Astronomical lunar position

Moon Through the Zodiac

Follow the Moon's calculated geocentric longitude as it moves through the twelve equal sectors of the tropical zodiac.

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♐ Sagittarius 21.6° into sign
Friday, 18 September 2026

Moon in Sagittarius

The Moon's calculated geocentric longitude places it in the Sagittarius sector of the tropical zodiac.

Longitude
261.6°
Within sign
21.6°
Moon phase
🌓 First Quarter
Illuminated
42.2%
Traditional element
Fire
Traditional quality
Mutable

Coordinate system: geocentric tropical ecliptic of date. Positions are calculated estimates intended for general sky tracking.

The simple version

How does the Moon get a zodiac sign?

Imagine standing at the centre of Earth and drawing a straight line towards the Moon. Where that line points on the zodiac circle supplies the Moon's sign and degree.

Diagram of the Moon's longitude and zodiac sector Earth is at the centre. The Moon's direction intersects the Sagittarius sector at 261.6° longitude. ♈ ♉ ♊ ♋ ♌ ♍ ♎ ♏ ♐ ♑ ♒ ♓ 0° Aries Earth centre Moon
261.6° = Sagittarius 21.6°
The picture is not to scale. The ring shows direction around the ecliptic, viewed from Earth's centre.
1

Begin at Aries zero

The tropical zodiac starts at 0° Aries, the direction of the March equinox.

2

Measure around the ecliptic

The red line is the Moon's geocentric longitude: 261.6° on this date.

3

Find the 30-degree sector

Sagittarius begins at 240°. The Moon's longitude falls inside that sector.

4

Count within the sign

261.6° minus 240° gives 21.6° into Sagittarius.

The key idea: the zodiac sign describes the Moon's direction from Earth. It does not mean the Moon has entered a physical ring or moved close to those stars.

The Moon's two-week journey

The Moon normally crosses a zodiac sector in roughly two to three days, though its changing orbital speed means the interval is not perfectly uniform.

♏ Scorpio 15.3° 🌒 14% ♏ Scorpio 27.6° 🌒 23% ♐ Sagittarius 9.7° 🌓 32% ♐ Sagittarius 21.6° 🌓 42% ♑ Capricorn 3.5° 🌓 53% ♑ Capricorn 15.4° 🌓 63% ♑ Capricorn 27.4° 🌔 73% ♒ Aquarius 9.5° 🌔 82% ♒ Aquarius 21.9° 🌔 89% ♓ Pisces 4.6° 🌔 95% ♓ Pisces 17.6° 🌕 99% ♈ Aries 0.9° 🌕 100% ♈ Aries 14.5° 🌕 99% ♈ Aries 28.4° 🌖 96%

Upcoming sign crossings

Transition times are refined from the calculated lunar longitude and shown in UTC.

Sagittarius to Capricorn
Capricorn to Aquarius
Aquarius to Pisces
Pisces to Aries
Aries to Taurus

What this tracker measures

A real Moon coordinate

This tracker calculates the Moon's geocentric ecliptic longitude from lunar orbital elements and the main periodic perturbations. The result changes with the Moon's motion, not with the month printed on a calendar.

Tropical signs are equal sectors

The tropical zodiac divides the ecliptic into twelve equal 30-degree sectors beginning at the March equinox. These familiar signs are a coordinate convention; the official astronomical constellations have unequal boundaries and are not identical to these sectors.

Geocentric versus what you see

Geocentric means the position is calculated from Earth's centre. A nearby object such as the Moon can appear slightly displaced from a particular place on Earth's surface because of parallax.

Coordinate background: NASA's ecliptic definition, the U.S. Naval Observatory glossary, and JPL Horizons documentation.