Why can't i find the moon ?

Question

at least 2 times this week it hasnt been up in the sky and it has been perfectly clear nights. where has the moon gone??

Answer 1

it's the new moon. it happens every month. the ancient greeks understood teh phases of teh moon over 2000 years ago. why don't you?

Answer 2

Well it's *not* because the moon is in its new phase. Right now it's in what's called the waning crescent and is very thin. Also the moon doesn't rise until about 6:30 am (depending on where you are) and the sun is beginning to rise about the same time so its light may be hiding the moon.

Answer 3

Yesterday was 'new moon'. What it implies is you are facing the dark side of moon. You can see an object only when it reflects light. To complicate the matter of visibility, moon is nearest to sun; not in the same line but a few degrees either to the left (North if it is morning) or to the right (South in morning). If it is in the same line it would be Solar Eclipse (Moon blocking sun). Earth has got nothing to do with it and is not blocking sunlight from hitting the part of the moon that is facing us (this situation defines Lunar Eclipse that can occur on the opposite side on full moon that falls midway between two new moons, or the same as full moon falls between two new moons).

Answer 4

The moon has been waning recently, and as it wanes in come up later and later in the night.  Just wait a few days and you will start seeing a crescent moon as the sun sets.  Here is a site that will tell you the times of the moon rise and set, as well as times for the sun and all the other planets

Answer 5

Probably because the current moon phase is new moon, which means that the moon is between the earth and the sun. Light does not reflect off the moon during this phase, so we can't see it. It's up there, though.

The dark side of the moon is always facing away from the earth. This is because the rotation of the moon takes just as long as it takes the moon to orbit the earth.

Keep looking up.

Answer 6

The dark side of the moon is facing us, which is known as a "new moon" which is the opposite of a full moon, thats why you don't see it.

It's in the sky but you don't see it because the Earth is blocking sunlight from hitting the part of the moon that is facing us.  

Answer 7

The Moon moves around the Earth relative to the Sun once every 29 days, so is not always visible in the sky at a particular time.

The Moon has been a waning crescent, only visible just before sunrise and in the morning, for the past week. New Moon was yesterday, meaning that the Moon was very close to the Sun in the sky and had its dark side turned towards us, so was not visible. The waxing crescent Moon should be visible right after sunset tonight or tomorrow night.

Answer 8

Here's how to find the geocentric direction of the moon.

a = 60.2666

e = 0.0549

i = 5.1454 * pi/180

L = ( 125.1228 - 0.0529538083 d ) * pi/180

w = ( 318.0634 + 0.1643573223 d ) * pi/180

Mm = ( 115.3654 + 13.0649929509 d ) * pi/180

Adjust L, w, and Mm to the interval [0, 2pi).

u1 = Mm

Repeat...

.   u0=u1

.   F0 = u0 - e sin u0 - Mm

.   F1 = 1 - e cos u0

.   F2 = e sin u0

.   F3 = e cos u0

.   D1 = -F0 / F1

.   D2 = -F0 / [ F1 + D1 F2 / 2 ]

.   D3 = -F0 / [ F1 + D1 F2 / 2 + (D2)^2 F3 / 6 ]

.   u1 = u0 + D3

Until |u1-u0| < 1E-15

Um = u1

x = a [cos(Um) - e]

y = a sin(Um) sqrt(1-e^2)

rm = sqrt( x^2 + y^2 )

v' = Arctan(y / x)

If x < 0 then v = v' + pi

if x > 0 and y < 0 then v = v' + 2 pi

Xm' = cos L cos(v+w) - sin L sin(v+w) cos i

Ym' = sin L cos (v+w) + cos L sin(v+w) cos i

Zm' = sin(v+w) sin i

Warning: [Xm', Ym', Zm'] is only an approximate direction. It is necessary to improve them for more accuracy by accounting for lunar perturbations.

Ls = ( 638.9875 + 0.985647352 d ) * pi/180

Ms = ( 356.047 + 0.9856002585 d ) * pi/180

Lm = L + w + Mm

D = Lm - Ls

F = Lm - L

Adjust Ls, Ms, Lm, D, F to the interval [0, 2pi).

Finding the moon's geocentric ecliptic longitude.

Lonm' = Arctan(Ym'/Xm')

If Xm'<0 then Lonm=Lonm' + pi

If Xm'>0 and Ym'<0 then Lonm=Lonm' + 2 pi

Lonm = Lonm - 1.274 (pi/180) sin(Mm - 2D)

Lonm = Lonm + 0.658 (pi/180) sin(2D)

Lonm = Lonm - 0.186 (pi/180) sin(Ms)

Lonm = Lonm - 0.059 (pi/180) sin(2 Mm - 2D)

Lonm = Lonm - 0.057 (pi/180) sin(Mm - 2D + Ms)

Lonm = Lonm + 0.053 (pi/180) sin(Mm + 2D)

Lonm = Lonm + 0.046 (pi/180) sin(2D - Ms)

Lonm = Lonm + 0.041 (pi/180) sin(Mm - Ms)

Lonm = Lonm - 0.035 (pi/180) sin(D)

Lonm = Lonm - 0.031 (pi/180) sin(Mm + Ms)

Lonm = Lonm - 0.015 (pi/180) sin(2F - 2D)

Lonm = Lonm + 0.011 (pi/180) sin(Mm - 4D)

Finding the Moon's geocentric ecliptic latitude.

Latm = Arcsin( Zm' )

Latm = Latm - 0.173 (pi/180) sin(F - 2D)

Latm = Latm - 0.055 (pi/180) sin(Mm - F - 2D)

Latm = Latm - 0.046 (pi/180) sin(Mm + F - 2D)

Latm = Latm + 0.033 (pi/180) sin(F + 2D)

Latm = Latm + 0.017 (pi/180) sin(2 Mm + F)

The geocentric direction of the moon, unit vector in ecliptic coordinates.

Xm = cos(Lonm) cos(Latm)

Ym = sin(Lonm) cos(Latm)

Zm = sin(Latm)

[Xm, Ym, Zm] is a unit vector from the center of Earth toward the center of the moon's disk, in ecliptic coordinates.

We will now rotate the position vector into celestial coordinates. The obliquity, phi, of Earth is found from

phi = 23.439282 - 3.563E-7 ( t - 2451543.5 )

This equation gives the obliquity in degrees. If you need to have it in radians, multiply by pi/180.

X = Xm

Y = Ym cos(phi) - Zm sin(phi)

Z = Ym sin(phi) + Zm cos(phi)

The moon's right ascension is found from

if X = 0 and Y > 0 then RA = 6 hours

if X = 0 and Y < 0 then RA = 18 hours

if X = 0 and Y = 0 then RA = 0 hours

if X > 0 and Y > 0 then RA = Arctan( Y / X ) / 15

if X < 0 then RA = Arctan( Y / X ) / 15 + 12 hours

if X > 0 and Y< 0 then RA = Arctan( Y / X ) / 15 + 24 hours

The above compound equation assumes that the Arctan function will return the angle in degrees.

The moon's declination is found from

dec = Arcsin ( Z )

Look up the RA and dec of the moon in a star atlas to see which constellation the moon is in.