The Moon is Gone!?!?

Hey everyone,

I hope you know by now that I'm not crazy...

but this is just weird...

Whenever I'm outside and can see the stars, I always star gaze for a few minutes, just to see how beautiful they are.
Since New Years, we have had clear skies, the stars look awesome, But since new years, I haven't been able to see the moon!

I know it sounds crazy, but hear me out.
Right after New Years me and some friends went on a ski trip in West Virginia (we all live in Virginia), anyway, the starts out there, on the mountain were amazing, but i couldn't see the moon.
I took notice because I couldn't spot it after New Years either even though the sky was clear.
I spotted out Mars, which is usually close to the moon, and yet there was no moon...

I pointed it out to my friends, and assumed it was just a new moon.

Anyway, we got back on the night of the 6th, when we were unloading the cars, i looked up again, clear sky and still no moon!

I started freaking out a little, pointed it out to my friends and told them that I would flip out if I couldn't see it in the next few days..
They all laughed.

Well, tonight, at nearly 4am, I let my dog outside and remembered to look for the moon...
It's still a clear sky, I can see Mars, but NO MOON!
As soon as I saw this I called my friend in Northern VA (I live in Southern VA) and told him that I still couldn't see the moon!
I knew he was awake because most of the people that were on the ski trip also play World of Warcraft and so do I, and we were all playing online together...
Anyway, when I called him he said he wanted to call me earlier tonight to tell me the same thing!
I went back on WoW and told my friends, they said they were talking about it earlier tonight as well!

But the weird thing is, some other guy in our guild went outside to look for it and told us he COULD see it!

I don't know what I expect from this thread, but I'm pretty weirded out, I haven't seen the moon in over 10 days...

Doesn't a new moon only last a few days?
Why could one person see it and not me?

anyway, just felt that I should put it out there... Its really frustrating.

Here is a website with Moon Phases.

Judging from what I can see, it looks like you shouldn't bee too surprised at not seeing the moon. We had a new moon at the start of the year and it's been slowly growing -- waxing -- since then.

Whew....you had me worried there for a minute.

[edit on 1/9/2008 by benevolent tyrant]

I noticed a couple of nights ago that it was a very thin crescent that would be hard to see during the day but I can assure you it hasn't been abducted, well not yet anyway

yeah i think your find it will come back into veiw soon, do you live near the coast? check if the tides coming in and out still if its not your probly right,

Yeah I live right on the coast, near VA beach... I'm flying to NYC tomorrow though, so I doubt i'll be able to see it under all those lights! lol

But yeah, when my guild buddy told me he could see it just fine, and I still couldn't... well... maybe I am going a bit crazy...

Anyway, I'm just really surprised its been this long! Thanks for the moon phase info though... I still feel like I should be able to see it

It’s not just the phases of the moon that count though, you also must realize that the moon raises and sets at varying times. I have seen the moon be up already at dark, and be gone over the horizon early in the evening. Inversely I have seen it just rising early in the morning and be somewhat visible during the daytime. I am pretty certain that this is also why high and low tides happen at varying times and not always at the same time of day.

I've noticed this, while it is a normal occurance it is making me upset. I just got a really nice new telescope for christmas just to look at the moon... and no moon. Oh, well it should be back soon.

Originally posted by b309302
I've noticed this, while it is a normal occurance it is making me upset. I just got a really nice new telescope for christmas just to look at the moon... and no moon. Oh, well it should be back soon.

YES! so I'm not crazy! there are more people out there that has noticed this!

well, I guess I'll wait for it.. but If it goes another week without this... maybe I'll start believing those hologram theories

Here is why your not seeing the moon lately:

Sun and Moon Data
The following information is provided for New York, New York (longitude W73.9, latitude N40.7):
Wednesday
9 January 2008 Eastern Standard Time

MOON
Moonset 4:53 p.m. on preceding day
Moonrise 8:20 a.m.
Moon transit 1:07 p.m.
Moonset 6:01 p.m.
Moonrise 8:51 a.m. on following day

woah, so the moon is rising in the day and setting at night?

Thats crazy!

I would be going nuts if I were a caveman or something.

Thanks for the info buddy...

still doesn't make sense why my guild mate could see it... Ill have to check that out with him again tonight

Originally posted by Odessy
still doesn't make sense why my guild mate could see it... Ill have to check that out with him again tonight

It would depend on where he is located on the earth compared to you. I put that in specifically for the New York area, which would apply to the east coast.

I can understand this explanation. Does anyone remember about two years ago the naval observatory reported the moon changed lat/long transit rather abruptly and also reported by spaceweather? I never heard any follow up on that report. If anyone remember this incident that has a rational explanation for this please follow up.
Thanks

Originally posted by defcon5

Originally posted by Odessy
still doesn't make sense why my guild mate could see it... Ill have to check that out with him again tonight

It would depend on where he is located on the earth compared to you. I put that in specifically for the New York area, which would apply to the east coast.

Thats the thing! we all live in VA!

You can go to this site to get calculated moon set/rise times for the year at whatever location in the US you'd like.

It's not very unusual for the moon to rise/set during the day. Haven't you ever looked up in the sky in the afternoon and seen both moon and sun sharing the sky?

Yes I have, all the time, but i still usually see it at night as well.
I had no idea, until now, that the moon could rise in the day and set at night lol.
especially since Mars is usually so close to it and I can always see it.

We were driving down the highway the other night and my wife says:

"Hey, look at the Moon!"

Knowing that the Moon I was familiar with did not have fins, I looked at her, puzzled.

She had just seen a blimp similar to the one below, but facing away, tail end on. It just happened to be at about a 2:00 angle and at the right height above the horizon. It was kind of orangish-yellow.



Since she was driving, she didn't notice the thin fins sticking out of the end.

holy shnitzle!!
I noticed the exact same thing, I've been stargazing heavily since i've been on christmans break and I saw the moon last on christman( it was full or close to it) then i didn't see it again untill about the 12th of January. Now the interesting thing is last weekend my friends and I were riding dirtbikes and fourwheelers all night on Saturday, the sky was clear and I could see all kinds of stars but no moon, keep in mind we rode till the sun came up. I had told my family that the moon was gone, they thought i was crazy, now my mom and sister got up at 5 am on that monday to do their morning walk (we live on a gravel road in the country in Marthasville Misouri) and they both said they could see the moon about 1/4 of it, I stayed up till about 3 am that night and NO. FREAKIN. MOON.

I have only read posts till now but this made me sign up and share