I'm trying to workout what day in the not to distant future would have the least amount of moonlight? Would I need to wait until the moon is in the day time, or can you still have the moon in the sky but little light from it? Cheers http://www.metcheck.com/OTHER/moontimes.asp?LocationID=61252&Location=Swinnerton Cycles Fenton
You don't need to wait for a New Moon, unless when you plan to view, the Moon is actually in the sky. There is plenty of month where the Moon will have set - or not yet risen. That being said, the nearer to a New Moon, the nearer that Moon is to the sun, so better chance at having them both gone from the sky at the same time. It depends a lot on what time of night you plan to be observing.
New moon actually is the day (night, rather) there is no moon, i.e. the day between the last day of the old phase and the first day of the next phase.
Nitpick: the New Moon isn't no Moon; it's just a very thin Moon (unless it's actually an eclipse). Even a New Moon is brighter than a night where the Moon has set.
I was about to nitpick the same nit, and ask, where did the Moon go? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! But exchemist is too nice a bloke. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Yes thanks to you both for the nitpick. However it remains my understanding that, to answer the question asked, the date of New Moon is the one to choose, because the moon is to all intents and purposes not visible to the naked eye on that date. Is this wrong?
Your meaning of your statement thus.... is obvious to any logical person. I was of course being funny [funny haha Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!] with my flippant remark to your "there is no Moon"
The only time the New Moon doesn't have a visible crescent is during an eclipse. Most New Moons look like this: Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Nice picture. I had always thought the crescent was too close to the sun to be visible under most conditions, but evidently not in this case at least. Thinking about it, I wonder why this s why the muslim world occasionally gets into a pickle over which day to consider the first day of Ramadan.
