Gibbous ♋ Cancer
Moon phase on 23 February 2002 Saturday is Waxing Gibbous, 10 days young Moon is in Cancer.Share this page: twitter facebook linkedin
Previous main lunar phase is the First Quarter before 2 days on 20 February 2002 at 12:02.
Moon rises in the afternoon and sets after midnight to early morning. It is visible to the southeast in early evening and it is up for most of the night.
Moon is passing about ∠11° of ♋ Cancer tropical zodiac sector.
Lunar disc appears visually 1.6% narrower than solar disc. Moon and Sun apparent angular diameters are ∠1908" and ∠1939".
Next Full Moon is the Snow Moon of February 2002 after 3 days on 27 February 2002 at 09:17.
There is medium ocean tide on this date. Sun and Moon gravitational forces are not aligned, but meet at very acute angle, so their combined tidal force is moderate.
The Moon is 10 days young. Earth's natural satellite is moving from the first to the middle part of current synodic month. This is lunation 26 of Meeus index or 979 from Brown series.
Length of current 26 lunation is 29 days, 18 hours and 22 minutes. This is the year's longest synodic month of 2002. It is 1 hour and 3 minutes longer than next lunation 27 length.
Length of current synodic month is 5 hours and 38 minutes longer than the mean length of synodic month, but it is still 1 hour and 25 minutes shorter, compared to 21st century longest.
This lunation true anomaly is ∠155.3°. At the beginning of next synodic month true anomaly will be ∠180.3°. 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°).
8 days after point of apogee on 14 February 2002 at 22:22 in ♓ Pisces. The lunar orbit is getting closer, while the Moon is moving inward the Earth. It will keep this direction for the next 4 days, until it get to the point of next perigee on 27 February 2002 at 19:47 in ♍ Virgo.
Moon is 375 771 km (233 493 mi) away from Earth on this date. Moon moves closer next 4 days until perigee, when Earth-Moon distance will reach 356 898 km (221 766 mi).
1 day after its ascending node on 22 February 2002 at 06:26 in ♊ Gemini, the Moon is following the northern part of its orbit for the next 11 days, until it will cross the ecliptic from North to South in descending node on 6 March 2002 at 16:19 in ♐ Sagittarius.
1 day after beginning of current draconic month in ♊ Gemini, the Moon is moving from the beginning to the first part of it.
At 11:48 on this date the Moon is meeting its North standstill point, when it will reach northern declination of ∠24.418°. Next 12 days the lunar orbit will move in opposite southward direction to face South declination of ∠-24.510° in its southern standstill point on 8 March 2002 at 01:59 in ♑ Capricorn.
After 3 days on 27 February 2002 at 09:17 in ♍ Virgo, the Moon will be in Full Moon geocentric opposition with the Sun and this alignment forms next Sun-Earth-Moon syzygy.