Moon distance and apparent size for an exact time
Enter a local civil date, 24-hour time, and IANA time zone to calculate the center-to-center Earth–Moon distance, apparent angular diameter, sub-Earth libration, and the previous and next perigee and apogee.
Calculated Moon geometry
- Earth–Moon center distance
- 379,605 km
- Apparent angular diameter
- 31.47 arcminutes (0.5245°)
- Sub-Earth libration longitude
- −4.75°
- Sub-Earth libration latitude
- −4.95°
- Nearest apsis in time
- Perigee, next — ; 6 days, 11 hours, 59 minutes after the selected instant, at 368,249 km
- Selected instant in UTC
- 2026-08-31T08:45+00:00[UTC]
- UTC instant
Show previous and next perigee and apogee
| Apsis | Previous in UTC | Previous distance | Next in UTC | Next distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perigee | UTC 10 Aug 2026, 11:18 | 363,273 km | UTC 6 Sept 2026, 20:44 | 368,249 km |
| Apogee | UTC 22 Aug 2026, 08:20 | 404,632 km | UTC 19 Sept 2026, 02:59 | 404,210 km |
What the values mean
- Geocentric distance
- The distance between the centers of Earth and the Moon, not the distance from a person or a point on Earth's surface.
- Angular diameter
- The apparent width of the full lunar disk as seen from Earth's center. A smaller distance generally produces a larger angular diameter.
- Sub-Earth libration
- Longitude and latitude angles describing the Moon's apparent back-and-forth wobble relative to its mean Earth-facing position.
- Perigee and apogee
- The local minimum and maximum of the changing center-to-center Earth–Moon distance. The table brackets the selected instant with a strictly previous and strictly next event of each type.
Scope and limitations
- Supported local years: 1900–2100.
- Results are geocentric and do not use an observer latitude, longitude, or elevation.
- Topocentric parallax, atmospheric refraction, terrain, weather, moonrise, and moonset are not modeled.
- Displayed values are rounded; calculations retain greater internal precision.
Need the illuminated phase and adjacent new, quarter, and full Moon events instead? Use the exact-time Moon Phase Calculator. To include an observer location, use the Moon Position Calculator. Calculation definitions, validation fixtures, and model limits are documented in the distance calculation methods and sources.