Earthshine Moon Below Jupiter (after sunset)

In the western sky after sunset on Monday, March 31, the very slender crescent of the young moon will resemble the Cheshire Cat’s smile when it shines below bright Jupiter and the Pleiades Star Cluster – setting up a wonderful widefield photo opportunity. Uranus will be positioned between them, but not easily seen without a telescope. Watch for Earthshine on the moon. Sometimes called the Ashen Glow or the Old Moon in the New Moon’s Arms, the phenomenon is visible within a day or two of new moon, when sunlight reflected off Earth and back toward the moon slightly brightens the unlit portion of the moon’s Earth-facing hemisphere.