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Originally Posted by ramsquire
Earlier this morning in South California, where I am, the moon and Sun were in the exact same portion of the sky. In fact the sun was "above" the moon forming a sort of figure 8.
I'm a beginner stargazer and wondered how frequent does this occur, and what is it called when it happens?
Also, without using a sun filter, can I view the moon when this occurs? both objects were very bright, but considering the moon is just reflecting the light is it okay to not use a filter?
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Welcome to the BABB (soon to be BAUT?
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ramsquire.
I'm not sure what you saw, but it was probably some sort of reflection. The moon was more than twenty degrees away from the sun this morning, and it won't be until the day after tomorrow that it gets within two and a half degrees. And even when the moon is within a couple degrees of the sun, the lit side of the moon is turned away from us, and the sun is so bright that you would not be able to see the moon with your naked eye at all.