Do Not Miss The Crescent Moon Close To Venus And Mars, Offering A Celestial Treat

Stargazing is always an astronomers 'delight,' who may not want to miss even a moment of the celestial treat on offer.

For the uninitiated, it is indeed an esoteric realm, where people gaze literally with stars in their eyes during celestial events like the supermoon.

The Crescent Moon also is worth looking up in the sky for that out of the world sight, especially this time during the new lunar cycle, reveals Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

New Moon

There is something special about today's new moon. It is because it is the beginning of a novel lunar cycle.

With this new cycle, the Moon will begin moving away from the Sun in the easterly direction. There will be a beautiful sight to see minutes after sunset above the south-western horizon. What is seen will be a really thin Crescent Moon.

More About The Crescent Moon

The path of the Crescent Moon, as informed by astronomers, will be through the ecliptic and the zodiac constellations of Sagittarius and Capricorn. As the weekend gains momentum, on Saturday, the Crescent Moon will be found above the south-western horizon. It will be placed at about 5 degrees above the planet, which cannot be missed -- Venus.

At this time, those who wish to spot the Moon should gaze 32 degrees above the south-western horizon. It will help spotting the Moon if they also look 7 degrees to the right of Mars on Sunday evening.

A rather unclear dark disc of the Moon will be visible during the Moon's early crescent phases this week.

This is possible only because of a phenomenon called earthshine, which is the reflection of sunlight from the Earth over to the Moon.

Celestial gazers and budding space aficionados must watch these celestial events with interest.