This morning's new moon signaled the start of the summer's first new lunar cycle. Our closest neighbor in space is now moving east, away from the sun, and a very young wafer thin crescent can be seen Wednesday evening, 45 minutes after sunset, just above the west-northwestern horizon. By Thursday evening, the thin crescent moon will have moved higher in the western sky and farther away from the sunset.

On both evenings, look closely at the darkened portion of the moon. If there is a clear sky, it might be visible and quite beautiful. While it will be faint, the dark side of the moon in the "horns of the crescent" will be bathed in reflected sunlight from Earth.

The crescent moon will continue to track east through the ecliptic this week and sit just to the left of Regulus, Leo's brightest star by Friday evening. By Saturday evening, the waxing crescent will have grown noticeably thicker and sit below and to the left of Saturn.