23 October 2024 Current Moon Phase and Planetary Positions for the Southern Hemisphere

The current moon phase for October 23rd, 2024 is the Waning Gibbous phase.

On this day, the moon is 20.04 days old and 63.1% illuminated with a tilt of -42.643°. The approximate distance from Earth to the moon is 383,567.93 km and the moon sign is Cancer.

The Moon phase for October 23rd, 2024 is a Waning Gibbous phase. This is the first phase after the Full Moon where the illumination of the moon decreases each day until it reaches 50% (the Last Quarter phase).

The waning (shrinking) gibbous Moon will rise after sunset in the east, transit the meridian after midnight, before setting after sunrise in the west.

During this phase, the illumination of the moon will go down from 99.% to 50.1%. Technically, the phase starts as soon as the Full Moon has passed, but it can be difficult to calculate and differentiate the first stage of a Waning Gibbous Moon from a Full Moon when 98-99% of the Moon’s surface is illuminated.

Fun fact: the word Gibbous was first used in the 14th century and comes from the latin word gibbosus which means humpbacked.