The Moon
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.
The Moon tonight is in Waning Gibbous 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:
View Moon Position in the Sky
Credits: this image is derived from original work by NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
Finder Charts
View interactive star map
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.
Celestial Coordinates
Apparent
J2000
Additional Information
Rise and Set Times
Today's rise,
transit and set times of
The Moon from
Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
Azimuth: 100.8°
Max altitude: 31.7°
Azimuth: 262.0°
- Moon is
above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
- Right now it is placed in the South-East direction at an altitude of 26.06° 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.
Distance from Earth
- Moon is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
- Right now it is placed in the South-East direction at an altitude of 26.06° above the horizon.
- Go to interactive sky chart
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.
The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth.
Closest Approach
Between 1 January 1600 and 30 December 2499, the closest approach of The Moon to Earth happens on Wed Jan 13 2275 at a distance of 0.002382 Astronomical Units, or 356,377 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Light Curve
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 inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.
Physical Data
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 |
15 Days Ephemeris
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 Jan 13 | 06h 48m 37s | +27° 21’ 49” | -12.46 | 1,895.6” | Gemini |
| 2025 Jan 14 | 07h 49m 01s | +25° 09’ 30” | -12.65 | 1,877.6” | Gemini |
| 2025 Jan 15 | 08h 45m 30s | +21° 32’ 30” | -12.39 | 1,857.6” | Cancer |
| 2025 Jan 16 | 09h 37m 38s | +16° 53’ 24” | -12.06 | 1,837.0” | Leo |
| 2025 Jan 17 | 10h 25m 51s | +11° 34’ 03” | -11.74 | 1,817.3” | Leo |
| 2025 Jan 18 | 11h 11m 04s | +05° 52’ 51” | -11.41 | 1,799.9” | Leo |
| 2025 Jan 19 | 11h 54m 22s | +00° 04’ 20” | -11.08 | 1,786.0” | Virgo |
| 2025 Jan 20 | 12h 36m 53s | -05° 39’ 58” | -10.74 | 1,776.7” | Virgo |
| 2025 Jan 21 | 13h 19m 43s | -11° 10’ 18” | -10.38 | 1,772.8” | Virgo |
| 2025 Jan 22 | 14h 03m 53s | -16° 17’ 07” | -9.99 | 1,774.5” | Virgo |
| 2025 Jan 23 | 14h 50m 22s | -20° 49’ 59” | -9.56 | 1,781.9” | Libra |
| 2025 Jan 24 | 15h 39m 57s | -24° 36’ 29” | -9.07 | 1,794.8” | Libra |
| 2025 Jan 25 | 16h 33m 00s | -27° 22’ 18” | -8.50 | 1,812.5” | Scorpius |
| 2025 Jan 26 | 17h 29m 15s | -28° 52’ 20” | -7.82 | 1,833.9” | Ophiuchus |
Additional Resources
- 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. Detailed information 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 Moon in the sky from your location.