06/11/2021 – Ephemeris – Spotting the one-day-old Moon

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Friday, June 11th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 31 minutes, setting at 9:28, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:56. The Moon, 1 day past new, will set at 10:56 this evening.

Tonight the thin crescent Moon, some 40 hours old, or more properly 40 hours from eclipsing the Sun, will be to the right and a bit below the bright planet Venus. It might be possible to spot it. I do remember spotting the tiny sliver of a Moon the next evening after a solar eclipse in 1970. But that was in March*, when the ecliptic, the path of the Sun and near the path of all the planets and the Moon, was angled more vertically than it is this time of year. That means that the Moon and planets, when near the Sun, are lower in the sky after sunset than they would be in late winter and early spring. Venus is slowly moving away from the Sun, from our vantage point, while Mars, above and left of it, is slowly retreating toward the Sun. Their apparent paths will cross on July 13th.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

* On the program, I mistakenly said April.

Addendum

Sunset sky and ecliptic (orange line) 45 minutes after sunset tonight, June 11, 2021. Note the low angle of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun and near the path of the planets. The angle will get even lower as summer progresses. So planets close to the Sun will set shortly after the Sun. Created using Stellarium.

This is the sky one day after the March 7, 1970 eclipse and 45 minutes after sunset. Being March, note how steep the angle of the ecliptic, so planets close to the Sun are higher in the sky. Also, twilight ends quicker in March than in June.