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I have googled for such a solution but I have not found anything substantial: I found one website but it was someone's side hobby so my confidence in it is low.

Thankfully, I have discovered Stellarium but I want another tool to compare against.

QUESTION
Tool for moonrise, moonset and moon phase for any date - even thousands of years ago - and for any location.

Bob
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    JPL Horizons does what you ask: https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons/app.html#/ – Greg Miller Sep 28 '22 at 20:31
  • @GregMiller as a nerd, that site is awesome! – Bob Sep 28 '22 at 20:51
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    Also see the Horizons API. The Horizons Observer table has two quantities for phase (24, 43), but note that they are for the 3D phase angle. The principle lunar phases use the angle between the Sun & Moon in the ecliptic plane. I have some info (& Horizons code) related to that here. That code is geocentric, so it doesn't correct for the lunar parallax or atmospheric refraction, but Horizons can easily do that stuff if you want. – PM 2Ring Sep 29 '22 at 02:03
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    @Bob if you know a little Python or would like to learn, the Skyfield package does all that you need. It loads basically the same JPL Development Ephemerides that Horizons uses, but you can run it locally instead of having to query a website. – uhoh Sep 29 '22 at 13:52
  • (fixed the link: JPL Development Ephemerides) – uhoh Sep 29 '22 at 21:37
  • @uhoh I know how to use the JPL site to get percent illumination but I notice the illumination never goes to zero for a new Moon. Is there a parameter that tells me the "phase percentage"? – Bob Oct 05 '22 at 17:39
  • @Bob The Sun-Moon-Earth angle can be calculated as the arccosine of the dot product of the unit vectors drawn from the Moon to the Sun and Earth (I'm assuming you get these vectors by subtracting the ephemeris xyz positions of the Sun's center and some position on the Earth's surface as observed from the Moon's center). Once you have that angle, there will be a formula out there somewhere that returns a phase percentage", depending on how you like do define it. Perhaps you mean illuminated fraction? (phase usually refers to an angle) – uhoh Oct 05 '22 at 23:42
  • @Bob The reason it doesn't go to zero or one is because the Moon's orbit is inclined with respect to the Earth's orbit. You'll get very close to zero during a solar eclipse and very close to one during a lunar eclipse. It is possible that if you start searching the Horizons website you may find their mathematical definition. You may have to click on over to the SPICE area to find it though. You could also ask a new "reference request" question here, asking specifically about how Horizons defines the value you're seeing. I think that will likely work. – uhoh Oct 05 '22 at 23:43
  • @Bob oh, you did! JPL Ephemeris or Skyfield - how to get moon phase percentage (not illumination percentage) – uhoh Oct 05 '22 at 23:48

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