There is a free app called, “Phases of the Moon,” which has some neat futures for moon lovers. The app tells you the precise phase of the moon, with the percentage of illumination including a picture. It tells you the times of moonrise and moonset for your location. And it tells you the distance from Earth to the moon.
While the recent popularity of so-called “supermoons” has caught people’s attention, most people do not realize that the distance to the moon is constantly changing due to elliptical (not round) orbits. This means that the moon is frequently the same size as Sunday night’s “supermoon” without being at the full phase.
The “Phases of the Moon” app’s very precise distance feature is based on LIDAR observations. LIDAR uses the speed of light from a LASAR beam bounced off reflectors placed on the lunar surface to determine the exact distance. This same technology is used to determine small changes in Earth’s sea level.
