by Jeffrey L. Hunt
December 22-25, 2025: The waxing crescent moon climbs higher each evening, passing Capricornus and Aquarius while approaching Saturn. Look for earthshine after sunset.
Evening Moon Returns
As the calendar year nears its conclusion, the crescent moon returns to the evening sky after sunset. Lunation 1274 — the number of lunar cycles since the count began over a century ago — began with the New moon on the 19th. The lunar orb makes its first evening appearance on the 22nd, low in the southwest.
As the moon moves farther eastward away from the sunset point, the phase grows — the sequence known as waxing. This continues until the Full moon on January 3rd. After the bright moonlit nights, the phase wanes or diminishes back to the New moon on January 18th, when the next lunation begins and the cycle repeats.
During these four evenings, the moon passes in front of Capricornus’ dim stars and then in front of dim Aquarius as it approaches Saturn. Each night look 45 minutes after sundown. Nearly 20° above the southern horizon, Fomalhaut is the brightest star in the region.
Earthshine
During the next few evenings as the moon waxes, look for earthshine on the moon’s unlit portion. This effect is sunlight reflected from Earth’s oceans, clouds, and land that softly lights the lunar night. Photograph earthshine with a tripod-mounted camera or a steady camera phone with exposures up to a few seconds. Longer exposures reveal more of the night, but overexpose the crescent. Earthshine fades as the crescent grows, so these first evenings provide the best views.
Here’s What to See
• December 22: The crescent moon, 8% illuminated, is less than 15° above the southwest horizon.
• December 23: The 14% illuminated crescent is over 20° above the southwest horizon and 8.2° to the lower right of Deneb Algedi, Capricornus’ tail. While the moon and the star do not appear in the same binocular field, use the optical assist to see the star.
• December 24: The Christmas Eve moon, 22% illuminated, is over 30° above the south-southwest horizon, 4.6° to Deneb Algedi’s upper left.
• December 25: The Christmas moon is 31% illuminated and over 30° above the south-southwest horizon. As it approaches Saturn, it is nearly 15° to the Ringed Wonder’s lower right this evening.
Look for the waxing moon in the southwestern sky after sunset, appearing higher and moving eastward each night as it passes dimmer stars and approaches Saturn.
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