Moon phase March 17 2023

Waning Crescent 24% illuminated

Waning Crescent is the lunar phase on 17 March 2023, Friday. Seen from Earth, illuminated fraction of the Moon surface is 24% and getting smaller. The 24 days old Moon is in ♑ Capricorn.

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2 days after Last Quarter

Previous main lunar phase is the Last Quarter before 2 days on 15 March 2023 at 02:08.

Moonrise and moonset

Moon rises after midnight to early morning and sets in the afternoon. It is visible in the early morning low to the east.

Moon in ♑ Capricorn

Moon is leaving the last ∠1° of ♑ Capricorn tropical zodiac sector and will enter ♒ Aquarius later.

Apparent angular diameter ∠1972"

Lunar disc appears visually 2.2% wider than solar disc. Moon and Sun apparent angular diameters are ∠1972" and ∠1928".

Pink Moon after 19 days

Next Full Moon is the Pink Moon of April 2023 after 19 days on 6 April 2023 at 04:35.

Upcoming main Moon phases

• New Moon in Pisces ♓ after 4 days on 21 March 2023 at 17:23
• First Quarter in Cancer ♋ after 11 days on 29 March 2023 at 02:32
• Full Moon in Libra ♎ after 19 days on 6 April 2023 at 04:35
• Last Quarter in Capricorn ♑ after 26 days on 13 April 2023 at 09:11

Neap tide

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.

Lunation 286 / 1239

The Moon is 24 days old. Earth's natural satellite is moving from the second to the final part of current synodic month. This is lunation 286 of Meeus index or 1239 from Brown series.

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Synodic month length 29.43 days

The length of the lunation is 29 days, 10 hours and 17 minutes. It is 32 minutes shorter than the next lunation's length. The lengths of the following synodic months are going to increasing with the true anomaly getting closer to the value it has at the point of New Moon at apogee [∠180°].

Lunation length shorter than mean

The length of the current synodic month is 2 hours and 27 minutes shorter than the mean synodic month length. It is 3 hours and 42 minutes longer compared to 21st century's shortest synodic month length.

True anomaly ∠15.6°

At the beginning of the lunation cycle the true anomaly is ∠15.6°. At the beginning of next synodic month the true anomaly is going to be ∠34.1°.

Moon before apogee

13 days after point of apogee on 3 March 2023 at 18:01 in ♋ Cancer. The lunar orbit is getting narrow, while the Moon is moving towards the Earth. It will keep this direction over the next 2 days, until the Moon reaches the point of next perigee on 19 March 2023 at 15:16 in ♒ Aquarius.

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Distance to Moon 363 520 km

The Moon is 363 520 km [225 881 mi] away from Earth and getting closer over the next 2 days until the point perigee when Earth-Moon distance is going to be 362 698 km [225 370 mi].

Moon after descending node

6 days after descending node on 11 March 2023 at 08:53 in ♏ Scorpio. The Moon is located south of the ecliptic over the following 6 days, until the lunar orbit crosses from South to North in ascending node on 24 March 2023 at 02:08 in ♉ Taurus.

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Draconic month

20 days since the beginning of current draconic month in ♈ Aries, the Moon is navigating from the second to the final part of the cycle.

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Moon after southern standstill

1 day since the previous standstill on 15 March 2023 at 21:43 in ♐ Sagittarius when the Moon has reached South declination of ∠-27.831°, the lunar orbit is extending northward over the next 11 days to face maximum declination of ∠27.898° at the point of next northern standstill on 28 March 2023 at 21:29 in ♊ Gemini.

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Syzygy in 4 days

In 4 days on 21 March 2023 at 17:23 in ♓ Pisces the Moon is going to be in a New Moon geocentric conjunction with the Sun and thus forming the next Sun-Moon-Earth syzygy alignment.

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