Gibbous ♐ Sagittarius
First Quarter is the lunar phase on . Seen from Earth, illuminated fraction of the Moon surface is 55% and growing larger. The 8 days young Moon is in ♐ Sagittarius.
* The exact date and time of this First Quarter phase is on 17 August 2048 at 00:32 UTC.
Moon rises at noon and sets at midnight. It is visible high in the southern sky in early evening.
Moon is passing first ∠2° of ♐ Sagittarius tropical zodiac sector.
Lunar disc appears visually 3.7% wider than solar disc. Moon and Sun apparent angular diameters are ∠1967" and ∠1896".
Next Full Moon is the Sturgeon Moon of August 2048 after 6 days on 23 August 2048 at 18:07.
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.
The Moon is 8 days young. Earth's natural satellite is moving through the first part of current synodic month. This is lunation 601 of Meeus index or 1554 from Brown series.
Length of current 601 lunation is 29 days, 12 hours and 26 minutes. It is 1 hour and 5 minutes longer than next lunation 602 length.
Length of current synodic month is 18 minutes shorter than the mean length of synodic month, but it is still 5 hours and 51 minutes longer, compared to 21st century shortest.
This lunation true anomaly is ∠240.4°. At the beginning of next synodic month true anomaly will be ∠276°. The length of upcoming synodic months will keep decreasing since the true anomaly gets closer to the value of New Moon at point of perigee (∠0° or ∠360°).
12 days after point of apogee on 4 August 2048 at 17:05 in ♊ Gemini. The lunar orbit is getting closer, while the Moon is moving inward the Earth. It will keep this direction for the next 3 days, until it get to the point of next perigee on 20 August 2048 at 12:34 in ♑ Capricorn.
Moon is 364 443 km (226 454 mi) away from Earth on this date. Moon moves closer next 3 days until perigee, when Earth-Moon distance will reach 366 147 km (227 513 mi).
11 days after its descending node on 5 August 2048 at 13:07 in ♊ Gemini, the Moon is following the southern part of its orbit for the next day, until it will cross the ecliptic from South to North in ascending node on 19 August 2048 at 04:55 in ♐ Sagittarius.
25 days after beginning of current draconic month in ♐ Sagittarius, the Moon is moving from the second to the final part of it.
12 days after previous North standstill on 4 August 2048 at 20:01 in ♊ Gemini, when Moon has reached northern declination of ∠23.656°. Next day the lunar orbit moves southward to face South declination of ∠-23.557° in the next southern standstill on 18 August 2048 at 16:40 in ♐ Sagittarius.
After 6 days on 23 August 2048 at 18:07 in ♒ Aquarius, the Moon will be in Full Moon geocentric opposition with the Sun and this alignment forms next Sun-Earth-Moon syzygy.