The Moon rises between the brackets of St. Basil’s Cathedral. A First Quarter Moon will be seen in … [+]
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Get ready for “Moon afternoon” week!
Where is the Moon today? Will we ever see the Moon in a day? There is! If you think the Moon is just or mostly coming out at night, think again.
If you know where to look you will not only see the Moon at daylight hours, but it is a fact that our Moon spends the same amount of time in the sky us during the day and she is in our sky during the night.
So why is it Moon-Day week this week?
Between the First Fourth Moon – when our satellite is lit halfway from our view of the Earth – and the Full Moon, the Moon becomes easier to see in the evening and early evening.
Here’s just when and where to see the Moon in the evening:
Why we will see the Moon this afternoon
Ever wonder how you can see the Moon in a day? The Moon takes 29 days to orbit the Earth – one “moon” – and is always 50% lit by the Sun. However, what we see from Earth – its phase – changes each night as the Moon travels farther or closer to the Sun on the orbit around us.
The New Moon – which was last Thursday, February 11, 2021 – is the level when it is between the Earth and the Sun, so although it is 50% illuminated by the Sun, it is only his back lit up so we can’t see anything. In addition, New Moon is very close to the Sun.
If you start looking at a crescent Moon a night or two after New Moon you will see that it moves a little further east from the Sun each night. For example, Moon saw a slender crescent one night after the New Moon setting just minutes after sunset, but the next day the crescent is slightly larger, and will set about 50 minutes after sunset. under the sun.
This pattern continues, with a “lead” Moon setting about 50 minutes later each night as it is moved further away from the Sun.
The First Quarter Moon will be seen this afternoon in the eastern sky as … [+]
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Get to the First Quarter Moon – which was on Friday, Feb. 19 – and the Moon is lit in half and has completed a quarter of the orbit.
This is when the “Evening Moon” begins, and if you think about it, it makes perfect sense to see the Moon out in the day. Because if the Moon is a quarter of its orbit the Earth it must be about “half the sky” from the Sun (since the skies we see are only 180º of 360º range).
So around noon, when the sun has already risen in the east and is now at its highest point in the sky during the day, the Moon rises in the east. As the sun rises and then sets to the west the Moon rises higher in the eastern sky. As it wafts from the First Quarter it seems to be lightened more and more each day as it rises about 50 minutes earlier. On the flip side it means that the Moon sets about 50 minutes later in the west each night. This week that means well after midnight.
The result of all this is an “Evening Moon” which will become more apparent later in the evening as the week progresses, until – on Saturday, 27 February 2021 – the Moon rises in the east just as the sun sets in the west. That, of course, is a Full Moon.
That’s why we see the Moon on the day of the week before Full Moon.
The same thing happens a week after Full Moon, when our satellite is seen heading towards the western horizon in the morning.
Moonlight times for this week for three major cities in the world.
Jamie Carter (data from TimeAndDate.com)
When you see the Moon this afternoon
You only have to look east in the evening, but if you want to find out in advance use a Moon calculator for your location.
For example, above are the rising times of the moon for this week for three major cities in the world (look east about an hour or so after the time of the rising of the moon to get the best chance ):
All levels of the moon on a dark starry sky with stars.
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The steps of the moon
The Moon is always lit by the sun, but from the Earth’s surface, it doesn’t look that way. That’s because the Moon is always moving, getting farther from the sun as it grows to full moon, then closer as it descends to a new moon. Moon observers have designed eight unique levels for our satellite, each lasting about 3.5 days:
- New (rising at sunrise, setting at sunset)
- Wax sickle
- First quarter (rising at noon, setting at midnight)
- Waxing Gibbous
- Full (rising at sunset, setting at sunrise)
- Waning Gibbous
- Third season (rising at midnight, setting at noon)
- Corran Waning
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.