Silly question: where did the moon go?

[Gene C]

I feel a bit strange asking this, but here goes:

So, of course, the moon has phases that cycle through in about a month.  The new moon is the part of the cycle where the moon is dark.

I recently hiked the JMT over 20 days, and had clear moonless nights every night until the last.  One week into this, I started thinking, what’s the deal?  Shouldn’t there be a moon?

The very nice Peakfinder app — which shows me the names of all the peaks around me, but also shows where and when the sun and moon rise and set — showed me that moonset was coinciding very closely with sunset.  So that explained why I had no moon, but why haven’t I ever noticed this before?  Is this a thing?  Are there stretches of weeks where the moon is always set at night?  How have I lived 50 years and never considered this before?

Anyway, the stars were gorgeous and, when I was patient, I saw satellites and shooting stars.

[Rex Sanders]

Speculating, but with the JMT mostly in deep Sierra canyons, the Moon could have been above the horizon but below the ridgeline for much of your hike. My copy of Peakfinder also shows the path of Moon and Sun through the sky, which can help clear up mysteries.

In general, it can be hard to see the Moon 2-3 days before and after new moon because it’s dim or a thin crescent, so roughly one week a month. But that depends on city lights, weather, wildfire smoke, mountains, etc.

Living in a forested canyon on a foggy coast, I can easily go weeks without directly seeing the moon.

— Rex

[Jerry Adams]

or, maybe you were asleep when the moon came up

[jscott]

The moon has been known for messing with people.  I’m not suggesting you were drunk! (much).

I’ve made two changes in tense. edit again: actually this translation needs a bit of improvement!

Drinking Alone Under the Moon
Li Bai

A jug of wine among the flowers,
I drink alone, I think.
I tip my cup to the bright moon.
The moon, my shadow, and I make three.
The moon does not care to drink.
My shadow only trails along.
Fleeting friends we three, the moon, my shadow and I.
Still, let us make merry ’til the end of Spring.
The moon sways as I sing.
My shadow dances in step along with me.
Sober, we happily honor the hour.
Drunk, we part.
Our meeting beyond the heavens,
Until we gather again, these two and I,
Beneath the Heavenly River

 

[jj]

havent read that in years, thanks. strange that in my mind i had it attributed to richard brautigan

[MJ H]

The full moon was really red last week when it was low in the sky. It felt ominous because I assumed the cause was the fires out west.

[Author]

Posts