Friday April 21^st the 24-day old waning crescent Moon will be crossing the plane of the ecliptic moving south. This is known as the descending node, one of two intersections the Moon’s orbital path (dark green line) has with the ecliptic.
   
   On the day of the node crossing the 24-day old waning crescent Moon will be over the southeast horizon at sunrise local time. The graphic includes the ecliptic and other planets so you can see the relationship between planets, the Moon, and the ecliptic. At times like this, with several planets arranged across the sky it is easy to visualize the ecliptic.   
   
   

Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to go to bobs-spaces.