According to Xinhua News Agency, the largest first quarter moon of the year will be ushered in at 20:28 on February 24.By then, the moon will be near the perigee of its orbit, about 370,000 kilometers away from the earth. This "half-obscured" first quarter moon will become a dazzling celestial landscape.The public can appreciate it with their naked eyes without the help of professional equipment.
Experts said: "The relative positions of the sun, the earth, and the moon are constantly changing, and the illuminated part of the moon we see on the earth is also constantly changing. This is the origin of the waxing and waning of the moon phases."
When the line connecting the sun, earth and moon is at right angles and the moon is east of the sun,The western hemisphere of the moon is illuminated and appears as a letter "D"-shaped semicircle, which is called the first quarter moon.
This first quarter moon was rated as "the largest of the year". The core is that it coincides with perigee during the first quarter moon phase, and the moon's orbit around the Earth is elliptical. The distance between the earth and the moon is more than 400,000 kilometers at its longest and less than 360,000 kilometers at its closest. The first quarter moon near perigee is visually larger and brighter.
There will be 12 first quarter moons and 13 last quarter moons throughout 2026, and this is the best one to watch.
Because the Moon travels from perigee to apogee on average about 14 days, and the interval between the first quarter moon and the last quarter moon is about 15 days. The two cycles are similar. 15 days after the annual maximum first quarter moon, this year's annual minimum waning moon will also appear. The two usually appear in the same or adjacent lunar months.