Young Moon in Late December

January 30, 2017

JansSlenderMoon_DSC09340_edited (4)

Photographer: Jan Gmur
Summary Authors: Jan Gmur; Jim Foster

This sliver of a crescent Moon, underscored here by a reddened contrail, was captured over southwestern Poland on the evening of December 30, 2016. The Sun had set only a few minutes before I took this shot. Just 1.6 percent of the Moon's surface is illuminated as observed approximately two days after the occurrence of the new Moon. If you look closely, you should be able to detect earthshine. This is the dim glow on the Moon's non-illuminated side -- within the arms of the sunlit crescent.

Look for the young crescent Moon this evening. It'll be in the southwestern sky about an hour after sunset -- below brilliant Venus.

Photo Details: Camera Maker: SONY; Camera Model: DSC-H300; Focal Length: 157.1mm (35mm equivalent: 876mm); Aperture: ƒ/5.9; Exposure Time: 1.600 s; ISO equiv: 80; Software: Adobe Photoshop Express 9.0 (Windows).