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11. Meanwhile, it's autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, and the crescent will be located to the right side of the sunset. It'll be lower in the sky, set sooner after the sun and generally be harder to spot.
• As the razor-thin lunar crescent makes its appearance after sunset today, keep in mind that you're looking at the moon on the day after new moon. The new moon fell yesterday, on April 10, at 9:35 Universal Time (5:35 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 4:35 a.m. Central Daylight Time, 3:35 a.m. Mountain Daylight Time, 2:35 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time). So it's a very fragile and thin moon you'll see in the west after sunset - if your sky is very clear and you are able to spot it.
• In your search for the newborn crescent, find an unobstructed western horizon - and if possible, a hilltop - and have binoculars handy. At mid-northern latitudes in the U.S., the moon sets about one and one-half hours after sunset. At mid-northern latitudes in Europe, it's more like one and one-quarter hours after sunset, and in western Asia, about one hour after the sun.
• Bottom line: Starting 30 to 45 minutes after sunset today, look below Jupiter and above the sunset point on the horizon with binoculars. You just might spot the pale, whisker-thin crescent moon smiling at you at dusk. It will be low in the western twilight sky. If you miss the moon this evening, try catching an older but a more photogenic young moon basking in earthshine on Tuesday, April 12.
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