Old and Young Crescent Moon

September 03, 2007

Between_english

Provided by: Vincent Jacques
Summary authors & editors: Vincent Jacques

The photos above shows a pair of both the very old and very young crescent Moon -- taken 40 hours apart! These charming crescents were captured on June 14 and 15, 2007 from an altitude of 1,400 m (4,593 ft) in southeastern France (Peïra-Cava in the Maritime Alps, French Riviera). The old crescent (upper photo) was clearly visible in the early morning hours of June 14, but observing the young crescent in the early evening hours the next day was more challenging. I finally discovered this coy sliver (at bottom) with small binoculars (10 x 50 mm) more than 20 minutes after sunset but only 16 hours and 23 minutes after the new Moon phase. The New Moon occurred at 3:13 UT on June 15, the same day this young crescent was observed (at 19:36 UT).