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[Centaur]

Who will be the first to spot the May New Moon with naked eyes after sunset? The Dark Moon will be in geocentric longitudinal conjunction with the Sun on 2010 MAY 14 at 01:04 UT (13 at 20:04 CDT). The springtime inclination of the ecliptic is still high enough for North Americans to spot a Moon about one day old, especially with the help of its still northern elliptical latitude.

I’ve created a graphic previewing the west-northwestern sky from Chicagoland 25 minutes after sunset on May 14. It should well serve most North American observers. It can be seen by clicking: www.curtrenz.com/astronomical then going to the Moon page.

Photos and descriptions of the May 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 after sunset on 2007 MAY 17 of the Moon aged nearly 31 hours with Mercury to its lower left.

[Centaur]

Despite Venus shining brightly over northwest suburban Chicago, a low band of clouds obscured the Moon early Friday evening.

Temporarily on my website I’ve placed graphics previewing the western sky during the evenings of May 15 & 16. On May 15 due to earthshine reflecting onto a 2-day-old Moon we should see a magnificent Old Moon in the New Moon’s Arms beneath Venus. On May 16 we’ll see a pretty Diana’s Bow above Venus. That’s a 3-day-old Moon resembling the archery equipment of the ancient Roman goddess of hunting and the Moon. www.curtrenz.com/moon

[Paulie pchris00]

No dice. The only clouds we had in Chesterton/Ogden Dunes last night were covering the Moon. They were quite pretty as the sun set though.

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