Moon calendar

Moon phases in August 2031

The full moon falls on 3 August 2031, within a day of perigee, so the disc is at its largest.

Phases

• Full moon3 August 2031 at 01:46 UTC358,643 km away
• Last quarter10 August 2031 at 00:24 UTC393,636 km away
• New moon18 August 2031 at 04:32 UTC401,861 km away
• First quarter25 August 2031 at 18:40 UTC374,668 km away

Perigee and apogee

The Moon's distance varies by more than 40,000 km over a month. At perigee the disc appears about 14% wider than at apogee — a difference that is obvious in a photograph and almost impossible to judge by eye, since there is nothing in the sky to compare it to.

A perigee full moon

The full moon on 3 August 2031 falls within a day of perigee on 2 August 2031, at 358,050 km. This is the configuration usually marketed as a supermoon. The effect is real but modest: the disc is a few per cent wider than an average full moon, not the dramatic difference the name suggests.

Times from an ELP-derived lunar theory, accurate to within one arcminute. Watch the phase change in the live simulation. A new moon is when a solar eclipse becomes possible; a full moon, a lunar one.