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Above photo: April Singer caught the last quarter moon of March 16, 2020.
This month’s last quarter moon comes on April 4, 2021, at 10:02 UTC. For U.S. time zones, that translates to 6:02 a.m. EDT, 5:02 a.m. CDT, 4:02 a.m. MDT and 3:02 a.m. PDT. Get up around sunrise April 4 to see the moon at or near its half-illuminated last quarter phase. The lit half points eastward (in the direction of sunrise), while the dark half points westward (in the direction of sunset).
From around the world, the moon will climb highest up for the day (to reach its “noontime” position) at or around sunrise April 4. From the Northern Hemisphere, the moon will lurk low in the southern sky, simulating the position of winter noonday sun; and from the Southern Hemisphere, the moon will be way up high, assuming the position of the summer noonday sun.
On January 29 and 30, 2021 – before going to bed – look in a general eastward direction to see the brilliant waning gibbous moon pairing up with Regulus, the brightest star and Heart of the Lion in the constellation Leo. From most places worldwide, you’ll see the moon and Regulus by mid-evening, that is, midway between your local sunset and midnight.
The moon will be very near Regulus on the evening of January 29. By January 30, the moon will have moved onward in its orbit – cruising ever-eastward in front of the stars – so that you might more easily see the prominent star pattern of which Regulus is a part. This pattern isn’t a constellation. It’s an easy-to-see asterism, or noticeable pattern of stars, in our night sky. It has the shape of a backwards question mark. Regulus, the Lion’s Heart, marks the bottom of the question mark pattern, which represents the Head and Shoulders of Leo. This beloved pattern is called The Sickle.
The constellation Taurus the Bull. Image via Britannica.com.
The fact is, each month for many years to come, the moon will pass to the south of the Pleiades and to the north of Aldebaran.
Yet, month by month, the moon will travel farther north in front of Taurus, until it goes so far north that it stages a series of 79 lunar occultations of Alcyone (the Pleiades’ brightest star) from September 5, 2023, until July 7, 2029.
Once the moon drops out of the evening sky, you can use the three stars of Orion’s Belt to find the star Aldebaran and the Pleiades star cluster. Image via Janne/ Flickr.
On January 19, 20 and 21, 2021, watch for the waxing moon to sweep near the bright planet Mars and the exceedingly faint planet Uranus. Mars is the fourth planet – and Uranus the seventh planet – outward from our sun. Mars and Uranus appear so close together on the sky’s dome now that – for the coming week or so – you could see them in a single binocular field of view, if the moon weren’t in the way. Mars will pass 1.75 degrees to the north of Uranus on January 21. More about that below.
The moon will reach its first quarter phase on January 20, at 21:02 UTC. For us in North America, that means the exact moment of first quarter moon comes during our daytime hours on January 20 (4:02 p.m. EST, 3:02 p.m. CST, 2:02 p.m. MST and 1:02 p.m. PST). But guess what? You can still see the moon from North America at this time, because first quarter moons tend to rise around noon and set around midnight. Thus this month’s first quarter moon will be above our North American horizons