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• Have you been watching the waxing crescent moon as darkness falls for the last several evenings? You might have noticed it was moving from night to night in a more sideways direction, seeming to hug the horizon - rather than moving directly upward away from the sunset point. That's always the case in autumn.
• The view is in contrast to that seen in the Southern Hemisphere - where it's spring now and the ecliptic swings high overhead. In springtime, the evening crescent moon travels almost straight up from the sunrise point from day to day. Also in springtime, the first quarter moon shines close to overhead at dusk and nightfall.
• Read more about autumn crescent moons - and see photos - here.
• Time of moonset in your sky

• From northerly latitudes at nightfall, you'll see tonight's moon residing beneath the Summer Triangle and low in the southern sky. From latitudes to the south of the equator, you'll see the moon above the "upside-down" Summer Triangle, and the Summer Triangle in the northern sky.
• Bottom line: Will you see more Orionid meteors on the night of October 21-22, 2012? Yes, probably, if you sky is clear and if you get away from city lights. As usual with meteors in annual showers, the best time to look is between midnight and dawn. Tonight the moon is at the first quarter phase. That's good because a first quarter moon sets around midnight, leaving the early morning hours dark for meteor-watching. This post also talks about why first quarter moons appear low in the south as seen from the Northern Hemisphere.
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