Youngest/oldest Moon you have observed/photographed?

All right all, Ill bite
What's all this reference to a young/old moon ?

Young moon number is the number of hours since "New Moon." It will be a tiny
crescent visible for just a short while as the sun sets. Old moon is just
the opposite, just a small crescent visible before the sun rises.

Clear Skies

Chuck Taylor
Do you observe the moon?
Try http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lunar-observing/

Are you interested in understanding optics?
Try http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ATM_Optics_Software/

************************************

Phil -

When the Moon is just past New and is still a thin waxing crescent in
the western evening sky, it is called a "young" Moon. If you see it
3-4 days past New and the there is significant earthshine from the dark
part of the Moon, it is called the "Old Moon in the New Moon's arms"
because the bright part of the Moon appears to be "holding" the dark
part. Here is an example:

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020419.html

Conversely, when the Moon is well past Full and is a thin crescent in
the morning sky, it is called an "old" Moon and you can observe the
"New Moon in the Old Moon's arms". Seeing very old or very young Moons
is a hobby (or a passion) for some, and it's my understanding that the
time of the first unaided sighting of the New Moon is considered the
start of the month for Muslims.

Mark

Bob Schmall wrote:

Third contact during an eclipse.

Bob

You were looking at a very young sun. ;-)

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John--
The sighting of the opposing lunar crescents is an amazing
accomplishment--you must have had everything working for you: planning,
weather, the right time of the year, and the time of New Moon (I'd guess
around midnight); if the Moon were north of the ecliptic, it would also
help. Was it sometime around summer solstice? (With the shorter nights,
you'd get an earlier sunrise the first day and a later sunset the second,
not to mention that the Sun would be "bottomed out" and the Moon slightly
north of it on either side.)
--Tony

"CNJ999" wrote in message
ups.com...

My personal best stands at 15h 18m, set back in the early 1990's. What
I found surprising was that this was accomplished from right in my own
front yard at near sea level. About a year or so earlier I had seen a
15h 22m old moon from the summit of Mount Wilson and had thought it
unlikely I could ever better that mark. Perhaps worth noting while on
this subject is that I was the first person ever to report seeing the
opposing lunar crescents on consecutive days (old moon in the morning
of one day, young moon the following evening), a much tougher trick
than spotting extremely young moons. Joe Ashbrook, S&T's editor several
decades ago and the creator of the young moon sighting fad, once wrote
that he considered this feat might be impossible. Sadly, he had passed
on before I accomplished it since he had a great interest in the
subject of extreme lunar sightings.

Incidentally, be very cautious in accepting at face value claims of
extremely young moons. Back when I wrote for S&T I asked several well
known amateurs outside the magazine to look into some of the claimed
sightings that had been reported in their area of the country. In
several of the instances it was found that clouds had previal or the
local terrain would have precluded any possibility of such a sighting
being made on the occasion in question. I'm afraid not everybody is
completely honest when it comes to claiming to have broken records.

JB

On 10 Feb 2005 12:45:29 -0800, Mark wrote:

Conversely, when the Moon is well past Full and is a thin crescent in
the morning sky, it is called an "old" Moon and you can observe the
"New Moon in the Old Moon's arms". Seeing very old or very young Moons
is a hobby (or a passion) for some, and it's my understanding that the
time of the first unaided sighting of the New Moon is considered the
start of the month for Muslims.

This traditional rule still applies still applies in some countries but not
in all of them. The earliest theoretical time that the Moon can be sighted
is used in many countries now. Requiring an actual sighting can make a
mess of the calendar when there's bad weather!

Early moon sighting is also a very popular activity among amateur
astronomers in Muslim countries, largely because it's part of their culture
(even among the non-religious).

Mike Simmons

In Article
"Bob Schmall" writes:
Third contact during an eclipse.

Come on. You can see moon from the first contact thru the fourth.
Oldest moon you can see is just before the middle of solar eclipse and
the youngest is just after that.
I find the blackness of the old/young moon during the totality most
fascinating.

Regards,

Rok Vidmar Internet:
National and University Library Phone: +386 1 421 5461
Turjaska 1, SI-1000 Ljubljana Fax: +386 1 421 5464
Slovenia

Tony - My particular opposing crescents sighting occurred on April
25-26, 1990...after something like 20 years of trying to accomplish
this. The morning (old) crescent was 18h 13m from new, while the next
evening the young crescent was 20h 10m. In both instances the ecliptic
made a fairly good angle with the horizon but daylight was not much
more than average in duration. I don't recall if the moon was north of
the ecliptic or near perigee but I expect it was.

Indeed, the timing has to be just right, with new moon occurring within
an hour or so of local midnight between the sightings. As you suggest,
there are also a number of other factors to be considered that will
favor positive sightings. Weather was often the limiting factor for me
in attempts made over the years and several opportunities were lost
when, after a successful early morning sighting, the day of the
potential evening sighting proved unfavorable. As I said earlier, Joe
Ashbrook was fascinated by the idea of seeing opposing crescents, even
though he thought it might actually be impossible to do. Considering
how long it took me, I guess he was nearly right!

JB

wrote in message ...
In Article
"Bob Schmall" writes:
Third contact during an eclipse.

Come on.

"Come on"?

You can see moon from the first contact thru the fourth.
Oldest moon you can see is just before the middle of solar eclipse and
the youngest is just after that.

Technically, you're right. The moon is "old" just before mid-totality and
"young" just after. You're the second one to notice this.

I find the blackness of the old/young moon during the totality most
fascinating.

Why would it be anything else? although it might be interesting to see if
there is any "Earthshine" during totality. Perhaps "starshine" would be a
more accurate term.

I suspect that the Islamic tradition of searching for a new moon is based on
naked-eye observations rather than telescopic viewing through a filter, so
this discussion is irrelevant in that context.

Bob

From one of Dr. Durrani's posts:

Please note that any Solar Eclipse occuring on the same date as an
Astronomical New Moon date does NOT automatically imply that a Hilal
will
not be seen on that evening.


Bob Schmall wrote:


I suspect that the Islamic tradition of searching for a new moon is
based on
naked-eye observations rather than telescopic viewing through a
filter, so
this discussion is irrelevant in that context.

Bob

Mike -

Thanks for the clarification. I noticed that Dr. Durrani did not post
the Hilal sighting info here in January, hopefully it's just a
temporary hiatus.

Mark