Moon on its way to the eclipse

The moon has three-and-a-half days to go until its new phase – the moment, this time, when it will stamp on the sun. The strides of the moon toward its appointment with the sun are shown in the detail above, from the sky-scene illustration in The Under-Standing of Eclipses.

Each morning from now on, you could see it take one stride (of a bit less than an outstretched handspan) nearer to the sun. So you could each morning be up one hour later to see its dwindling crescent.

Bottom line: Sky photos from EarthSky friends, plus insights and charts from astronomer Guy Ottewell, related to the moon’s movement on our sky’s dome toward the August 21, 2017 eclipse.