
From Moongiant.com
The Moon’s current phase for today and tonight is a Waxing Gibbous phase. This phase is when the moon is more than 50% illuminated but not yet a Full Moon. The phase lasts about 7 days with the moon becoming more illuminated each day until the Full Moon. During a Waxing Gibbous the moon rises in the east in mid-afternoon and is high in the eastern sky at sunset. The moon is then visible through most of the night sky setting a few hours before sunrise. The word Gibbous first appeared in the 14th century and has its roots in the Latin word “gibbosus” meaning humpbacked.
Visit the December 2021 Moon Phases Calendar to see all the daily moon phase for this month.
Today’s Waxing Gibbous Phase
The Waxing Gibbous on December 18 has an illumination of 100%. 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 December 18 the Moon is 14.15 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.
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 – December 18
Illumination: 100%
Moon Age: 14.15 days
Moon Angle: 0.49
Moon Distance: 405,481.47 km
Sun Angle: 0.54
Sun Distance: 147,188,753.42 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

Currentplanetarypositions.com
For Your Local Time and Date
Northeastern Hemisphere
18 December 2021
04:00 pm GMT 5:00 PM CEST
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)
Moon:21 Gemini 17
Mercury:07 Capricorn 45
Venus:26 Capricorn 29
Mars:03 Sagittarius 41
Jupiter:28 Aquarius 05
Saturn:10 Aquarius 32
Uranus:11 Taurus 13 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 29
Pluto:25 Capricorn 31
True Lunar Node:01 Gemini 41 Rx
Mean Lunar Node:00 Gemini 14 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):16 Gemini 59
Chiron:08 Aries 26 Rx
Ceres:00 Gemini 28 Rx
Pallas:13 Pisces 27
Juno:12 Capricorn 16
Vesta:17 Sagittarius 21
Eris:23 Aries 44 Rx
Earth:5
Air:7
Water:2
Fixed:3
Mutable:10

Northwestern Hemisphere
18 December 2021
11:00 pm GMT 5:00 PM CST
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)
Moon:24 Gemini 44
Mercury:08 Capricorn 12
Venus:26 Capricorn 29
Mars:03 Sagittarius 53
Jupiter:28 Aquarius 08
Saturn:10 Aquarius 33
Uranus:11 Taurus 13 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 29
Pluto:25 Capricorn 32
True Lunar Node:01 Gemini 40 Rx
Mean Lunar Node:00 Gemini 13 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):17 Gemini 01
Chiron:08 Aries 26 Rx
Ceres:00 Gemini 25 Rx
Pallas:13 Pisces 30
Juno:12 Capricorn 22
Vesta:17 Sagittarius 30
Eris:23 Aries 44 Rx
Earth:5
Air:7
Water:2
Fixed:3
Mutable:10
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