October 14, 2026: The waxing crescent moon returns to the evening sky and appears near Antares. Look for earthshine and photograph the pair after sunset.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:02 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 6:11 p.m. CDT. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times.
Moon and Antares After Sunset
After the beginning of the new lunation on October 10, the waxing crescent moon makes its first evening appearance.
Step outside 45 minutes after sunset. The crescent moon, 18% illuminated, is less than 10° above the southwest horizon. Its delayed reappearance is from the ecliptic’s (plane of the solar system) shallow angle with the western horizon at this season.
Tonight, the lunar crescent is 1.8° to Antares’ lower left, Scorpius’ brightest star. The pair easily fit into the same binocular field of view.
Earthshine
This is a photogenic scene. The moon displays earthshine, sunlight reflected from Earth’s clouds, oceans, and land that softly illuminates the lunar night. Photograph it with a tripod-mounted camera or a steady camera phone. Depending on the camera’s settings, earthshine records nicely in exposures less than 5 seconds, although the lunar crescent is overexposed after a fraction of a second. The moon and Antares fit comfortably into the same camera field at moderate zoom settings. Vary the zoom settings to center on the moon and Antares or to include terrestrial features.
During the next several evenings, watch the moon move eastward from Scorpius as the phase widens and brightens. Enjoy tonight’s pairing of the crescent moon and Antares.
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