The Moon | TheSkyLive (2024)

Major Bodies»

Above the horizon.Rise:4:25|Tran:13:52|Set:23:21

Altitude: 63.9°Azimuth: 148.7°Direction: South-South-East

The Moon tonight is in New Moon phase and is currently in the constellation of Taurus,at a distance of 380,445 kilometers from Earth.The current Right Ascension of The Moon is 05h 56m 53s and the Declination is +27° 56’ 31” (topocentric coordinatescomputed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom).The current magnitude of The Moon is -5.28 (JPL).

This image accurately depicts the Moon's current appearance, highlighting the key features near its terminator:

The Moon | TheSkyLive (1)The Moon | TheSkyLive (2)

The Moon | TheSkyLive (3)The Moon | TheSkyLive (4)

Phase: New MoonAge: 0.60 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 Taurus on June, 07 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.

05h 56m 53s

+27° 56’ 31”

Taurus

-5.28

Today's rise,transit and set times ofThe Moon fromGreenwich, United Kingdom (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 61.9°

Max altitude: 66.9°

Azimuth: 298.4°

  • Moon isabove the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom.
  • Right now it is placed in the South-South-East direction at an altitude of 64° 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.

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. 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.

Map showing The Moon in Taurus on June, 07 2024
Field of view: 10x6 degrees
View fullscreen

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 380,445 kilometers,equivalent to 0.002543 Astronomical Units.Light takes1.2690 seconds to travel from The Moon and arrive to us.

380,445

0.002543

1.2690 seconds

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:

Wed Jan 13 2275

356,377

0.002382

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 ParameterValueRelative to Earth
Diameter3474.2 km0.2727
Mass0.07342 x 1024 kg0.0123
Density3.344 gr/cm30.6065
Escape Velocity2.38 km/s0.2127
Sideral Rotation655.7199 hours27.3965
Absolute Magnitude-12.6
Geometric Albedo0.136

The following table lists the ephemerides of The Moon computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval.Click on each row of the table to locate The Moon in our Online Planetariumat the chosen date.

DateRight AscensionR.A.DeclinationDec.MagnitudeMagApparent DiameterDiameterConstellation
2024 May 3123h 02m 54s-08° 53’ 57”-10.041,937.1”Aquarius
2024 Jun 0123h 53m 27s-02° 15’ 24”-9.491,943.6”Pisces
2024 Jun 0200h 43m 50s+04° 31’ 58”-8.831,946.7”Pisces
2024 Jun 0301h 35m 18s+11° 07’ 00”-8.051,945.8”Pisces
2024 Jun 0402h 28m 58s+17° 07’ 12”-7.111,940.1”Aries
2024 Jun 0503h 25m 28s+22° 09’ 16”-6.011,929.4”Aries
2024 Jun 0604h 24m 50s+25° 51’ 19”-4.781,913.8”Taurus
2024 Jun 0705h 26m 00s+27° 56’ 44”-4.721,894.4”Taurus
2024 Jun 0806h 27m 11s+28° 18’ 42”-5.861,872.3”Auriga
2024 Jun 0907h 26m 20s+27° 02’ 03”-6.861,849.3”Gemini
2024 Jun 1008h 21m 57s+24° 20’ 58”-7.681,827.2”Cancer
2024 Jun 1109h 13m 31s+20° 33’ 59”-8.371,807.5”Cancer
2024 Jun 1210h 01m 18s+15° 59’ 15”-8.961,791.4”Leo
2024 Jun 1310h 46m 03s+10° 52’ 14”-9.451,780.1”Leo

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.

The Moon | TheSkyLive (2024)

FAQs

Why is the Moon so important to the earth? ›

The Moon makes Earth a more livable planet by moderating our home planet's wobble on its axis, leading to a relatively stable climate. It also causes tides, creating a rhythm that has guided humans for thousands of years. The Moon was likely formed after a Mars-sized body collided with Earth several billion years ago.

What is the Moon made of? ›

Like many planets in our solar system such as Mercury, Venus, and Mars, the moon is a rocky body with a combination of metallic substances found within the layers of its surface. While the moon is mostly made of iron, other metals found on the moon are magnesium, aluminum, silicon, titanium, gold, silver, and mercury.

Which type of moon is today? ›

Waxing Crescent

Today's moon is 0.71% visible and is crescent. 7 days left to the next phase 1st Quarter.

What are 5 interesting facts? ›

101 of the best random fun facts
  • A cloud weighs around a million tonnes. ...
  • Giraffes are 30 times more likely to get hit by lightning than people. ...
  • Identical twins don't have the same fingerprints. ...
  • Earth's rotation is changing speed. ...
  • Your brain is constantly eating itself.
Feb 23, 2024

What is a fun fact about the full moon? ›

Because a full moon occurs every 29.5 days, we sometimes see two full moons in a calendar month. This second full moon is called a “Blue Moon”. Blue moons tend to happen every two and a half years, and the relative rarity of such an event is where the expression “once in a blue moon” comes from!

Is there oxygen inside the Moon? ›

All lunar rock and soil do, however, contain approximately 45 wt% oxygen, combined with metals or nonmetals to form oxides. This oxygen can be extracted if thermal, electrical, or chemical energy is invested to break the chemical bonds. Over twenty different methods have been proposed for oxygen extraction on the Moon.

Who broke the Moon into two pieces? ›

The splitting of the Moon (Arabic: انشقاق القمر) is a miracle in the Muslim faith attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It is derived from Surah Al-Qamar 54:1–2 and mentioned by Muslim traditions such as the asbāb al-nuzūl (context of revelation).

Is there water on the Moon? ›

It's not a riddle, it's the Moon! For centuries, astronomers debated whether water exists on Earth's closest neighbor. In 2020, data from NASA's SOFIA mission confirmed water exists in the sunlit area of the lunar surface as molecules of H2O embedded within, or perhaps sticking to the surface of, grains of lunar dust.

What emoji is this 🌕? ›

The Full Moon emoji 🌕 depicts the celestial object as a round, yellow orb with visible craters. The emoji is used to represent all things lunar, outer space, the night, spiritual sisterhood, and, occasionally, the butt.

What does the emoji 🌑 mean? ›

A new moon, the first of the eight phases of the moon. Depicts the moon as a full, bluish- or grayish-black, cratered disc, not illuminated by the sun. May be used to represent the moon more generally, nighttime, outer space, and astronomy. May also be used to convey enchanting or eerie feelings.

What is 🌖? ›

A waning gibbous moon (appearing more than half full but getting smaller), the sixth of the eight phases of the moon.

What are 3 important features of the Moon? ›

There are three main surface features of the Moon: highlands, maria, and craters. The highlands, which are old mountains made of igneous rocks, make up about 83 percent of the Moon's surface. Maria are the dark areas that we see when we look at the Moon from Earth.

What is a 5 sentence about the Moon? ›

The Moon is the natural satellite of the planet Earth. It is a natural object which revolves around the Earth. It is a member of the Solar System family and is the only satellite of our planet. It is the second brightest object we see in the sky after the Sun.

How long is 4 moons? ›

4 Moons has a running time of 1 hour and 49 mins.

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