The Moon will pass first quarter phase,
appearing prominent in the evening sky and setting in the middle of the night.
From Orlando , it
will be visible from soon after it rises, at 14:28, until soon before it sets at 00:32.
At this time in its monthly cycle of phases, it appears almost exactly half illuminated.
The Moon orbits the
Earth once every four weeks, causing its
phases to cycle through new
moon, first quarter, full moon, last quarter, and back to new moon once
every 29.5 days.
As it progresses through this cycle, it is visible at different times of day.
At first quarter, it appears high in the sky at sunset before sinking towards the
horizon and setting in the middle of the night. More information about the Moon’s phases is available
here.
Observing the Moon at first quarter
Over coming days, the Moon will set later each day, becoming visible for more
of the night. Within a few days, it will not make it very far above the eastern
horizon before nightfall. By the time it reaches full phase, it will be visible
for much of the night, rising at around dusk and setting at around dawn.
Its daily progress is charted below, with all times are given in
Orlando local time.
| Date | Sun sets at |
Moon sets at |
Altitude of Moon at sunset |
Direction of Moon at sunset |
| 17 Oct 2023 | 18:54 | 20:04 | 13° | south-west |
| 18 Oct 2023 | 18:53 | 20:43 | 19° | south-west |
| 19 Oct 2023 | 18:52 | 21:29 | 24° | south-west |
| 20 Oct 2023 | 18:51 | 22:23 | 29° | south |
| 21 Oct 2023 | 18:50 | 23:25 | 32° | south |
| 22 Oct 2023 | 18:49 | 00:31 | 34° | south |
| 23 Oct 2023 | 18:48 | 01:40 | 34° | south-east |
| 24 Oct 2023 | 18:48 | 02:49 | 32° | south-east |
| 25 Oct 2023 | 18:47 | 03:56 | 28° | south-east |
| 26 Oct 2023 | 18:46 | 05:02 | 22° | east |
| 27 Oct 2023 | 18:45 | 06:07 | 16° | east |
| 28 Oct 2023 | 18:44 | 07:13 | 8° | east |
The exact moment of first quarter
The exact moment of first quarter is defined as the time when the Moon’s ecliptic longitude is exactly
90° away from the Sun’s ecliptic longitude, as observed from the center of the Earth. However,
the Moon does not appear in any way special at this instant in time, and a first quarter moon can be
observed at any time in the evening sky.
At the moment it reaches first quarter, the Moon’s distance from the Earth will be 372,000Â km. Its celestial coordinates will be as follows:
| Object | Right Ascension | Declination | Constellation | Angular Size |
| The Moon | 20h05m40s | 25°41’S | Sagittarius | 32’04” |
The coordinates above are given in J2000.0.
The sky on 21 Oct 2023
Source
The circumstances of this event were computed using the DE430 planetary ephemeris published by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
This event was automatically generated by searching the ephemeris for planetary alignments which are of interest to amateur astronomers, and the text above was generated based on an estimate of your location.
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Image credit
Simulated image courtesy of Tom Ruen.
