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.
Find it in the Sky
Chose a date & time and view the position of the Moon in the sky on our interactive planetarium.
In Evidence
The Moon
Today the Moon is the constellation of Pisces, at a distance of
Current Moon Appearance
The image below shows the actual appearance of today's Moon phase. Check out the list of prominent lunar features suitable for observations today.
Credits: this image is derived from original work by NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
Finder Charts
The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of the Moon in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.
Equatorial Coordinates
Apparent
J2000
Additional Information
Rise and Set Times
The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of the Moon from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
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
The distance of the Moon from Earth is currently
The following graph shows the distance of the Moon from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).
Closest Approach to Earth
In the period between January 1, 1600 and December 30, 2499, the closest approach of the Moon to Earth will happen on Wednesday 13 January 2275 at a distance of 0.002382 Astronomical Units, or 356,377 kilometers:
Note: the values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Light Curve
The following chart shows the light curve of the Moon, i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.
Physical Properties
The table below lists the known key physical properties of the Moon.
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 10 2025 | 18h 33m 04s | -28° 41’ 16” | -12.34 | 1,819.6” | Sagittarius |
| Jul 11 2025 | 19h 29m 48s | -26° 54’ 57” | -12.53 | 1,836.4” | Sagittarius |
| Jul 12 2025 | 20h 25m 19s | -23° 43’ 54” | -12.30 | 1,853.6” | Capricornus |
| Jul 13 2025 | 21h 18m 50s | -19° 18’ 25” | -12.01 | 1,870.3” | Capricornus |
| Jul 14 2025 | 22h 10m 14s | -13° 53’ 06” | -11.70 | 1,886.1” | Aquarius |
| Jul 15 2025 | 23h 00m 03s | -07° 44’ 50” | -11.38 | 1,900.7” | Aquarius |
| Jul 16 2025 | 23h 49m 13s | -01° 11’ 22” | -11.02 | 1,913.9” | Pisces |
| Jul 17 2025 | 00h 38m 53s | +05° 28’ 38” | -10.63 | 1,925.4” | Pisces |
| Jul 18 2025 | 01h 30m 18s | +11° 55’ 10” | -10.18 | 1,935.1” | Pisces |
| Jul 19 2025 | 02h 24m 40s | +17° 45’ 58” | -9.66 | 1,942.4” | Aries |
| Jul 20 2025 | 03h 22m 47s | +22° 36’ 23” | -9.04 | 1,946.5” | Aries |
| Jul 21 2025 | 04h 24m 40s | +26° 01’ 26” | -8.30 | 1,946.8” | Taurus |
| Jul 22 2025 | 05h 29m 07s | +27° 40’ 32” | -7.41 | 1,942.5” | Taurus |
| Jul 23 2025 | 06h 33m 51s | +27° 24’ 10” | -6.35 | 1,933.2” | Auriga |
Additional Resources on TheSkyLive
- The Moon: Complete reference information on TheSkyLive.com.
- Today's Moon Phase: Current phase of the Moon, high-resolution image of its present appearance and list of visible features.
- Next Full Moon: Precise date, time and visibility information of the next Full Moon.
- Next New Moon: Precise date, time and additional information about the next New Moon.
- Moon Calendar: Track the phases of the moon for each day.
- Where is the Moon?: Key information on where to find the Moon in the sky.
- Distance of the Moon from Earth: Find out how far the Moon is from Earth right now.
- How Bright is the Moon?: Current visual brightness (magnitude) and apparent size.
- Rise and Set Times: Rise and set times of the Moon from your location.
- Interactive Sky Map: Planetarium-style interactive visualization of the Moon's position in the sky.
- Ephemeris: 15 days the Moon's computed ephemeris.
- Physical Data: Detailed information about physical properties of the Moon.