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[Centaur]

It’s nearly time for my monthly New Moon spotting challenge. North Americans may be able to sight the Moon a little more than a day old on February 22, while appearing as an unusual Lunar Boat, i.e. U-shaped. Europeans will have an opportunity to spot it when younger than a day.

My detailed article previewing the waxing crescent Moon’s first appearance of the coming lunar month appears under the links for my related graphics at www.CurtRenz.com/moon

Photos and descriptions of the young Moon would be welcome additions to this thread. Please include your location, date, time and time zone.

Below is a photo that I took from Arlington Heights, Illinois of the Lunar Boat aged 32:47 hrs on 2009 MAR 27 at 19:53 CDT.

[Centaur]

Tonight’s the night for spotting the Lunar Boat shortly after sunset when the New Moon will be about 25 hours old. The Chicagoland forecast is for mostly cloudy skies, but often the prettiest pictures are of the Moon peeking through clouds. I hope a few Chicago Astronomers capture some.

Heads-up: The Moon will briefly occult Mag +3.0 Zeta Tauri for Chicagolanders shortly after midnight on March 2. In fact the graze path will cross northern Illinois west and south of Chicago. I’ll provide preview graphics and more info on my website beginning this coming weekend.