The year 2023
Every instant below is computed. Solstices and equinoxes are moments: they drift through the calendar year and do not fall on the same date annually.
Solstices and equinoxes
| Point | Instant (UTC) | Northern | Southern |
|---|---|---|---|
| march equinox | 2023-03-20 21:24:23 UTC | spring | autumn |
| june solstice | 2023-06-21 14:57:22 UTC | summer | winter |
| september equinox | 2023-09-23 06:49:59 UTC | autumn | spring |
| december solstice | 2023-12-22 03:27:34 UTC | winter | summer |
The four quarters are not equal in length: 92.73, 93.66, 89.86, 88.99 days. Earth's orbit is an ellipse, so it moves fastest near perihelion in early January and the autumn-to-winter quarter is the shortest.
Cross-quarter days
A cross-quarter day sits between a solstice and an equinox. There are three defensible ways to say when that is, and they disagree by several days. This site shows all three, because they answer three slightly different questions. See Cross-quarter days for which sources use which.
february cross quarter
| Dating | When | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| traditional fixed date | 2023-02-01 | the customary calendar date, regularised to the Julian calendar in the medieval period |
| solar-longitude midpoint | 2023-02-04 02:42:21 UTC | the instant the Sun's apparent longitude reaches 315 degrees, the midpoint measured in arc |
| temporal midpoint | 2023-02-04 09:36:09 UTC | the instant halfway in TIME between the december-solstice and the march-equinox |
calendrical to solar-longitude: 3.1 days · calendrical to temporal-midpoint: 3.4 days · solar-longitude to temporal-midpoint: 0.3 days
may cross quarter
| Dating | When | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| traditional fixed date | 2023-05-01 | the customary calendar date, regularised to the Julian calendar in the medieval period |
| solar-longitude midpoint | 2023-05-05 18:18:35 UTC | the instant the Sun's apparent longitude reaches 45 degrees, the midpoint measured in arc |
| temporal midpoint | 2023-05-06 06:10:53 UTC | the instant halfway in TIME between the march-equinox and the june-solstice |
calendrical to solar-longitude: 4.8 days · calendrical to temporal-midpoint: 5.3 days · solar-longitude to temporal-midpoint: 0.5 days
august cross quarter
| Dating | When | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| traditional fixed date | 2023-08-01 | the customary calendar date, regularised to the Julian calendar in the medieval period |
| solar-longitude midpoint | 2023-08-07 18:22:57 UTC | the instant the Sun's apparent longitude reaches 135 degrees, the midpoint measured in arc |
| temporal midpoint | 2023-08-07 10:53:40 UTC | the instant halfway in TIME between the june-solstice and the september-equinox |
calendrical to solar-longitude: 6.8 days · calendrical to temporal-midpoint: 6.5 days · solar-longitude to temporal-midpoint: -0.3 days
november cross quarter
| Dating | When | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| traditional fixed date | 2023-11-01 | the customary calendar date, regularised to the Julian calendar in the medieval period |
| solar-longitude midpoint | 2023-11-07 16:35:53 UTC | the instant the Sun's apparent longitude reaches 225 degrees, the midpoint measured in arc |
| temporal midpoint | 2023-11-07 05:08:46 UTC | the instant halfway in TIME between the september-equinox and the december-solstice |
calendrical to solar-longitude: 6.7 days · calendrical to temporal-midpoint: 6.2 days · solar-longitude to temporal-midpoint: -0.5 days
The eight stations
The eight-station wheel is a mid-twentieth-century synthesis. Its stations have three separate provenances and no historical people kept all eight as a set. Each row below states where that station comes from. See The Wheel of the Year.
| Station | Date | Rule | Provenance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Samhain | 2023-11-01 | 1 November, the medieval Irish quarter-day | medieval-irish-quarter-day |
| Imbolc | 2023-02-01 | 1 February, the medieval Irish quarter-day | medieval-irish-quarter-day |
| Beltane | 2023-05-01 | 1 May, the medieval Irish quarter-day | medieval-irish-quarter-day |
| Lughnasadh | 2023-08-01 | 1 August, the medieval Irish quarter-day | medieval-irish-quarter-day |
| Yule | a season | the midwinter season, roughly late December into January | germanic-midwinter-season |
| Ostara | 2023-03-20 | kept at the March equinox | astronomical-point-no-attested-festival |
| Litha | 2023-06-21 | kept at the June solstice | germanic-month-name-repurposed |
| Mabon | 2023-09-23 | kept at the September equinox | astronomical-point-no-attested-festival |
Moon
| Phase | Instant (UTC) |
|---|---|
| full | 2023-01-06 23:08:38 UTC |
| last quarter | 2023-01-15 02:11:00 UTC |
| new | 2023-01-21 20:53:49 UTC |
| first quarter | 2023-01-28 15:19:26 UTC |
| full | 2023-02-05 18:29:16 UTC |
| last quarter | 2023-02-13 16:01:21 UTC |
| new | 2023-02-20 07:06:24 UTC |
| first quarter | 2023-02-27 08:06:16 UTC |
| full | 2023-03-07 12:41:02 UTC |
| last quarter | 2023-03-15 02:08:51 UTC |
| new | 2023-03-21 17:23:43 UTC |
| first quarter | 2023-03-29 02:33:04 UTC |
| full | 2023-04-06 04:35:09 UTC |
| last quarter | 2023-04-13 09:11:58 UTC |
| new | 2023-04-20 04:13:06 UTC |
| first quarter | 2023-04-27 21:20:39 UTC |
| full | 2023-05-05 17:34:38 UTC |
| last quarter | 2023-05-12 14:28:53 UTC |
| new | 2023-05-19 15:53:53 UTC |
| first quarter | 2023-05-27 15:22:59 UTC |
| full | 2023-06-04 03:42:15 UTC |
| last quarter | 2023-06-10 19:31:56 UTC |
| new | 2023-06-18 04:37:49 UTC |
| first quarter | 2023-06-26 07:50:25 UTC |
| full | 2023-07-03 11:39:08 UTC |
| last quarter | 2023-07-10 01:48:26 UTC |
| new | 2023-07-17 18:32:30 UTC |
| first quarter | 2023-07-25 22:07:27 UTC |
| full | 2023-08-01 18:32:07 UTC |
| last quarter | 2023-08-08 10:29:01 UTC |
| new | 2023-08-16 09:38:52 UTC |
| first quarter | 2023-08-24 09:57:52 UTC |
| full | 2023-08-31 01:36:07 UTC |
| last quarter | 2023-09-06 22:21:43 UTC |
| new | 2023-09-15 01:40:29 UTC |
| first quarter | 2023-09-22 19:32:21 UTC |
| full | 2023-09-29 09:58:02 UTC |
| last quarter | 2023-10-06 13:48:23 UTC |
| new | 2023-10-14 17:55:48 UTC |
| first quarter | 2023-10-22 03:29:57 UTC |
| full | 2023-10-28 20:24:33 UTC |
| last quarter | 2023-11-05 08:37:30 UTC |
| new | 2023-11-13 09:28:00 UTC |
| first quarter | 2023-11-20 10:50:25 UTC |
| full | 2023-11-27 09:16:53 UTC |
| last quarter | 2023-12-05 05:49:57 UTC |
| new | 2023-12-12 23:32:34 UTC |
| first quarter | 2023-12-19 18:39:48 UTC |
| full | 2023-12-27 00:33:52 UTC |
Eclipses
| Kind | Peak (UTC) | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Lunar | 2023-05-05 17:22:57 UTC | penumbral |
| Lunar | 2023-10-28 20:13:57 UTC | partial |
| Solar | 2023-04-20 04:16:42 UTC | total |
| Solar | 2023-10-14 17:59:26 UTC | annular |