The Moon

EnglishItalianoEspañol Home » Major Bodies » The Moon The Moon Above the horizon. Rise: 08:45 | Tran: 17:08 | Set: 01:52 (+1) Alt: 1.02° Az: 301.70° Direction: West-North-West

Today the Moon is the constellation of Aries, at a distance of 371,065.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 02h 39m 29s and the Declination is +19° 56’ 52” (apparent coordinates). The magnitude of the Moon is -9.39.

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.

Phase: Waxing Crescent Age: 5.79 days 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.

Loading the finder chart... Star map showing the position of the Moon in the constellation of Aries on February 23, 2026. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map. Loading the finder chart... Star map showing the position of the Moon in the constellation of Aries on February 23, 2026. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive star map.

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

Right Ascension 02h 39m 29s Declination +19° 56’ 52” Hour Angle 07h 40m 43s Sidereal Time 10h 20m 12s

J2000

Right Ascension 02h 38m 00s Declination +19° 50’ 09”

Additional Information

Constellation Aries Magnitude -9.39

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):

Azimuth: 52.5° RISE 08:45 Max altitude: 61.9° TRANSIT 17:08 Azimuth: 312.8° SET 01:52 (+1)

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 371,065.0 kilometers, equivalent to 0.0024804163 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1.238s to travel from the Moon and arrive to us.

Distance Km 371,065.0 Distance AU 0.0024804163 Light Travel Time 1.238s

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.

Chart of the distance of the Moon from Earth in Astronomical Units (au) 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:

Date Wednesday 13 January 2275 Distance Kilometers 356,377 Distance AU 0.002382

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.

Chart of the magnitude of the Moon as a function of time

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
Feb 16 2026	20h 51m 06s	-20° 54’ 24”	-5.77	1,834.8”	Capricornus
Feb 17 2026	21h 40m 59s	-16° 03’ 54”	-4.58	1,854.2”	Capricornus
Feb 18 2026	22h 29m 23s	-10° 26’ 18”	-4.59	1,873.0”	Aquarius
Feb 19 2026	23h 17m 00s	-04° 16’ 30”	-5.87	1,890.0”	Aquarius
Feb 20 2026	00h 04m 42s	+02° 09’ 10”	-6.97	1,904.6”	Pisces
Feb 21 2026	00h 53m 35s	+08° 33’ 06”	-7.91	1,916.3”	Pisces
Feb 22 2026	01h 44m 45s	+14° 35’ 40”	-8.71	1,925.1”	Pisces
Feb 23 2026	02h 39m 10s	+19° 55’ 16”	-9.39	1,931.2”	Aries
Feb 24 2026	03h 37m 26s	+24° 08’ 38”	-9.96	1,934.7”	Taurus
Feb 25 2026	04h 39m 18s	+26° 53’ 04”	-10.46	1,935.9”	Taurus
Feb 26 2026	05h 43m 27s	+27° 50’ 53”	-10.89	1,934.5”	Taurus
Feb 27 2026	06h 47m 40s	+26° 55’ 03”	-11.28	1,930.4”	Gemini
Feb 28 2026	07h 49m 42s	+24° 12’ 02”	-11.64	1,923.3”	Gemini
Mar 01 2026	08h 48m 05s	+19° 59’ 41”	-11.97	1,912.7”	Cancer

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.
• Lunar Eclipses: Extensive information about future and past lunar eclipses.
• 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.