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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]
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SEPTEMBER through DECEMBER 2009
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NORTHERNMOST MOON -- September 11-12, 2009 (3rd quarter Moon near Equinox)
- rise ~11:00 p.m. EDT September 11
- transit ~6:45 a.m. EDT -- Moon high overhead @ sunrise September 12
- set ~2:30 p.m. EDT September 12
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SOUTHERNMOST MOON -- September 25, 2009 (~1st quarter Moon near Equinox)
- rise ~2:30 p.m. EDT
- transit ~6:30 p.m. EDT -- Moon low in the South around sunset
- set ~10:30 p.m. EDT
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NORTHERNMOST MOON -- October 9-10, 2009 (5 days after Full Moon)
- rise ~10:00 p.m. EDT October 9
- transit ~5:45 a.m. EDT -- Waning Gibbous Moon high overhead before sunrise
- set ~1:30 p.m. EDT October 10
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SOUTHERNMOST MOON -- October 23, 2009 (5 days after New Moon)
- rise ~1:00 p.m. EDT
- transit ~5:00 p.m. EDT -- Moon low in the South
- set ~9:00 p.m. EDT
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NORTHERNMOST MOON -- November 5-6, 2009 (4 days after Full Moon)
- rise ~8:00 p.m. EDT November 5
- transit ~3:45 a.m. EDT -- Waning Gibbous Moon high overhead early a.m. Nov. 6
- set ~11:30 a.m. EDT November 6
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SOUTHERNMOST MOON -- November 19, 2009 (3 days after New Moon)
- rise ~10:00 a.m. EST
- transit ~2:00 p.m. EST -- crescent Moon low in the South @ midday
- set ~6:00 p.m. EST -- beautiful crescent Moon setting SW after sunset
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NORTHERNMOST MOON -- December 2-3, 2009 (~Full Moon near Winter Solstice)
- rise ~4:45 p.m. EST, just after sunset Dec. 2
- transit ~12:30 a.m. EST -- ~Full Moon high overhead just after midnight
- set ~8:15 a.m. EST, after sunrise on Dec. 3
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SOUTHERNMOST MOON -- December 16, 2009 (New Moon near Winter Solstice)
- rise ~7:30 a.m. EST
- transit ~11:45 a.m. EST -- New Moon transits close to noon (not visible)
- set ~4:00 p.m. EST
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NORTHERNMOST MOON -- December 30-31, 2009 (1 day before Full Moon)
- rise ~3:30 p.m. EST December 30, just before sunset both Sun & Moon visible opposite each other in the sky
- transit ~11:15 p.m. EST -- ~Full Moon high overhead just before midnight
- set ~7:00 a.m. EST December 31
- partial lunar eclipse ~2:13 p.m. EST December 31, 2 hours before moonrise in Massachusetts
SOUTHERNMOST MOON DETAILS --
Look for the Moon at its most southern declination (-26.2° to -25.75°) low in the South at the
transit times indicated above -- on Sept. 25, Oct. 23, Nov. 19, and Dec. 16.
NORTHERNMOST MOON DETAILS --
The Moon reaches its most northern declination (+26.25° to +25.6°) on Sept. 11-12, Oct. 9-10,
Nov. 5-6, Dec. 2-3, and Dec. 30-31. Look for the Moon high overhead on these dates at the transit times indicated above.
LOOKING INTO 2010 -- As we move through the rest of 2009 and into 2010, the monthly
northern and southern extremes along the horizon of
moonrise and moonset will not be as great as they were during 2005-2007, since
we will be moving away from 2006, the peak year of the Moon's 18.6-year cycle.
At the end of 2010, on the winter solstice, there will be a total eclipse of the
Moon visible throughout the continental US. To have an eclipse on the winter solstice means that
the Moon's extremes are matching the Sun's, and this similarity continues into 2011,
when 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 precisely 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.
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