First Quarter Moon
The Moon is at First quarter on this date -it will be visible high in the southern sky in early evening.
Earth will be at the closest point in its orbit around the Sun on this date - 91,403,034 miles.
Mercury passes very close to the Sun in the sky as its orbit carries it between the Sun and Earth. This happens once in 116 days (the synodic cycle of the planet), and over the course of a couple weeks, Mercury will change from appearing in the evening sky to appearing in the morning sky.
The Moon’s distance from Earth varies throughout its monthly orbit because the Moon’s orbit isn’t perfectly circular. Every month, the Moon’s eccentric orbit carries it to apogee – its most distant point from Earth – and then, some two weeks later, to perigee – the Moon’s closest point to Earth in its monthly orbit. - earthsky.org
The Moon is at Last Quarter (or Third Quarter) – rising around midnight, and visible to the south after sunrise.
New Moon. By the modern definition, New Moon occurs when the Moon and Sun are at the same geocentric ecliptic longitude. The part of the Moon facing us is completely in shadow then. Pictured here is the traditional New Moon, the earliest visible waxing crescent, which signals the start of a new month in many […]
The Moon is at First quarter on this date -it will be visible high in the southern sky in early evening.
Mercury's 88-day orbit around the Sun will carry it to its furthest point to the Sun – its aphelion – at a distance of 0.47 AU.