Moonrise, moonset, swiftly fly the years…

January 5, 2024 8:23 AM

I’m looking for a calculator or chart to see moonrise and moonset times for the same date over many years.

Specifically I want to see the moonrise and moonset times on a specific date starting on a year over half a century ago, and compare it to the same date in various years over the decades. How can I do this?

posted by ojocaliente to Science & Nature (4 answers total)

The interface is kind of annoying, but MoonCalc.org will do this -- here is the moon information for Ottawa on 3 September 1934. I had to click on the year a bunch of times as it only scrolls back one decade at a time.
posted by fimbulvetr at 8:46 AM on January 5

It is easier to set the date with the link generator on that website. Fill in the info, make sure you select mooncalc.org instead of suncalc.org, and click on "test link"
posted by fimbulvetr at 8:56 AM on January 5

I can't double check how far back it goes at the moment (though I know for certain it's quite a few years) but the phone app Moon Phase Calendar by probadoSoft does this/has this capability, and can be done for different locations as well as tell you the phase, illumination, distance, and more. Has sun info too and other stuff.
posted by Saucy Possum at 10:51 AM on January 5

timeanddate.com has a moon calculator with a nice simple URL syntax - e.g.

https://www.timeanddate.com/moon/australia/melbourne?month=1&year=2004

The dropdown menu that the page presents for choosing a year only goes back to 2004, but you can put your own year into the URL easily enough, and it works:

https://www.timeanddate.com/moon/australia/melbourne?month=1&year=1904
posted by flabdablet at 11:58 AM on January 5