"Good Night, Moon"

The waning crescent

22.8 days old

43.1 percent lit

Last quarter moon (click here) will come on December 10, 2017 at 07:51 UTC; translate to your time zone. A last quarter moon always rises in the middle of the night, appears at its highest in the sky around dawn, and sets around midday.

A last quarter moon provides a great opportunity to think of yourself on a three-dimensional world in space. For example, it’s fun to see this moon just after moonrise, shortly after midnight. Then the lighted portion points downward, to the sun below your feet. Think of the last quarter moon as a mirror to the world you’re standing on. Think of yourself standing in the middle of Earth’s nightside, on the midnight portion of Earth.

Also, a last quarter moon can be used as a guidepost to Earth’s direction of motion in orbit around the sun.

Should have posted this last week:

Low in the western sky (click here) in the hours before dawn on Sunday, December 3, the path of the nearly full moon (shown in red) will carry it across the stars forming the triangular face of Taurus, passing in front of (or occulting) several bright stars as it goes. At around 9 a.m. EST, for observers in Central and northern Asia, northern Greenland, and northwestern North America, the moon will occult Aldebaran, Taurus' brightest star.