The Moon At Midwinter

This week marks the midpoint of winter! Spring arrives March 19 at 11:06 p.m. Bring it on! Sunrise happens at 7:20 a.m. and, as of February 8, the Sun now sets after 6:00 p.m. The amount of daylight we experience each day actually increases during the winter.

This week the Moon is new on February 9 when it rises and sets with the Sun. During most new Moons, the Sun and Moon do not line up directly so we do not see a solar eclipse. The next solar eclipse partially visible from the Catawba Valley is April 8. We will have much more to say about this in the coming weeks.

The Moon’s orbit around the Earth is not a circle but rather an ellipse or oval. Each month, the Moon reaches a point in its orbit called perigee when it is closest to Earth. Two weeks later The Moon reaches its farthest point or apogee from Earth.

Apogee and perigee do not always coincide with a particular Moon phase. When the Moon reaches perigee at full Moon, we observe a “supermoon”. The full Moon appears slightly larger and brighter in the night sky for a day or two.

On February 10, the Moon is a perigee again but this time it happens at new Moon when it is only 220,505 miles from Earth. Some refer to this as a “new supermoon”. It occurs at new Moon when we cannot see the lit side of the Moon, so we will not see anything-this month.

The small waxing crescent Moon appears above and left of Saturn on February 11. Saturn makes its final evening appearances this week so look for the Moon and Saturn by 6:30 p.m.

On February 14, watch the nice crescent Moon just to the right of bright Jupiter in the southwest at dusk. Jupiter sets before midnight now. Use a telescope to see the four large moons orbiting Jupiter while the planet is well above the horizon.

This week is a fine time to view the winter sky. Go observe each night!

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