The new moon occurs Feb. 9, at 17:59 p.m. EST (2259 GMT), in New York, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory, the same day Mars, Venus and Mercury form a line of planets in the predawn hours.
When the moon is directly between the sun and Earth, we have a new moon. The two bodies share the same celestial longitude, a projection of the Earth's own longitude lines on the celestial sphere, an alignment is also called a conjunction. New moons are invisible unless the moon passes directly in front of the sun, producing a solar eclipse (the next is on April 8). Lunar phases depend on the position of the moon relative to the Earth, so the timing is the same with the differences being a result of time zones.
