It was just after 6 am on 16 September. The Sun barely brightened the sky in the east. A thin haze was in the air from forest fires to the west. I live in Iowa. We have had several days of filtered light through the smoke and haze. The Sun rises and sets very orange. On this morning I hoped to photograph the thinnest crescent moon I had ever seen. It was only 24 hours before the next new moon.
I had been up since 5:30 with binoculars scanning the sky close to the horizon. At 6:07 am I spotted the thin crescent through the haze only 5˚ above the horizon. I grabbed several shots then watched as it rose and the sky brightened. Soon the Moon disappeared in the bright sky.
Waning Moon | 28.4 days | 1.44% Illuminated | ISO 1600 | 1 sec
Nice. That IS an old moon. Nice work. Catch the new baby one tomorrow?
I would love to be able to see the new baby moon. Last evening, we watched the sun go down. It faded away in the smoke and haze before getting to the horizon. I’m afraid the new moon will be invisible.
Thanks for stopping by.
Beautiful!
Such a rare capture, great job.
Thanks
Wow, nice work, Jim!
Thank you. It was fun to see.
Imaging a thin lunar crescent within one day of a New Moon is very difficult to achieve and involves good planning combined with a visible horizon and atmospheric cooperation.
You did it.
Despite the smoke.
Well done!
I hope they can control those climate fires soon.
I appreciate your words. It was a very pleasant feeling when I spotted it with binoculars. I quietly said ‘Ah, there it is!’
The fires, as you know from experience, are really causing havoc. I read that this isn’t even the worst of a typical fire season. I hope they are wrong. We live 2000 miles east of the worst fires. Smoke and air quality monitors here read moderate levels today. I can’t image the bad air for so many who are closer.
Fantastic! Wonderful capture with smoke on the horizon.
Thank you.
That’s a beauty!
PS you you should send to Earthsky.org or Spaceweather.com. It is a remarkable shot that other sky watchers would enjoy seeing.
https://spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=168116
You’re way ahead of me. 🙂
Do you post your images there? I think you should.
Hi Jim, no I don’t. I did however send a pic of zodiacal light to Earthsky many years ago and they use it often. I originally sent it because they said zodiacal light could not be seen in Canada. https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-zodiacal-light-or-false-dawn
You showed them it could be seen. Good job.
False dawn has fooled plenty of cold people in the mountains waiting for sunrise.