Thin Moons

In October 2003 I had the good fortune to see two very thin Moons just a couple days apart. By a coincidence of sillinesses I was up just before sunrise on Friday morning, Oct 24 2003:

Old Moon Rising

10/24/03 6:34:56 AM PDT

Age of Moon: 28.4 days (-1.0 days); 1.3% illuminated; elongation: 13 degrees west

Canon EOS 10D EF 100-400 mm @ 275.0 mm f5.6 1 sec ISO 800

Taken from my front balcony in Emerald Hills CA.
(This horizon is less than a half degree above the true horizon.)

The new Moon occured the next day Oct 25 at 5:51 am (still PDT). I didn't attempt to see it that evening when it was only 7 degrees east of the Sun. But the next evening it was easy:

Young Moon Setting

10/26/03 5:40:53 PM PST

Age of Moon: 1.5 days; 3.4% illuminated; elongation: 21 degrees east

Canon EOS 10D EF 100-400 mm @ 250.0 mm f5.0 1/15 sec ISO 200

Taken from my back yard. Also visible at the far right just above the horizon is Venus.
(This horizon is about 4 degrees above the true horizon.)

(general Notes)
(click the images for full resolution versions)

I thought this was pretty, too: