What time is the waxing crescent directly overhead?

Answer 1

You can easily calculate that by referring to the Nautical Almanac, the table of data used by celestial navigators. It happens at a different time each day, because the Moon circles around the Earth.

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Firs of all, as seen from most of the earth's surface, the moon is never straight

overhead,

for the same reason that the sun isn't, but let's not go into that right now.

The moon appears full when it's exactly opposite the sun in the sky, so it lags

the sun's position by 12 hours.

Full Moon rises . . . sunset

Full Moon sets . . . sunrise

Full Moon highest in the sky . . . midnight

Answer 2

This is a very complicated question. There is no simple answer to this. It depends where on the Earth you live. There will be some places where the moon is never overhead because they are too far north or south.

My latitude is 35° south. The Celestial Equator (Declination 0°) lies 35° north of my Zenith (overhead point).

The Moon, Sun and Planets follow the Ecliptic which is inclined at 23° (the Earth's tilt to the Ecliptic). The highest the Ecliptic gets for me is 8° North of the Zenith. The Moon is inclined 5° to the Ecliptic, so that means the Moon can get to within 8°-5° or 3° for overhead for me. That happens when the in the Constellation of Sagittarius. There are 12 Zodiac Constellations so lets say over the 28 days the Moon spends 1/12th of its time (just over 3 days) in each constellation - this is just approximate as some constellations like Sagittarius and bigger than others like Aries.

The Moon is waxing gibbous for about 1/4 of its cycle - 7 days - (between 1st Quarter and Full). So for the previous paragraph, there are 3 days for me when the Moon is in Sagittarius. So for me, that is in about August/September.

But for other places on Earth, there would be different answers.

As I said, it is very complicated.

Answer 3

The moon is very seldom "overhead". In fact, if you're more than about 29 degrees

north or south of the equator, it never CAN be 'overhead'.

So let's just talk about the question of "when is the waxing crescent moon 'highest' in the sky":

The waxing crescent (from New Moon up to First Quarter) is the first week of the

29-day cycle. So its distance behind the sun is from zero to 1/4 of a day.

The sun is highest in the sky (to the south) around Noon. So from New Moon until

First Quarter, the waxing crescent is highest in the sky (to the south) between Noon

and 6 PM.

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This discussion was written (instinctively) for an observer in the northern hemisphere.

If you're located south of the equator, just substitute the word "north" wherever

the word "south" appears, and it'll apply to you too.

Answer 4

-- Well, first of all, the moon can't ever be directly overhead unless you're within

about 29 degrees of the equator ... no further north than Hermosillo, San Antonio,

Orlando, the Canary Islands, Cairo, Eilat, Kuwait City, or New Delhi, and no further

south than Porto Alegre, Kimberly, Durban, or Brisbane ... no more than about 5

degrees outside of the Tropics.

-- If you're inside that zone, then it's possible for the moon to be directly over

your head, but not every month. Only during the time when the sun comes within

about 5 degrees of that spot at mid-day.

-- Then, since the New Moon is pretty much in line with the sun, that magic

moment would be the same time that the sun is highest in the sky ... local solar

noon, which could be anywhere between maybe 11:30 AM and 1:30 PM depending

on exactly where you are in the time zone, and whether your area ever advances

the clocks during some part of the year etc.

-- And after all of that observation and calculation, of course you won't see the moon,

because at the time of New Moon, we're looking straight up at the all-dark side of it.

Answer 5

The moon appears full when it's exactly opposite the sun in the sky, so it lags

the sun's position by 12 hours.

Full Moon rises . . . sunset

Full Moon sets . . . sunrise

Full Moon highest in the sky . . . midnight

And, by the way, if your latitude is more than about 29 degrees, north or south,

then the moon can never be 'overhead'.

Answer 6

The first quarter moon is nominally a quarter of the sky behind the sun,

so it reaches its highest point in the sky around sunset.

(Over most of the earth, neither the moon nor the sun is ever "overhead".)

Answer 7

The moon is very seldom "overhead". In fact, if you're more than about 29 degrees north or south of the equator,
it never CAN be 'overhead'.

So let's just talk about the question of "when is the moon 'highest' in the sky":


The waning crescent (from 3rd quarter down to New Moon) is the last week of the 29-day cycle.
So its distance ahead of the sun is from 6 hours down to zero.

3rd quarter: Rises at midnight. Highest at sunrise.
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. skinniest crescent . . . rises just before the sun, highest just before noon, right next to the sun; almost invisible.
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New Moon: Rises with the sun. Highest at Noon. You can't see it.

Answer 8

Well, it can't ever be literally directly overhead unless you live within about

29 degrees of the equator. But wherever you are on Earth, the Full Moon

will be highest in the sky around midnight.

Answer 9

Unless you live in the tropics, the Moon is _NEVER_ directly overhead. If that's you, then the 3rd quarter Moon, which rises about midnight and sets around noon, would be directly overhead at sunrise, perhaps once per decade.

Answer 10

the new moon is directly overhead at 12 noon.