How To Predict New Moon | Using Any Space App

How To Predict New Moon | Using Any Space App

There are many apps available in stores to watch the night sky and observe every detail of heaven. You can also calculate the rising and setting time of the celestial objects using these applications or you can identify planets and stars through them. For Prediction of a new moon, I used a complete data-based website named, Fourmilab. It has the collection of all the celestial objects in the sky with their current coordinates.  

CELESTIAL OBJECT: 

Earth’s Moon/ Luna 

DESCRIPTION:

The Moon is an astronomical body that orbits planet Earth and is Earth's only permanent natural satellite. 

AGE & FORMATION:

The Moon is thought to have formed about 4.51 billion years ago, not long after Earth. The most widely accepted explanation is that the Moon formed from the debris left over after a giant impact between Earth and a Mars-sized body. 

 APPARENT SIZE & ORBITAL ROTATION:

The Moon is in synchronous rotation with Earth, and thus always shows the same side to earth, the near side. The Moon's average orbital distance is 384,402 km or 1.28 light-seconds. This is about thirty times the diameter of Earth. The average orbital speed is 1.022 Km/s. The Moon's apparent size in the sky is almost the same as that of the Sun (because it is 400x farther and larger). Therefore, the Moon covers the Sun nearly precisely during a total solar eclipse. 

LUNAR CYCLES:

SIDEREAL MONTH:

The time it takes the moon to orbit once around the earth with respect to the stars (approximately 27.3 days). 

SYNODIC MONTH: 

The time it takes from new moon to new moon with respect to the Earth (approximately 29.5 days) However, because the Earth is constantly moving along its orbit about the Sun, the Moon must travel slightly more than 360° to get from one new moon to the next. Thus, the synodic month, or lunar month, is longer than the sidereal month. A sidereal month lasts 27.322 days, while a synodic month lasts 29.531 days.

Equatorial Coordinate System 

This is the preferred coordinate system to pinpoint objects on the celestial sphere. Equatorial coordinates are independent of the observer’s location and the time of the observation. This means that only one set of coordinates is required for each object, and that these same coordinates can be used by observers in different locations and at different times.
The equatorial coordinate system is basically the projection of the latitude and longitude coordinate system we use here on Earth, onto the celestial sphere. By direct analogy, lines of latitude become lines of declination (Dec; measured in degrees, arcminutes, and arcseconds) and indicate how far north or south of the celestial equator (defined by projecting the Earth’s equator onto the celestial sphere) the object lies. Lines of longitude have their equivalent in lines of right Ascension (RA), but whereas longitude is measured in degrees, minutes and seconds east the Greenwich meridian, RA is measured in hours, minutes and seconds east from where the celestial equator intersects the ecliptic (the vernal equinox). There are 360°/24h = 15° in one hour of right ascension, 24h of right ascension around the entire celestial equator.

NEW MOON: 

The initial period, as only the thinnest sliver of a Crescent The moon becomes visible, used to be called New Moon. From scale: Comparing the rotation of the moon in Right Ascension and Earth Time. ET 24h = RA 56m ET 1h = RA 2m 16s It means the moon moves 2m 16s (RA) every Earth hour with respect to the celestial sphere. 

BIRTH OF THE NEW MOON: 

Right after the moon passes in front of the sun, the moon begins to be in its birth phase. However, people from the earth cannot observe this phase because the far side of the moon is fully illuminated and the near side is completely dark. 

VISIBILITY OF THE NEW MOON: 

The waxing crescent is said to be the new moon. The higher expectancy to observe the crescent with naked eyes is 20 hours minimum from the birth of the new moon and the difference of 40-50 minutes in the sunset and moonset (Recorded time for Pakistan). However, the weather condition and the visibility duration can make it difficult to see the youngest moon. This new crescent can be observed right after the sunset in the direction of the West. The direction might change slightly due to the axial tilt of the Earth throughout the year from West, Northwest (WNN) to Southwest (WSW).