The new moon of December occurs tonight. A day later, Southern Hemisphere observers will see the peak of the Phoenicid meteor shower, and on Dec. 4 the waxing moon will make a close pass to Venus in the evening sky.
The exact moment of the new moon occurs at 1:21 a.m. Eastern Time (0621 UT) on Dec. 1, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory. A new moon is when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, specifically when the sun and moon share the same celestial longitude (also known as right ascension). A north-south line from the celestial pole would pass through both.
