Maps: NASA Blue Marble, Black Marble, LRO, MESSENGER, Cassini, New Horizons · Mars: NASA/JPL/USGS Viking mosaic, relief from MGS MOLA (NASA/GSFC, 6x vertical exaggeration) · Jupiter: Hubble OPAL 2019, NASA, ESA, A. Simon (GSFC), M.H. Wong (UC Berkeley) (CC BY 4.0), enhanced colour · Sun's limb: NASA/SDO AIA 304 Å · Sun, Saturn, Saturn's rings, Uranus, Neptune, clouds, relief: Solar System Scope (CC BY 4.0) · Moons and small worlds: NASA/JPL/USGS; Io, Ganymede, Titan, Triton via CelestiaContent (CC BY, Askaniy Anpilogov et al.); Mimas, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Ceres, Vesta via Stellarium (CC BY 4.0, Oleg Pluton, FarGetaNik) · Bennu, Ryugu, Itokawa, Eros, Arrokoth: shape models NASA PDS / OSIRIS-REx / NEAR / New Horizons (CC0), Ryugu ISAS/JAXA (CC BY 4.0); maps via CelestiaContent (Askaniy Anpilogov, Roman Tkachenko; Stooke, NASA PDS; CC BY) · Positions of the Sun, Moon and planets: JPL DE440 ephemeris (Park et al. 2021, NASA/JPL), 1800-2100; moons: orbits fitted to JPL Horizons (satellite ephemerides JUP365, SAT441, URA184, NEP098, MAR099, PLU060); other orbits: JPL, Minor Planet Center; asteroids and comets: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database (via KStars) · Spacecraft trajectories: NASA/JPL Horizons · Rotation: IAU WGCCRE · Data: NASA NSSDC
Space Simulator
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Moon Phase Today: the Moon as you see it now
A live 3D Moon drawn from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter pictures and lit by the real Sun: its phase, its slow wobble (libration) and its tilt in your sky are computed for your place and time from JPL's DE440 ephemeris. See moonrise, moonset and how high it climbs, the next new, quarter and full moons with their traditional names, and a calendar of the whole month. Zoom in to read the names of the seas, the craters and the Apollo landing sites.
What is the moon phase today?
The Moon above shows it live for your location: the phase name, how much of the disc is lit and the Moon's age in days since the last new moon. It updates by itself; the calendar shows every day of the month.
When is the next full moon?
It is listed under "Coming up" with its date and time in your time zone and its traditional name, such as the Beaver Moon in November or the Cold Moon in December. Full moons come every 29.5 days on average.
Why does the Moon have phases?
The Sun always lights half of the Moon. As the Moon circles the Earth once a month we see more or less of that lit half: none at new moon, half at the quarters, all of it at full moon.
Why do we always see the same side of the Moon?
The Moon turns once on its axis in exactly the time it takes to orbit the Earth, so it keeps one face toward us. Its tilted, slightly oval orbit makes it seem to rock a little (libration), so over time we see about 59% of its surface.