2006 Standstill
| Events in Sydney, Australia | Date / Time | RA | Dec | Az. | Elev | Lunar phase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Closest viewing of "true maximum" on 15 September during civil twilight | September 14 19:53 | 04:42:57.32 | +29:29:22.9 | 3 | 27 | 46% waning |
| Highest visible maximum during civil twilight | April 4 07:49 | 06:03:11.66 | +29:30:34.5 | 350 | 26 | 38% waxing |
| Highest visible maximum during darkness | April 4 09:10 | 06:05:22.02 | +29:27:29.4 | 332 | 21 | 39% waxing |
| Lowest visible minimum during civil twilight | March 22 19:45 | 18:10:57.40 | −28:37:33.2 | 41 | 83 | 50% waning |
| Lowest visible minimum during darkness | March 22 18:36 | 18:09:01.55 | −28:36:29.7 | 80 | 71 | 50% waning |
| Events in London, England | Date/Time | RA | Dec | Az. | Elev | Lunar phase |
| Highest visible maximum during civil twilight | September 15 05:30 | 06:07:12.72 | +28:19:52.6 | 150 | 64 | 42% waning |
| Highest visible maximum during darkness | March 7 19:43 | 05:52:33.05 | +28:18:26.9 | 207 | 64 | 60% waxing |
| Lowest visible minimum during civil twilight | September 29 17:44 | 17:49:08.71 | −29:31:34.4 | 186 | 9 | 43% waxing |
| Lowest visible minimum during darkness | September 2 20:50 | 18:15:08.74 | −29:25:44.0 | 198 | 7 | 70% waxing |
Note that all dates and times in this section, and in the table, are in UTC, all celestial positions are in topocentric apparent coordinates, including the effects of parallax and refraction, and the lunar phase is shown as the fraction of the Moon's disc which is illuminated.
In 2006, the minimum lunar declination, as seen from the centre of the Earth, was at 16:54 UTC on 22 March, when the Moon reached an apparent declination of -28:43:23.3. The next two best contenders were 20:33 on 29 September, at a declination of -28:42:38.3 and 13:12 on 2 September at declination −28:42:16.0.
The maximum lunar declination, as seen from the centre of the Earth, was at 01:26 on 15 September, when the declination reached +28:43:21.6. The next highest was at 07:36 on 4 April, when it reaches +28:42:53.9
However, these dates and times do not represent the maxima and minima for observers on the Earth's surface.
For example, after taking refraction and parallax into account, the observed maximum on 15 September in Sydney, Australia was some hours earlier, and then occurred in daylight. The table on the right shows the major standstills that were actually visible (i.e. not in full daylight, and with the moon above the horizon) from both London, UK, or Sydney, Australia.
For other places on the Earth's surface, positions of the Moon can be calculated using the JPL ephemeris calculator.
Read more about this topic: Lunar Standstill
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