MoonRef: Moon Phase Calendar

About

MoonRef tells you where the Moon is: the phase it is in, how much of it is lit, when it rises, when it sets, and what the rest of the month looks like. Type any date, past or future, and the phase, lit percentage, age, distance, moonrise, moonset and upcoming phases all recalculate for it. It runs entirely on your device, with no internet connection and no location permission. WHAT YOU CAN DO - Read the current phase with the exact illuminated percentage, the Moon's age in days since the last new moon, waxing or waning, its distance from Earth in kilometres, and its elongation from the Sun. - Check moonrise and moonset for where you are. Pick one of 22 built-in cities or type your own latitude and longitude, and your choice is kept for next time. - Scroll a month calendar that draws the real phase shape on every single day, highlights today, and outlines the days carrying a principal phase. - Move to any month, past or future, and tap the month name to jump straight back to today. - Count down the days to the next full moon and the next new moon, each shown with its date. - Read the dates of the next eight principal phases, new, first quarter, full and last quarter, in one list. - Learn what each of the eight phases means in plain language, and see the traditional almanac name carried by each full moon, from the Wolf Moon in January to the Cold Moon in December. - Read it in light or dark, following your system setting. HOW IT IS WORKED OUT Everything is calculated on the device from the periodic terms of the lunar and solar theory, following Jean Meeus's Astronomical Algorithms. The illuminated fraction is derived from the real Sun, Earth and Moon geometry rather than an approximation of the cycle, and the new, quarter and full instants are solved with their periodic corrections instead of being rounded to a whole day. Moonrise and moonset are found by tracking the Moon's altitude through the day and refining the moment it crosses the horizon. High latitude days where the Moon never rises or never sets are reported as such. WHO IT IS FOR Night photographers choosing a bright night or a dark one. Campers, hikers, anglers and hunters planning by moonlight. Gardeners who sow by the lunar calendar, teachers and students working through the cycle, and anyone who simply likes knowing what the Moon is doing tonight. PRIVACY MoonRef makes no network requests and never asks for location permission. The city or the coordinates you pick are stored on your device only. There are no accounts, no ads and no analytics. Works on iPhone and iPad, in light and dark. MoonRef is a planning tool, not a survey grade ephemeris. Rise and set times ignore local terrain and unusual atmospheric refraction. For survey work, consult an official ephemeris.