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February new moon 2021: Bright winter stars abound as planets fade near the sun
By Jesse Emspak 15 hours ago
The new moon occurs Thursday (Feb. 11) at 2:06 p.m. EST (1906 GMT), a day after the crescent moon makes a close approach to the planet Saturn — though both bodies will be lost in the solar glare.
This lunar phase occurs about every 29.5 days, when the moon is directly between Earth and the sun. At that point the two bodies share the same celestial longitude, a projection of the Earth's own longitude lines on the celestial sphere. This alignment is also called a conjunction. The side of the moon that is illuminated is facing away from us at the new moon, so unless there is a solar eclipse — the moon passing directly in front of the sun — they are not visible to earthbound observers. Timing of new moons (and other lunar phases) is thus the same over the entire Earth, with the differences being a result of time zones. While the new moon occurs Thursday afternoon in New York City, in Melbourne, Australia it is on Friday (Feb. 12) at 6:06 a.m. local time.
New moons are notable for being the first days of lunar calendars. The Hebrew, Muslim, and Chinese lunar calendars all reckon the first days of their months from the new moon. For example, the last day of the Hebrew month of Shevat is on Feb. 12, and the Muslim month of Rajab starts on Feb. 13. (These days are just after the new moon because they would be based on when people could see it, as well as when the new moon occurs in the Middle East; in Jerusalem the new moon is at 9:06 p.m. on Feb. 11, while in Saudi Arabia it is at 10:06 p.m.).
Visible planets
As the moon closes in on the sun this month, it will join a small cluster of planets, most of which will be difficult or impossible to see on the day of the new moon. Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn will all be within a few degrees of the sun and basically invisible, as they will be too close to the sun to observe safely.
More:
https://www.space.com/17561-new-moon-explained-lunar-phases.html