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[Centaur]

Who will be the first to spot the July-August New Moon with naked eyes after sunset? The Dark Moon will be in geocentric longitudinal conjunction with the Sun on 2011 JUL 30 at 18:40 UT (13:40 CDT). We are moving into the months of the year surrounding the autumnal equinox in which the early spotting of a New Moon is difficult for northern hemisphere observers. So there’s more of a challenge for you to accept.

I’ve created two graphics previewing the western sky as viewed after sunset from Chicagoland on August 1 & 2. They should well serve most North American observers. They can be seen by clicking: www.CurtRenz.com/moon

Also on my Moon webpage is a panorama including each Diana’s Bow in 2011. That’s a waxing crescent Moon about 10% illuminated and aged about three days. The name is a reference to the archery equipment of the ancient Roman goddess of the Moon and hunting. The graphic nicely illustrates how the season of the year affects the viewing of a waxing crescent Moon.

Photos and descriptions of the July-August 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 earlier this month of the Moon aged 41:05 hrs on 2011 JUL 02 at 20:59 CDT.

[wwpierre]

Interesting.....

Closing down Stellarium today after last night's viewing session, I noticed that the moon was close to the sun. I ran the program ahead, and determined that the moon would pass directly under the sun at about 3:10 this afternoon. I surmised that that was the time the moon became new. I went on a search looking for confirmationof my conclusion, but was not immediately successful, and decided to postpone the search.

I was particularily interested in trying to determine how soon I could observe a new moon, given that I have mountains on my horizon.

After postponing the research, I came here, and wonder of wonders, a post on exactly the subject I had just been researching.

Thank you for these diagrams. They have provided much insight, and truly further my understanding of celestial mechanics.

[patrickm]

@astro_Ron Garan wins new Moon shot for the month...sixteen times!
Shot from the ISS.

Gorgeous!!

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