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 March 16 Waning Gibbous 69% |
 March 17 Waning Gibbous 60% |
 Last Quarter Illumination: 51% |
 March 19 Waning Crescent 41% |
 March 20 Waning Crescent 32% |
MOON
Your personal lunar portal
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Moon Phase: March 18, 2009
On this day the Moon was in a Last Quarter phase. This phase occurs roughly 3 weeks after the New Moon when the Moon is three quarter of the way through it’s orbit around the earth. If you live in the northern hemisphere the Moons left side will be illuminated and the right side will be dark. For those of you in the southern hemisphere it will be the opposite with the right side illuminated. Also called a Third Quarter phase, it will rise around midnight on the eastern horizon and set in the west around noon the next day. In the days following the Third Quarter Phase the Moon’s illumination will decrees each day until the New Moon.
Visit the March 2009 Moon Phases Calendar to see all the daily moon phase for this month.
Last Quarter Phase
The Last Quarter on March 18 has an illumination of 51%. This is the percentage of the Moon illuminated by the Sun. The illumination is constantly changing and can vary up to 10% a day. On March 18 the Moon is 22.07 days old. This refers to how many days it has been since the last New Moon. It takes 29.53 days for the Moon to orbit the Earth and go through the lunar cycle of all 8 Moon phases.
Today's Moon Sign: ♍ Virgo
The current zodiac moon sign is Virgo, positioned at 15.31° within the sign. The Moon entered Virgo on Loading... and will shift into Libra on Loading.... The zodiac moon sign represents the position of the Moon as it moves through the twelve signs of the zodiac. Each zodiac moon sign lasts about 2 to 2.5 days as the Moon travels through that part of the sky.
The 8 Lunar Phases
There are 8 lunar phases the Moon goes through in its 29.53 days lunar cycle. The 4 major Moon phases are Full Moon, New Moon, First Quarter and Last Quarter. Between these major phases, there are 4 minor ones: the Waxing Crescent, Waxing Gibbous, Waning Gibbous and Waning Crescent. For more info on the Moon Cycle and on each phase check out Wikipedia Lunar Phase page.
Phase Details for - March 18
Illumination: 51%
Moon Age: 22.07 days
Moon Angle: 0.49
Moon Distance: 405,054.86 km
Sun Angle: 0.54
Sun Distance: 148,937,507.59 km
Useful Moon Resources
Check the weather before a night of Moon gazing at weather.com
For a list of all the current meteor showers visit American Meteor Society
Last Quarter Moonrise and Moonset
average moon rise Average Mid-phase Average Moon Set 