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We'll tell you how to see a very young moon -- after this.

November 3  The Moon, Antares, Saturn and Mercury

Monday night you can see a very young moon.  The lunar crescent appears
as a sliver of light, low in the west in evening twilight.  People in
the the southern part of the United States will see the young moon
better -- and binoculars will improve the view.

Two bright objects appear near the crescent moon -- the planet Saturn
and the star Antares.  Saturn appears above the moon Monday evening --
and Antares to the moon's upper left.

If you don't see the moon Monday evening -- look again Tuesday evening
right after sundown.  Then the crescent will be slightly thicker and
appear higher on the dome of the sky -- on Tuesday, it will be to the
left of Saturn.  In fact, as the moon moves across the dome of the sky,
it passes between Antares and Saturn Tuesday evening.  The moon comes
so near Antares that people in Asia and the Phillipines will see the
moon pass in front of the star and block its light.  This kind of event
is called an occultation.

The moon occults another interesting object Monday -- the planet
Mercury.  The event occurs during daylight hours for North America.
Mercury is too far into the sun's glare to be observed -- but this shy
planet is preparing for its big moment.  On November 12 some observers
on Earth will see tiny Mercury cross the face of the sun.  We'll talk
more about that later.

So Monday night check out the young moon -- and Saturn and Antares.
Look again Tuesday evening -- and see how far the moon traveled
eastward on the dome of the sky.

Script by Diana Hadley.
(c) Copyright 1985, 1986 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin