Will you see the young moon tonight?

Tonight – January 28, 2017 – a chance to see the young moon, a very slim crescent moon very near the sunset glare, especially for us in the Americas! It’ll probably be even slimmer and closer to the sunset than the moon photo at the top of this post by Ken Christison.

New moon comes on January 28 at 00:07 UTC. Translate to your time zone. For us in North America, that time translates to January 27 at 8:07 p.m. AST, 7:07 p.m. EST, 6:07 p.m. CST, 5:07 p.m. MST and 4:07 p.m. PST. In other words, for us in the Americas, new moon was last night, meaning we might spot the returning crescent – low in the west after sunset – Saturday night.

At every new moon, the moon transitions from the morning to the evening sky.

So as the sun sets on January 28 in North America, the moon will be back up in the evening, but very close to the sunset, only about a day old. Given an unobstructed horizon in the direction of sunset, residents in North America might be able to catch this extremely slender moon over the western horizon around 30 to 45 minutes after sunset.

Can you catch it from Asia or Australia on this date? Doubtful. Your youngest visible moon will probably come on January 29. How about Europe or Africa? Maybe on Saturday, January 28 as well! But the Americas will have the best shot at it on January 28 since the moon in its orbit will have moved, just a little, away from the sun’s direction in space. And that slight shift eastward away from the sun’s direction will make the moon easier to see after sunset.

If you look west after sunset on January 28, 2017, you’ll surely see the planet Venus. It’s very bright, the brightest thing up there. The young moon will be much lower in the sky than Venus on January 28.

Binoculars will come in handy for your young moon search Saturday evening. A sky almanac might help out as well, giving you the sunset and moonset times for your sky.

Some sky almanacs provide the azimuth reading of moonset. If the moon (or any celestial body) sets due west, the azimuth reads 270^o. If the moon sets somewhat south of due west, the azimuth reads somewhat less than 270^o; and if the moon sets somewhat north of due west, the azimuth reads somewhat more than 270^o.

Click here to find out the azimuth reading of moonset in your sky. Be sure to choose the moon as your celestial object of interest.

Or don’t worry about azimuths. Just note where the sun sets on your horizon. Then scan with your binoculars for the young moon in the general direction of sunset some 30 to 45 minutes after the sun goes down. Good luck!

By the way, should you miss the moon on January 28, try again on January 29 and in the following evenings. Each evening, a wider crescent will loom higher up in the sky – and stay out longer – after sunset.

Over the next few days, as darkness falls, watch for a wider waxing crescent to climb up higher day by day.

Bottom line: You’ll surely see Venus in the west after sunset on January 28, 2017. It’s the brightest thing up there and heading toward its time of greatest brilliancy. The young moon will be tougher to see.

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/2kDyTts