<p><strong>Moon Phase</strong></p>
<p>With the moon phase, it's going to be in <a href="https://lunaf.com/english/moon-phases/lunar-calendar-2015/03/09/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Waning Gibbous on March 9th</a>, so it will be reflecting a lot of light back to earth. Any light that interferes with the sky will make dimmer objects harder to see.</p>
<p><kbd><img src="https://lunaf.com/images/moon-phases/lunar_phase_18.jpg" alt="enter image description here" /></kbd></p>
<p>The Moon's reflectivity figures taken from <a href="https://lunaf.com/english/moon-phases/lunar-calendar-2015/03/09/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Fraction of the moon: 0.61371425766053</p>
<p>Illumination of the moon disk: 88 %</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>Location</strong></p>
<p>It will also depend a lot on your home location (hemisphere) as to the position of the Milky Way at different times. Your proximity to any light pollution will of course have an impact, as living on the outskirts of a city myself, it is impossible to view the Milky Way. Only when in very rural areas on clear nights have I had a good view of it.</p>
<p><strong>New Moon</strong></p>
<p>On the <a href="https://lunaf.com/english/moon-phases/lunar-calendar-2015/03/20/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">20th March there is a New Moon</a>, so this may be a more opportune time to try to capture it.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-23T18:19:16.290Z
Thank you Tanner. By the way, the link you have on your answer is for 03/09/13, not 03/09/15.
Moon
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-24T14:27:42.740Z
This is the wrong answer.
David Hammen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-24T14:30:23.877Z
@DavidHammen can you elaborate? I'm not an expert in any way, this was just my view point on the issue.
Tanner
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-24T14:53:15.727Z
@Tanner - The questioner has moonrise and moonset mixed up. There'll be a big fat gibbous Moon in the sky at night on March 9, especially late, late at night, which is when the brightest part of the Milky Way would otherwise be visible.
David Hammen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-23T14:22:50.467Z
2015-02-25T08:55:08.623Z
2020-06-17T09:47:40.653Z
Tanner
<blockquote>
  <p>Does the Moon phase still affect the visibility of the Milky Way even if it is not above the horizon?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>No. The main culprit is the Sun. Lunar twilight is extremely weak. It essentially ends when the Moon goes below the horizon. See <a href="https://physics.stackexchange.com/a/2016/52112">this answer</a> at the physics stackexchange.</p>

<p>One problem is that this is the wrong time of the year to be looking at the Milky Way. The brightest part of the bands we call the Milky Way is the core, and that's best seen from May to October. Right now the core of the Milky Way is visible from the Northern Hemisphere for only the last few hours before sunrise, and it's not very high on the horizon.</p>

<p>There is another problem, however ...</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>The Moon doesn't even rise until 9:12am.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>That's backwards. On March 8-10 2015, the Moon rises between 10:00 PM to midnight and sets between 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM. The Moon will be big and fat in the wee hours of the morning sky, which is when the core of the Milky Way would otherwise be visible.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-24T14:42:44.460Z
2015-02-24T14:50:15.867Z
2017-04-13T12:40:15.377Z
David Hammen
<p>I've been using an IOS app to predict visibility of the Milky Way.</p>

<p>I'm planning a trip to capture the Milky Way on 9th March 2015, but the app shows the visibility will be very weak on that date.</p>

<p>The Moon doesn't even rise until 9:12am.</p>

<p>Does the Moon phase still affect the visibility of the Milky Way even if it is not above the horizon?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-24T15:16:04.273Z
Re *The Moon doesn't even rise until 9:12am.* -- That's backwards! That's when the Moon will set.
David Hammen
<the-moon><milky-way><moon-phases>
What's the relationship between Moon phase and the Milky Way visibility?
Moon
# What's the relationship between Moon phase and the Milky Way visibility?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-02-23)

I've been using an IOS app to predict visibility of the Milky Way.

I'm planning a trip to capture the Milky Way on 9th March 2015, but the app shows the visibility will be very weak on that date.

The Moon doesn't even rise until 9:12am.

Does the Moon phase still affect the visibility of the Milky Way even if it is not above the horizon?

**Tags:** the-moon, milky-way, moon-phases
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Re *The Moon doesn't even rise until 9:12am.* -- That's backwards! That's when the Moon will set.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2015-02-23. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

**Moon Phase**

With the moon phase, it's going to be in [Waning Gibbous on March 9th](https://lunaf.com/english/moon-phases/lunar-calendar-2015/03/09/), so it will be reflecting a lot of light back to earth. Any light that interferes with the sky will make dimmer objects harder to see.

`![enter image description here](https://lunaf.com/images/moon-phases/lunar_phase_18.jpg)`

The Moon's reflectivity figures taken from [here](https://lunaf.com/english/moon-phases/lunar-calendar-2015/03/09/):

> Fraction of the moon: 0.61371425766053
>
> Illumination of the moon disk: 88 %

**Location**

It will also depend a lot on your home location (hemisphere) as to the position of the Milky Way at different times. Your proximity to any light pollution will of course have an impact, as living on the outskirts of a city myself, it is impossible to view the Milky Way. Only when in very rural areas on clear nights have I had a good view of it.

**New Moon**

On the [20th March there is a New Moon](https://lunaf.com/english/moon-phases/lunar-calendar-2015/03/20/), so this may be a more opportune time to try to capture it.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thank you Tanner. By the way, the link you have on your answer is for 03/09/13, not 03/09/15.  
> **username_1**: This is the wrong answer.  
> **username_2**: @DavidHammen can you elaborate? I'm not an expert in any way, this was just my view point on the issue.  
> **username_1**: @Tanner - The questioner has moonrise and moonset mixed up. There'll be a big fat gibbous Moon in the sky at night on March 9, especially late, late at night, which is when the brightest part of the Milky Way would otherwise be visible.  

---

### Answer by username_1 on 2015-02-24. Score: 1

> Does the Moon phase still affect the visibility of the Milky Way even if it is not above the horizon?

No. The main culprit is the Sun. Lunar twilight is extremely weak. It essentially ends when the Moon goes below the horizon. See [this answer](https://physics.stackexchange.com/a/2016/52112) at the physics stackexchange.

One problem is that this is the wrong time of the year to be looking at the Milky Way. The brightest part of the bands we call the Milky Way is the core, and that's best seen from May to October. Right now the core of the Milky Way is visible from the Northern Hemisphere for only the last few hours before sunrise, and it's not very high on the horizon.

There is another problem, however ...

> The Moon doesn't even rise until 9:12am.

That's backwards. On March 8-10 2015, the Moon rises between 10:00 PM to midnight and sets between 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM. The Moon will be big and fat in the wee hours of the morning sky, which is when the core of the Milky Way would otherwise be visible.


---

