 11h 56m 35s | +00° 36’ 14” | -9.08 | 1,772.3” | Virgo |
| 2024 Jul 13 | 12h 38m 41s | -05° 04’ 09” | -9.57 | 1,773.2” | Virgo |
| 2024 Jul 14 | 13h 21m 33s | -10° 36’ 59” | -10.01 | 1,779.6” | Virgo |
| 2024 Jul 15 | 14h 06m 20s | -15° 52’ 03” | -10.41 | 1,791.6” | Virgo |
| 2024 Jul 16 | 14h 54m 05s | -20° 37’ 01” | -10.79 | 1,808.6” | Libra |
| 2024 Jul 17 | 15h 45m 40s | -24° 36’ 25” | -11.16 | 1,830.1” | Libra |
| 2024 Jul 18 | 16h 41m 31s | -27° 31’ 40” | -11.52 | 1,854.6” | Scorpius |
| 2024 Jul 19 | 17h 41m 13s | -29° 03’ 08” | -11.87 | 1,880.6” | Ophiucus |
| 2024 Jul 20 | 18h 43m 23s | -28° 54’ 41” | -12.23 | 1,906.0” | Sagittarius |
| 2024 Jul 21 | 19h 45m 50s | -26° 59’ 27” | -12.56 | 1,928.7” | Sagittarius |
| 2024 Jul 22 | 20h 46m 33s | -23° 23’ 05” | -12.55 | 1,946.8” | Capricornus |
| 2024 Jul 23 | 21h 44m 17s | -18° 22’ 22” | -12.23 | 1,958.6” | Capricornus |
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.
