A New Pair of Firsts

Hi all

In the space of two days I managed to break two personal records, spying both my oldest and newest moon.

On Monday morning as I was cycling to work I looked over my shoulder to check traffic and spotted the beautiful sliver of a waning crescent moon as it hung over a bank of cloud to the east, the moon at that time was 29 hours and 28 minutes before new.

This evening as I cycled home I saw the waxing crescent with Venus close by, the moon was only 28 hours and 22 minutes past new.

After close to 30 years observing the skies, there are still so many firsts out there.

Paul

Haha, beat you :evil: 27 hrs 54 mins...

Gosh! You guys are truly expert naked eye astronomers!!

Well done, Paul and Fermidox.

Aubrey.

Great image, and great time.

Out of curiosity, does anyone know what the record is from Ireland?

I'm not sure, I suppose to have a clear sky on the day in question is rare in itself... Some of the international records are mentioned here:

www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/seeking-thin-crescent-moons/

What interested me about last night is that Venus was clearly visible whilst I was still scanning for the moon.

Nice work guys, why don't we set a challenge to everybody to sight the latest/earliest crescent moon this year?

The ecliptic is at it's sharpest angle from the sun in the spring months in the evening sky, all going well with the weather, the day after new moon would be a great time to spot it !!

Keith..