New Moon – the Invisible Phase
The New Moon is when the Sun and Moon are aligned, with the Sun and Earth on opposite sides of the Moon.
At New Moon, the Sun, the Moon, and Earth are in alignment.
©timeanddate
August 2024: last Blue Moon until 2026
Next New Moon
3 Sep 2024, 09:55
Previous New Moon
4 Aug 2024, 19:13
Times for the New Moon vary by time zone. Times and dates are based on the local time in Singapore.Change location
We Can't See the New Moon
There are two reasons why we can't see the New Moon:
- Thealignment of the Sun, the Moon, and Earthleaves the side of the Moon that faces Earth indarkness.This is called a conjunction orsyzygy.
- TheNew Moon is up in the daytime sky.Itrises and setsaround the same time as the Sun, bringing ittoo close to the Sun’s glareto be seen with the naked eye.
For all that, however, there is one special occasion when wecansee a New Moon: during asolar eclipse.In fact, this is the only occasion that the New Moon is 'perfect'. The Moon's orbit around the Earth is slightly tilted, which means that—more often than not—the Sun, Moon and Earth are not perfectly aligned at New Moon. With specialist equipment, it is sometimes possible to detect a vanishingly thin lunar crescent in the blue sky at the precise moment of New Moon.
The Moon: Our natural satellite
A Good Night for Stargazing
AsNew Moon nights are dark,they are often the best time toview other celestial objectslikeplanets,meteor showers,and deep sky objects such as star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies.
Half of the Moon’s surface is always illuminated by direct sunlight, except duringlunar eclipseswhen Earth casts its shadow on the Moon. Just how much of that light we can see from Earth varies every day, and we call this aMoon phase.
Is there a dark side of the Moon?
Higher Tides at New Moon
The greatest difference betweenhigh and low tideis around New Moon andFull Moon.During these Moon phases, the Moon and the Sun's gravitational forces combine to push the ocean’s water in the same direction. These tides are known as spring tides or king tides.
Sleep, crime, and menstruation: how Moon phases affect humans
Religious and Cultural Significance
The Moon guides the dates of many religious and cultural holidays around the world. February's New Moon marks the beginning of the Lunar Year in theChinese Calendar.
About a day after the New Moon conjunction, the Moon becomes visible again. The initial period, as only the thinnest sliver of aCrescent Moonbecomes visible, used to be called New Moon, while the darkest phase was called Dark Moon.
This traditional definition of the New Moon is still in use in some cultures, defining the beginning of the months in theIslamic calendar.
It takes around 29.5 days to move through the eight Moon phases.
©timeanddate
First Primary Moon Phase
In western culture, we divide thelunar monthinto four primary and four intermediate Moon phases.
The New Moon is the first primary Moon phase. The next three are theFirst Quarter Moon(Half Moon), theFull Moon,and theThird Quarter Moon(Half Moon).
In addition, there are four intermediate Moon phases; theWa xing Crescent Moon,theWa xing Gibbous Moon,theWaning Gibbous Moon,and theWaning Crescent Moon.
New Moon Symbol in Calendars
The symbol for New Moon in modern calendars is a filled, black circle.
The other primary Moon phase symbols in calendars:
= First Quarter,
= Full Moon,
= Third Quarter
Causes Solar Eclipses
Two to three times a year,the New Moon phase coincides with the Moon reaching the lunar nodes of its orbit. The lunar nodes are the points where the Moon's orbit crosses theecliptic,which is the Sun's path, seen from Earth. Then, the New Moon comes between the Earth and the Sun and becomes visible as a silhouette in front of the Sun.
Solar eclipses can only happen in the hours around New Moon.Lunar eclipses,on the other hand, only occur atFull Moon.
When Is the Next Solar Eclipse?
A total solar eclipse is a New Moon eclipsing the Sun.
©bigstockphoto /JohanSwanepoel
A Black Moon Is a New Moon
Most years have 12 New Moons, one each month. But ourcalendarisnot perfectly synchronizedwith astronomical events. Therefore, every now and then, a year has 13 New Moons. When this happens, at least one of those New Moons is aBlack Moon.
Super and Micro New Moon
The Moon orbits Earth on an elliptical path, so itsdistance from Earthchanges during a lunar month.
The point closest to Earth is calledperigee,and the farthest point is known asapogee.When the New Moon is close to the perigee, it is known as a Super New Moon.
AMicro New Moon,on the other hand, is when it is farthest from Earth, at apogee.