From many places worldwide – especially south of Earth’s equator – it’ll be a challenge to spot the young moon in the west after sunset on March 7, 2019. After all, the moon was new – or most nearly between the Earth and sun for this month – on March 6 at 16:04 UTC; translate to your time. So it’ll be a very skinny waxing crescent that’s out after sunset on March 7, a pale whisker of a crescent that may well be bleached out by the haze of early evening twilight. Plus the moon will set shortly after the sunset on March 7. On the other hand, the weeks around the spring equinox are the best time to look for very young moons. For the Northern Hemisphere, that means now!
For the fun of it, we also show Mercury on our sky chart above. We don’t know if any of you super sky gazers will spot this faint world, which is also near the sunset now. After March 7, the evening crescent moon will get progressively easier to glimpse, while Mercury heads back into the sunset glare.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | EarthSky friend Radu Anghel in Bacau, Romania caught Mercury after sunset on February 17, 2019. He said it was about an hour after sunset. Thank you, Radu!
It’s tough to catch a moon that’s less than a day (24 hours) from new. The worldwide map below shows you where the sun sets over eastern Europe and eastern Africa when it’s exactly one day (24 hours) after new moon (March 7, 2019, at 16:04 UTC).
In this part of the world, the moon will be less than 1 percent illuminated by sunshine and will set less than one hour after sunset.
Worldwide map showing the line of sunset exactly one day after new moon. New moon fell on March 6, 2019, at 16:04 UTC, so one day after full moon is March 7 at 16:04 UTC. If you’re east of this line, the moon will be harder to see. If you’re west of it, you’ll have an easier time because – as Earth spins under the sky – the moon is moving in orbit, increasing its distance from the sun. Image via Fourmilab’s EarthView.
Look at the worldwide map above. For all places to the east of Europe and Africa (Asia, Australia and New Zealand), the moon will be younger than one day old, exhibiting a thinner crescent and sitting lower in the sky as the sun sets on March 7. In other words, this part of the world will have a tougher time glimpsing the March 7 young moon. You might have to wait until after sunset March 8 for your first glimpse of this month’s evening crescent.
Meanwhile, as sunset falls over North and South America on March 7 the moon will be considerably older than 24 hours. A slightly wider (though still narrow) evening crescent will stay out an hour or more after sunset on March 7 as seen from North America.
Even from North America, however, you’ll need to look sharp to catch the March 7 young moon. Find a unobstructed and level horizon in the direction of sunset. As twilight deepens, say 45 minutes or so after sunset, seek for the young moon near the sunset point on the horizon. If you can’t spot the pale crescent with the eye alone, try your luck with binoculars – or bring along the kids, whose young eyes just might catch it.
One day and 8 hours after new moon, the line of sunset passes through North America (6:04 p.m. Central Standard Time on March 7, 2019). Columbia, Missouri, USA, sits on this sunset line. In other words, at sunset in North America, the moon will be older and easier to see.
And – as we said – young moons are easiest to see around late winter/early spring and least so around late summer/early autumn. Thus the Northern Hemisphere is favored for this young moon sighting. The reason is the ecliptic – the approximate monthly path of the moon in front of the constellations of the zodiac – hits the horizon at a relatively steep angle as the sun sets in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, as the sun sets in March, the ecliptic intersects the horizon at a shallow angle, keeping the moon low in the afterglow of sunset.
Here’s a view of March 2019’s young moon from Valdivia, Chile, South America (40 degrees south latitude). From the Southern Hemisphere in March, the ecliptic – or path of the sun, moon and planets – makes a narrow angle with the evening horizon. So the distance of the young moon from the sunset is more sideways along the horizon, not straight up above it.
Keep in mind that the lit part of the young moon always points in the direction of sunset. As viewed from temperate latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, the C-shaped lunar crescent is so oriented because the young moon is more to the side of the setting sun than right above it. But from the Northern Hemisphere, the U-shaped lunar crescent indicates that the young moon is more directly above the setting sun. That’s why the March young moon tends to stay out longer after sundown in the Northern Hemisphere.
No matter where you live worldwide, it’ll be easier to spot the young moon in the evening sky in the days following March 7. That’s because, day by day, the waxing crescent widens as the moon in its orbit moves farther east from the setting sun. Watch for the moon to climb upward, in the direction of the planet Mars, over the next several days.
From 40 degrees north latitude, where the angle of the ecliptic is steep, the young moon will set approximately one hour later each day for the next several days.
Yet, from 40 degrees south latitude, where the angle of the ecliptic is shallow, the young moon will set roughly one-half hour daily later for the next several days.
Bottom line: From the whole Earth, the young moon is back in the evening sky on March 7 to 10. It’s a near-springtime moon for the Northern Hemisphere and hence more directly above the sunset and easier to see.
from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2C81z8R
From many places worldwide – especially south of Earth’s equator – it’ll be a challenge to spot the young moon in the west after sunset on March 7, 2019. After all, the moon was new – or most nearly between the Earth and sun for this month – on March 6 at 16:04 UTC; translate to your time. So it’ll be a very skinny waxing crescent that’s out after sunset on March 7, a pale whisker of a crescent that may well be bleached out by the haze of early evening twilight. Plus the moon will set shortly after the sunset on March 7. On the other hand, the weeks around the spring equinox are the best time to look for very young moons. For the Northern Hemisphere, that means now!
For the fun of it, we also show Mercury on our sky chart above. We don’t know if any of you super sky gazers will spot this faint world, which is also near the sunset now. After March 7, the evening crescent moon will get progressively easier to glimpse, while Mercury heads back into the sunset glare.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | EarthSky friend Radu Anghel in Bacau, Romania caught Mercury after sunset on February 17, 2019. He said it was about an hour after sunset. Thank you, Radu!
It’s tough to catch a moon that’s less than a day (24 hours) from new. The worldwide map below shows you where the sun sets over eastern Europe and eastern Africa when it’s exactly one day (24 hours) after new moon (March 7, 2019, at 16:04 UTC).
In this part of the world, the moon will be less than 1 percent illuminated by sunshine and will set less than one hour after sunset.
Worldwide map showing the line of sunset exactly one day after new moon. New moon fell on March 6, 2019, at 16:04 UTC, so one day after full moon is March 7 at 16:04 UTC. If you’re east of this line, the moon will be harder to see. If you’re west of it, you’ll have an easier time because – as Earth spins under the sky – the moon is moving in orbit, increasing its distance from the sun. Image via Fourmilab’s EarthView.
Look at the worldwide map above. For all places to the east of Europe and Africa (Asia, Australia and New Zealand), the moon will be younger than one day old, exhibiting a thinner crescent and sitting lower in the sky as the sun sets on March 7. In other words, this part of the world will have a tougher time glimpsing the March 7 young moon. You might have to wait until after sunset March 8 for your first glimpse of this month’s evening crescent.
Meanwhile, as sunset falls over North and South America on March 7 the moon will be considerably older than 24 hours. A slightly wider (though still narrow) evening crescent will stay out an hour or more after sunset on March 7 as seen from North America.
Even from North America, however, you’ll need to look sharp to catch the March 7 young moon. Find a unobstructed and level horizon in the direction of sunset. As twilight deepens, say 45 minutes or so after sunset, seek for the young moon near the sunset point on the horizon. If you can’t spot the pale crescent with the eye alone, try your luck with binoculars – or bring along the kids, whose young eyes just might catch it.
One day and 8 hours after new moon, the line of sunset passes through North America (6:04 p.m. Central Standard Time on March 7, 2019). Columbia, Missouri, USA, sits on this sunset line. In other words, at sunset in North America, the moon will be older and easier to see.
And – as we said – young moons are easiest to see around late winter/early spring and least so around late summer/early autumn. Thus the Northern Hemisphere is favored for this young moon sighting. The reason is the ecliptic – the approximate monthly path of the moon in front of the constellations of the zodiac – hits the horizon at a relatively steep angle as the sun sets in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, as the sun sets in March, the ecliptic intersects the horizon at a shallow angle, keeping the moon low in the afterglow of sunset.
Here’s a view of March 2019’s young moon from Valdivia, Chile, South America (40 degrees south latitude). From the Southern Hemisphere in March, the ecliptic – or path of the sun, moon and planets – makes a narrow angle with the evening horizon. So the distance of the young moon from the sunset is more sideways along the horizon, not straight up above it.
Keep in mind that the lit part of the young moon always points in the direction of sunset. As viewed from temperate latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, the C-shaped lunar crescent is so oriented because the young moon is more to the side of the setting sun than right above it. But from the Northern Hemisphere, the U-shaped lunar crescent indicates that the young moon is more directly above the setting sun. That’s why the March young moon tends to stay out longer after sundown in the Northern Hemisphere.
No matter where you live worldwide, it’ll be easier to spot the young moon in the evening sky in the days following March 7. That’s because, day by day, the waxing crescent widens as the moon in its orbit moves farther east from the setting sun. Watch for the moon to climb upward, in the direction of the planet Mars, over the next several days.
From 40 degrees north latitude, where the angle of the ecliptic is steep, the young moon will set approximately one hour later each day for the next several days.
Yet, from 40 degrees south latitude, where the angle of the ecliptic is shallow, the young moon will set roughly one-half hour daily later for the next several days.
Bottom line: From the whole Earth, the young moon is back in the evening sky on March 7 to 10. It’s a near-springtime moon for the Northern Hemisphere and hence more directly above the sunset and easier to see.
from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2C81z8R
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