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New Moon March 17, 2018 ⬅︎
The New Moon is the beginning of the 29.5 day lunar cycle in which the moon revolves the earth. In this phase, the moon and sun appear together in the sky.

The moon and sun rise and set together. Because the moon is so close to the sun in earth's sky, the light from the sun makes it impossible to see the moon. Note: in the photo above, the moon is slightly beyond New Moon.

At a New Moon, usually the moon is a bit higher or lower than the sun in the sky. But sometimes the moon is directly in front of the sun causing the sun's light to be blocked for a few minutes -- a solar eclipse!

A New Moon is a great time for stargazing because there is no moonlight at night to make it hard to view faint objects through binoculars or telescopes or to interfere with astrophotography.

After a New Moon, the moon will pull way from the sun and set about an hour later each day after the sun sets. It will first appear as a thin and dim crescent. But this will grow in size and brightness, or wax, with each passing day.
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