Young Moon of January 7th, 2019

The evening of 1/7/2019, a Monday, (if clear) there will a 3% illuminated thin crescent Moon. There will be an opportunity to view/photograph this less than 2 day old Moon. See the elements below for the times when you may be able to find it. All times are Eastern Standard Time.

Time
5:39pm Sunset
6:10 Moon 10 degrees about horizon, azimuth 234 degrees, will be difficult to find in bright sky.
6:15 End civil twilight
6:28 Moon 7 degrees about horizon, azimuth 238 degrees, should be easy to see now. At this time the Moon will be 46 hours old, or 1.917 days
6:41 Moon 5 degrees about horizon, azimuth 240 degrees, will be easy now.

The LAS record for spotting a very young Moon is held by Melody McDonald who spotted a young Moon that was about 19 hours old with binoculars. The record for youngest moon spotted with the naked eye goes to writer and amateur astronomer Steven James O’Meara, who nabbed a 15 hour 32 minute crescent in May 1990. The skinniest moon ever seen with optical aid goes to Mohsen G. Mirsaeed of Tehran on September 7, 2002 at just 11 hours 40 minutes past new.

This will be a continuing program for locating a very young Moon this year. I will post the elements here each month. This particular young Moon is for practice. You will need a clear western horizon. When you spot the Moon, record your time, your cell phone time will be close enough for our purposes. Also record if you first saw it visually, or with binoculars ( what size) or a telescope (aperture and magnification). Good luck.

Next month I will start a separate program for a very old Moon for those who rise early.