July 7, 2022
Tonight at 10 pm, the Moon can be found in the southwest sky near the bright star Spica. The Moon is currently exhibiting the first quarter phase. Although half of the near side is illuminated, we call it a quarter moon because the Moon is one quarter of the way through the lunar cycle. A lunar cycle begins during the new moon and takes approximately 29.5 days to complete.
The sky as it will appear tonight at 10 pm with the Moon and the blue-white star Spica over the southwestern horizon. The image in the bottom right shows a detailed view of the current lunar phase – a first quarter. Star map created using Stellarium. Image credit: NASA SVS
