Centaur
24-March-2009, 05:07 PM
Who will be the first to spot the March New Moon with naked eyes after sunset? The Dark Moon will be in geocentric longitudinal conjunction with the Sun on 2009 MAR 26 at 16:06 UT (11:06 CDT).
We’re now in the midst of that portion of the year which is favorable for spotting a really young Moon from the northern hemisphere. It’s remotely possible that some keen eyed observers (especially on the North American west coast) may spot the Moon when aged less than eleven hours on the 26th. For most of us our first opportunity will likely come on the 27th.
I’ve created a graphic previewing the western sky as viewed from San Francisco 14 minutes after sunset on March 26th. It displays the 0.3% illuminated crescent Moon just 2° above the horizon with Venus about to set 5° to its right. A second graphic is for 25 minutes after sunset on the 27th from Chicagoland. Both should serve most North American observers and can be seen by clicking: http://www.curtrenz.com/astronomical.html
Photos or descriptions of the March New Moon would be welcome additions to this thread. Please include the date, time, time zone and location. Good Luck!
Below is a photo I took from Arlington Heights, Illinois on 2007 MAR 19 of the Moon aged 21:45 hours, which is the youngest I’ve seen it.
http://www.curtrenz.com/MarchNewMoon.JPG
We’re now in the midst of that portion of the year which is favorable for spotting a really young Moon from the northern hemisphere. It’s remotely possible that some keen eyed observers (especially on the North American west coast) may spot the Moon when aged less than eleven hours on the 26th. For most of us our first opportunity will likely come on the 27th.
I’ve created a graphic previewing the western sky as viewed from San Francisco 14 minutes after sunset on March 26th. It displays the 0.3% illuminated crescent Moon just 2° above the horizon with Venus about to set 5° to its right. A second graphic is for 25 minutes after sunset on the 27th from Chicagoland. Both should serve most North American observers and can be seen by clicking: http://www.curtrenz.com/astronomical.html
Photos or descriptions of the March New Moon would be welcome additions to this thread. Please include the date, time, time zone and location. Good Luck!
Below is a photo I took from Arlington Heights, Illinois on 2007 MAR 19 of the Moon aged 21:45 hours, which is the youngest I’ve seen it.
http://www.curtrenz.com/MarchNewMoon.JPG