Astrophotos: Here's What a Super-thin Crescent Moon Looks Like

Last night, you could have sung that old astronomical favorite, "By the light of the

slivery

Moon." Yep, it was a teeny, tiny sliver of a crescent Moon, with just under 2% of the lunar surface illuminated. In fact, depending on where you live, the sliver could have been even tinier. Giuseppe Petricca from Sulmona, Abruzzo, Italy snapped a 1% illuminated Moon (above) and then realized he also managed to capture images of the crescent Moon during the day when the Moon was just 0.7% illuminated! (below) "It was less than a day since the New Moon!" Giuseppe said via email. "I was absolutely amazed, to say the least!"

See his daytime image below, plus many more "slivery" tiny crescent Moons as seen from around the world:

[caption id="attachment_110912" align="aligncenter" width="580"]

The tiny crescent Moon captured during the daytime in Sulmona, Abruzzo, Italy, in a 0.7% phase, minus than a day since New Moon. Credit and copyright: Giuseppe Petricca. [/caption] [caption id="attachment_110907" align="aligncenter" width="580"]

The one-day old crescent Moon on March 31, 2014. Credit and copyright: Robert Sparks. [/caption]

[caption id="attachment_110909" align="aligncenter" width="476"]

The 1.2 day old Moon, 2% illuminated, from Weatherly, PA. Inset picture taken with 12" Meade telescope. Credit and copyright: Tom Wildoner. [/caption]

[caption id="attachment_110910" align="aligncenter" width="580"]

The Moon at sunset with only 2% of its surface illuminated. Credit and copyright: Héctor Barrios.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_110908" align="aligncenter" width="580"]

A thin crescent Moon on April 1, 2014. Credit and copyright: Jason Hill. [/caption]

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Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com