Example image of a wallpaper created with "Real Moon Phases Wallpapers", which—along with many other images—can be downloaded on the
download page
(refresh the page using the "F5" key to view more example images).
Features of "Real Moon Phases Wallpapers"
General
"Real Moon Phases Wallpapers" is an easy-to-use program that calculates the current moon phase and location-specific moon rotation in real time.
A small representation of the current moon phase and rotation can optionally be displayed continuously within the application icon in the taskbar or system tray.
Additionally, an image of the moon showing its current phase can be integrated into selected background images; the resulting images—featuring an automatically updating moon display—can then be set as your Windows desktop wallpaper.
-
Slideshow (a feature provided by the application itself, not the Windows system):
You can configure a slideshow of images from your wallpaper archive to cycle as your Windows wallpaper at user-defined intervals. Each image can feature either a static or a real-time moon display, along with specific image settings. -
Single Image:
Set a static wallpaper to display either a static or real-time moon image, with the moon display updating at user-defined intervals according to the settings assigned to that specific image.
To achieve this, the application generates a new image at user-defined intervals, combining the selected background image (with its specific settings) and an integrated moon display (showing the current phase and rotation, also with specific settings).
This newly generated image is then saved and assigned to the system as the wallpaper. The original background images in your wallpaper archive remain unchanged.
Important settings to configure on your Windows computer!
To ensure the moon phase images display correctly when using this application, you must configure the following settings in your system's Windows display settings under "Choose your desktop background":
- Background: "Image" (i.e., single image—and make sure not to select "slideshow"!)
- Select adjustment: "Adjust"
Starting and Using the Application
The application is launched via a "launcher" file named "Real Moon Phases Wallpapers – Launcher.exe." This allows you to switch between running the application with standard user privileges and running it with administrator privileges directly from within the application itself.
Administrator privileges are mandatory if you wish to use or modify the following parameters of the integrated "Task Timer" (which creates an entry in the Windows Task Scheduler):
- Task Timer: Enable/Disable
- Task Timer: Change execution interval
- Wallpaper Image Archive: Change assigned folder
If you enable or disable the "Task Timer" or change its trigger interval while the application is running with standard user privileges, you will be prompted to restart the application with administrator privileges to apply the desired changes.
Since the Task Timer accesses images in the wallpaper archive, the assigned "Wallpaper Image Archive" folder can only be changed with administrator privileges when the Task Timer is active; this is because the Task Timer entry in the Windows Task Scheduler must be recreated after the folder is changed.
Once you have made the intended setting changes as an "Administrator," you can return to using the application with standard user privileges by disabling the "Settings" > "Run as Administrator" menu option. You will be prompted to restart the application in this instance as well.
Modifying settings not accessible via the GUI
Advanced users can manually modify variable values that are not configurable via the GUI by editing the application's JSON settings file with a text editor (e.g., "Editor", "Notepad++", "Pilot Edit") while the application is closed.
Caution! Incorrect changes to these variable values can cause the application to malfunction!
Therefore, it is essential to consult the appendix "Application JSON Settings – Variables Not Configurable via GUI" in the provided user manual before manually modifying these variables.
Background Images
You can add any background images to the application's wallpaper archive and assign specific wallpaper configuration settings to each image. You can use images in the following formats as background images:
".jpg", ".jpeg", ".png", ".bmp", ".gif", ".tif", ".tiff", ".webp"
Image Settings
Wallpapers
- Horizontal Flipping
- Vertical Flipping
- Brightness
- Shadow
Moon representation
- Brightness
- Shadow
- Moon Position
- Mood Size
- Moon Hue
- Automatic or Manual Lunar Age
- Automatic or Manual Moon Rotation
Image settings are managed in settings files stored alongside the background images in the wallpaper archive; these files share the same filename as the corresponding background images but use the ".json" file extension.
Automatic Wallpaper Switching
The application offers two options for automatically updating the wallpaper and the moon display within it:
Continuous Windows Wallpaper Updates by the Application
Using the "Activate App Timer" function, the image generated by the application can be set as a dynamically changing wallpaper for the Windows desktop.
When the "App Timer" triggers at the configured time intervals, the following occurs:
- the current moon phase and rotation are calculated
- the calculated moon display is inserted into a copy of the selected background image in memory, using the JSON image settings associated with that background image (including the embedded moon display settings)
- the resulting image is saved in the "Temp" directory
- the newly created image in the "Temp" directory is assigned to the system as the wallpaper
For the "App Timer" to function continuously, the "Real Moon Phases Wallpapers" application must run in the background at all times. Therefore, you should add a shortcut to this application to your system's startup folder if you wish to use this feature.
Or
Continuously updating the Windows wallpaper via a Task Scheduler task
(Enable/disable only with administrator privileges)
Alternatively, once the desired paths have been configured in the program, the application can be launched as a Windows Task Scheduler task with a defined time trigger by using the "Activate Task Timer" function.
When the application is launched with the "/task" startup parameter via the created Task Scheduler task, the following actions occur at the configured time intervals:
- the application starts invisibly in the background
- the current moon phase and rotation are calculated
- the calculated moon image is inserted into a copy of the selected background image in memory, using the JSON image settings (and the moon display settings contained therein)
- the resulting image is saved in the "Temp" directory
- the newly created image in the "Temp" directory is assigned to the system as the wallpaper
- the application closes
When using this function, the application does not need to remain open.
To manually change the "Task Timer" triggers, please refer to the appendix "Application JSON Settings – Variables not configurable via GUI."
Recommended timer setting
To ensure the moon's rotation in the generated wallpaper is as current and accurate as possible, we recommend setting the moon display update interval to approximately 2 to a maximum of 10 minutes. If the precise display of the moon's rotation is not critical for you, an alternative update interval of 30–60 minutes is sufficient to depict the moon phase as accurately as possible in the wallpaper.
Moon Phases
To generate the moon visualization, the application includes 720 individual images representing different moon phases—each corresponding to a 0.5° change
in lunar shadowing.
The moon undergoes a complete 360° cycle of shadowing changes in exactly 29.530588853 days (sidereal month).
This equates to a shadowing change of 12.19° per day,
which results in a shadowing change of 0.5° per hour.
With 720 moon phase images available, the application provides a distinct image for every hour to be integrated into the wallpaper.
(720 images / 29.53 days / 24h = 1.01 images/h)
Consequently, the degree of shadowing on the lunar surface (caused by the Earth's shadow falling on the moon when the Earth is positioned between the
sun and the moon) changes continuously.
However, even experienced moon observers would struggle to actually detect a 0.5° change in shadowing within a single hour without the use of optical aids.
Thus, this application displays the moon phase with greater precision than the naked human eye can perceive in reality.
Lunar Rotation
The visible rotation of the Moon (the rotation of the visible lunar disk and, consequently, the orientation of the Earth's shadow upon it)
depends on the observer's exact location on Earth.
For instance, if you are in Paris (France), the Moon appears to have a completely different rotation than it does for someone
viewing it at the exact same moment from, say, Sydney (Australia).
This location-dependent lunar rotation (the perceived clockwise or counter-clockwise rotation of the Moon) can change over very short
intervals (less than 1 minute) or remain unchanged for up to 15 minutes.
This is due to the actual mechanics of celestial motion.
To accurately calculate the lunar rotation, entering the coordinates of the desired location is essential, as the
perceived rotation depends—as previously described—on the observer's location on Earth.
For more information about the application, please read the PDF included in the setup
Real Moon Phases Wallpapers
Automatically displays the current moon phase on your desktop wallpapers.
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