NASA SVS | Moon Phase and Libration, 2025

Moon Phase and Libration, 2025

Released Friday, November 22, 2024

ID: 5415

Visualizations by:

Ernie Wright

Scientific consulting by:

Noah Petro

Produced by:

James Tralie

View full credits

Download<br>Images

frames/730x730_1x1_30p/moon.0283.jpg (730x730)<br>frames/1920x1080_16x9_60p/moon.0001.tif (1920x1080)

Enter a time to see what the moon looked like (or will look like) at that time.

Time (UTC)<br>North Up

Time (UTC)2023-01-01T00:00Obscuration00.0%<br>Phase00.0% (0d 0h 0m)<br>Diameter0000.0 arcseconds<br>Distance00.0 km (0.00 Earth diameters)<br>J2000 Right Ascension, Declination0h 0m 0s, 0° 0' 0"Sub-Solar Longitude, Latitude0.000°, 0.000°<br>Sub-Earth Longitude, Latitude0.000°, 0.000°<br>Position Angle0.000°<br>The data in the table for all of 2025 can be downloaded as a JSON file or as a text file .

Click on the image to download a high-resolution version with feature labels and additional graphics. Hover over the image to reveal the animation frame number, which can be used to locate and download the corresponding frame from any of the animations on this page, including unlabeled high-resolution Moon images .

The animation archived on this page shows the geocentric phase, libration, position angle of the axis, and apparent diameter of the Moon throughout the year 2025, at hourly intervals. Until the end of 2025, the initial Dial-A-Moon image will be the frame from this animation for the current hour.More in this series:<br>Moon Phase and Libration Gallery<br>Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO ) has been in orbit around the Moon since the summer of 2009. Its laser altimeter (LOLA ) and camera (LROC ) are recording the rugged, airless lunar terrain in exceptional detail, making it possible to visualize the Moon with unprecedented fidelity. This is especially evident in the long shadows cast near the terminator, or day-night line. The pummeled, craggy landscape thrown into high relief at the terminator would be impossible to recreate in the computer without global terrain maps like those from LRO.

The Moon always keeps the same face to us, but not exactly the same face. Because of the tilt and shape of its orbit, we see the Moon from slightly different angles over the course of a month. When a month is compressed into 24 seconds, as it is in this animation, our changing view of the Moon makes it look like it's wobbling. This wobble is called libration .

The word comes from the Latin for "balance scale" (as does the name of the zodiac constellation Libra) and refers to the way such a scale tips up and down on alternating sides. The sub-Earth point gives the amount of libration in longitude and latitude. The sub-Earth point is also the apparent center of the Moon's disk and the location on the Moon where the Earth is directly overhead.

The Moon is subject to other motions as well. It appears to roll back and forth around the sub-Earth point. The roll angle is given by the position angle of the axis, which is the angle of the Moon's north pole relative to celestial north. The Moon also approaches and recedes from us, appearing to grow and shrink. The two extremes, called perigee (near) and apogee (far), differ by as much as 14%.

The most noticed monthly variation in the Moon's appearance is the cycle of phases , caused by the changing angle of the Sun as the Moon orbits the Earth. The cycle begins with the waxing (growing) crescent Moon visible in the west just after sunset. By first quarter, the Moon is high in the sky at sunset and sets around midnight. The full Moon rises at sunset and is high in the sky at midnight. The third quarter Moon is often surprisingly conspicuous in the daylit western sky long after sunrise.

Celestial north is up in these images, corresponding to the view from the northern hemisphere. The descriptions of the print resolution stills also assume a northern hemisphere orientation. (There is also a south-up version of this page .)

The phase and libration of the Moon for 2025, at hourly intervals. Includes supplemental graphics that display the Moon's orbit, subsolar and sub-Earth points, and the Moon's distance from Earth at true scale. Craters near the terminator are labeled, as are Apollo landing sites, maria, and other albedo features in sunlight.

Download<br>Movies

phases_2025_fancy_720p30.mp4 (1280x720) [72.1 MB]

phases_2025_fancy_1080p30.mp4 (1920x1080) [146.9 MB]

phases_2025_fancy_360p30.mp4 (640x360) [24.2 MB]

phases_2025_fancy_2160p30.mp4 (3840x2160) [512.4 MB]

phases_2025_fancy_2160p30.mov (3840x2160) [15.1 GB]

Frame sets

fancy (1920x1080) [8760 Item(s)]

fancy (3840x2160) [8760 Item(s)]

fancy (5760x3240) [8760 Item(s)]

Images

comp.0120_print.jpg (1024x576) [114.9 KB]

comp.0120_searchweb.png (320x180) [59.2 KB]

comp.0120_thm.png (80x40) [5.8 KB]

Hyperwall shows

Lunar_comp.hwshow

The phase and libration of the Moon for 2025, at hourly intervals. Includes supplemental graphics that display the Moon's orbit, subsolar and sub-Earth...