/v1/panchang/moonrise-moonset

Moonrise and moonset JD.

What this tells you

Moonrise and moonset move about 50 minutes later each day, so they can fall at any hour of the day or night. Moonrise matters for vrats that end at moonrise, such as Sankashti Chaturthi. The API searches forward from local midnight on `date` and returns the first moonrise and the first moonset it finds. The two searches are independent, so moonset can come before moonrise, or fall on the next date as in this example (moonset 2027-01-16 00:36 for date 2027-01-15).

`*_jd` values are Julian Days in UT. `*_local` strings are local wall-clock time in the request `tz`, formatted "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS" with no offset. The `time` parameter does not change the result.

Request

All requests require an Authorization header with your dv_live_* API key.

example request

curl "https://api.lifeastroapi.com/v1/panchang/moonrise-moonset?date=2027-01-15&tz=Asia%2FKolkata&lat=28.6139&lon=77.209" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Query parameters

Checked against the API: a parameter is marked required when the request fails without it.

Name	Required	Example	Description
`date`	yes	`2027-01-15`	Date (YYYY-MM-DD).
`tz`	yes	`Asia/Kolkata`	Timezone: IANA name (Asia/Kolkata) or UTC offset (+05:30).
`lat`	yes	`28.6139`	Latitude in decimal degrees.
`lon`	yes	`77.209`	Longitude in decimal degrees.

Response (200 OK)

The real response to the example request above, generated from the API itself. Long arrays are trimmed to their first two items. Field names are stable across versions.

200 response

{
  "date": "2027-01-15",
  "location": {
    "lat": 28.6139,
    "lon": 77.209,
    "alt": 0
  },
  "tz": "Asia/Kolkata",
  "moonrise_jd": 2461420.740844,
  "moonset_jd": 2461421.295876,
  "moonrise_local": "2027-01-15 11:16:49",
  "moonset_local": "2027-01-16 00:36:04",
  "has_moonrise": true,
  "has_moonset": true
}

Field reference

Every field in the response, with its type, a real example, and what it means.

Field	Type	Meaning
date	string	Echo of the `date` parameter (local date). example: `"2027-01-15"`
location	object	Echo of `lat`, `lon` and `alt` (metres, default 0). example: `{ "lat": 28.6139, "lon": 77.209, "alt": 0 }`
tz	string	Echo of the `tz` parameter. The `*_local` times are in this zone. example: `"Asia/Kolkata"`
moonrise_jd	number	First moonrise after local midnight on `date`, as a Julian Day in UT. Left out when `has_moonrise` is false. example: `2461420.740844`
moonset_jd	number	First moonset after local midnight on `date`, as a Julian Day in UT. Left out when `has_moonset` is false. example: `2461421.295876`
moonrise_local	string (YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS)	Moonrise in local time (request `tz`), with no offset suffix. Left out when `has_moonrise` is false. example: `"2027-01-15 11:16:49"`
moonset_local	string (YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS)	Moonset in local time (request `tz`), with no offset suffix. Left out when `has_moonset` is false. example: `"2027-01-16 00:36:04"`
has_moonrise	boolean	False when no moonrise is found (high latitudes). example: `true`
has_moonset	boolean	False when no moonset is found (high latitudes). example: `true`

Usage tips

How to use it

Check the date part
About once a month the Moon does not rise (or set) on a given date. The API then returns the next event, which is on the following date. Compare the date in `moonrise_local` with `date` before showing "Moonrise today".
Missing fields, not null
When `has_moonrise` or `has_moonset` is false, the matching `_jd` and `_local` fields are left out of the JSON. Check the boolean first.
Local strings carry no offset
The `*_local` strings are already in the request `tz`. To build a JavaScript Date, convert from the JD: Unix ms = (jd − 2440587.5) × 86400000.

Errors

Every error follows the same envelope. Use the error.code field (not the message) for conditional logic in your integration.

401 Unauthorized

{
  "error": {
    "code": "unauthorized",
    "message": "missing or invalid API key",
    "request_id": "req_01hqy7k8c3e7m1n"
  }
}

402 Payment Required

{
  "error": {
    "code": "trial_exhausted",
    "message": "your free trial credits are exhausted — pick a plan to continue",
    "top_up_url": "https://lifeastroapi.com/pricing",
    "request_id": "req_01hqy7k8c3e7m1n"
  }
}

429 Too Many Requests

{
  "error": {
    "code": "rate_limited",
    "message": "rate limit exceeded; retry after 12 seconds",
    "request_id": "req_01hqy7k8c3e7m1n"
  }
}

Try it

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