Moonshot
LiveMoonrise tonight, at a glance
On the App Store as “Moon Photo Planner”
Free web tool
How do you calculate the Moon's phase for a given date?
Compute the Moon's ecliptic longitude and the Sun's ecliptic longitude for that moment, then take the elongation — the Moon's longitude minus the Sun's, wrapped to 0–360°. That single angle names the phase in eight equal 45° windows: 0° is a new moon, 90° first quarter, 180° full, 270° last quarter, and the odd multiples of 45° are the crescents and gibbous phases in between. The illuminated fraction is (1 − cos ψ) ÷ 2, where ψ is the phase angle, so it runs from 0% at new to 100% at full; the Moon's age in days is the elongation ÷ 360 × 29.53 (one synodic month). To find the next new or full moon, step forward in time and look for the instant the elongation crosses 0° or 180°.
Pick a date to see the Moon’s phase, illumination and age.
Computed for local midday on the selected date with the app’s Meeus-based ephemeris (illumination accurate to ~1%). New- and full-moon times are shown in your own time zone. Same computed engine as the app.
Take it with you
The full Moon Photo Planner app adds moonrise and moonset times and compass bearings for your exact location, a golden-hour and blue-hour timeline, the day's best shooting window, and a saved-locations planner that tells you at a glance whether tonight's moon is worth shooting — all one-tap and fully offline on your phone.
What it is
A moon planner for photographers. One card shows tonight's moonrise and moonset times, phase and illumination, the compass bearings where it rises and sets, and a Great/Good/Poor badge for whether it's worth the tripod. Check any date to plan a shoot weeks ahead.
Why we built it
Photographers don't want astronomy homework; they want one glanceable answer about whether tonight's moon is worth shooting and where to point. General astronomy apps bury that under charts and options. This does the single job, moon-for-photographers, and computes every number on-device so it works on a summit or in airplane mode.
Want one like this?
Moonshot is one of 92. We can build yours.
Every app on the shelf started as one honest problem, scoped small and built native, end to end. That’s exactly how we approach client work — designed, built and shipped, without the bloat.
