Moon Position Map
See where the moon is overhead now and where it is above the horizon, its path over the next day, phase and distance, and its direction, moonrise and moonset from any place.
Working out where the moon is…
How to find where the moon is
- Look at the map. The marker is where the moon is overhead; the unshaded half of the Earth can see it.
- Follow the dashed line. Where the moon will be overhead over the next day.
- Choose a place. Search or click to see the moon's altitude and compass direction there, and today's moonrise and moonset.
- Read the details. Phase, illumination, age, distance and the dates of the next four phases.
Why find the moon's position
Moon photography
Know where it will rise and how high it is.
Stargazing
Avoid nights when a bright moon is up.
Fishing and hunting
Many plan around moonrise and moonset.
Tides
The moon's position drives the tides.
Teaching
Why the moon rises about 50 minutes later each day.
Curiosity
Who can see the moon right now?
How the moon's position is calculated
The moon's position comes from Paul Schlyter's method for computing planetary positions, including the main perturbation terms of the lunar orbit. Checked against JPL Horizons it was within about a minute of arc, and its phase times were within 10 minutes of the US Naval Observatory's for October–December 2026.
The point overhead is the moon's geocentric declination and the longitude where its right ascension matches the local sidereal time. Altitude and azimuth for a place are geocentric; moonrise and moonset use the moon's upper limb with standard refraction and parallax.
A place's time zone comes from Open-Meteo. Everything else is calculated in your browser, refreshed every minute.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the moon rise later each day?
It moves about 13° east along its orbit each day, so the Earth must turn about 50 extra minutes before it rises again.
Can the moon be seen in daytime?
Yes, whenever it is above the horizon and not too close to the sun — often in the afternoon around first quarter.
Why is there sometimes no moonrise on a date?
Because it rises later each day, one day a month the rise falls after midnight and that date has none.
How far away is the moon?
About 356,000 to 407,000 km, centre to centre; the page shows today's distance.
Is the altitude exact?
It is geocentric and ignores refraction, so near the horizon it can differ by about a degree from what you see.
Related tools
Moon Phase Calendar
A month calendar of the moon's phase every day, with the exact times of new moon, first quarter, full moon and last quarter in your time zone, or every phase of a year.
Schlyter lunar method (checked against USNO phase tables)
Sun Position Calculator
Pick a place, date and time and get the sun's elevation and compass direction, plus sunrise, sunset, solar noon and day length in local time, with a chart of the sun's path that day.
NOAA solar calculator equations (Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms)
Time Zone Finder
Type any address or use your location and get its IANA time zone, current local time, UTC offset, whether daylight saving time is in effect, and the date of the next clock change.
Time zone from Open-Meteo; rules from the IANA tz database in your browser
Sunrise Sunset Calculator
Get sunrise, sunset, dawn, dusk, solar noon and day length for every day of any month at any place, in its local time with daylight saving, and download the table.
NOAA solar calculation equations; IANA tz database
Time Difference Calculator
Compare the time in several cities at once, see how many hours ahead or behind each one is, convert a time between them and find the hours that suit everyone.
IANA tz database in your browser; Open-Meteo time zone lookup
US Time Zone Map
A map of US time zones with the current time in each, their abbreviations and UTC offsets, and which areas skip daylight saving time — hover any area for its local clock.
timezone-boundary-builder (OpenStreetMap); IANA tz database