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MOON WATCHING DURING THE CURRENT YEAR

 [Peak years of the 18.6-year lunar cycle, called Major Lunar Standstill years, are 2006 & 2024-25]

MARCH through JUNE 2009

  • SOUTHERNMOST MOON -- March 18, 2009 (3rd quarter Moon near Equinox)
    • rise ~2:30 a.m. EDT
    • transit ~12:30 p.m. EDT -- Moon low in the South @ midday
    • set ~10:30 p.m. EDT

  • NORTHERNMOST MOON -- April 1-2, 2009 (~1st quarter Moon near Equinox)
    • rise ~10:30 a.m. EDT April 1
    • transit ~6:15 p.m. EDT -- Moon high overhead @ sunset April 1
    • set ~2:00 a.m. EDT April 2

  • SOUTHERNMOST MOON -- April 15, 2009 (6 days after Full Moon)
    • rise ~1:00 a.m. EDT
    • transit ~5:15 a.m. EDT -- Moon low in the South before sunrise
    • set ~9:30 a.m. EDT

  • NORTHERNMOST MOON -- April 28, 2009 (4 days after New Moon)
    • rise ~8:00 a.m. EDT
    • transit ~4:00 p.m. EDT -- waxing crescent Moon high overhead
    • set ~midnight

  • SOUTHERNMOST MOON -- May 11-12, 2009 (4 days after Full Moon)
    • rise ~11:00 p.m. EDT
    • transit ~3:15 a.m. -- Moon low in the South
    • set ~7:30 a.m. EDT

  • NORTHERNMOST MOON -- May 26, 2009 (2 days after New Moon)
    • rise ~7:00 a.m. EDT
    • transit ~3:00 p.m. EDT -- waxing crescent Moon high overhead
    • set ~11:00 p.m. EDT

  • SOUTHERNMOST MOON -- June 7-8 and 8-9, 2009 (Full Moon near summer solstice)
    • rise ~9:00 p.m. EDT June 7
    • transit ~1:15 a.m. EDT -- Moon low in the South after midnight
    • set ~5:30 a.m. EDT June 8
    • rise ~9:30 p.m. EDT June 8
    • transit ~1:45 a.m. EDT -- Moon low in the South after midnight
    • set ~6:00 a.m. EDT June 9

  • NORTHERNMOST MOON -- June 22, 2009 (New Moon near Summer Solstice)
    • rise ~4:30 a.m. EDT
    • transit ~12:30 p.m. EDT -- New Moon (not visible) high overhead @ midday
    • set ~8:30 p.m. EDT


SOUTHERNMOST MOON DETAILS -- Look for the Moon at its most southern declination (-26.5° to -27°) low in the South at the transit times indicated above -- on March 18, April 15, May 11-12, and June 7-8 and 8-9.

NORTHERNMOST MOON DETAILS -- The Moon reaches its most northern declination (+26.5° to +27°) on April 1-2, April 28, May 26, and June 22. Look for the Moon high overhead on these dates at the transit times indicated above.

LOOKING INTO 2009 and 2010 -- As we move through 2009 and into 2010, the monthly northern and southern extremes along the horizon of moonrise and moonset will not be as great as they have been during 2005-2007, since we will be moving away from 2006, the peak year of the Moon's 18.6-year cycle. By 2010, we will have arrived at the point in the Moon's 18.6 year cycle when the Moon's monthly range of rising and setting matches that of the Sun. This is followed 4.7 years later by the minimum of the Moon's 18.6-year cycle, called Minor Lunr Standstill. For more information on the Major Lunar Standstill and the Moon's 18.6-year cycle, click here.




A project conceived by Dr. Judith S. Young
Professor of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
e-mail: Judith Young at young@astro.umass.edu

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