Have you noticed a Cheshire Cat-like grin in the sky?  That's called a Cheshire Moon, and this is the best time of year to see it.

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Up Before the Dawn

These days my alarm goes off before the sun is up, and it's pretty cool to see the moon in the early morning hours.  The other day I was heading to work and the moon was a very thin crescent, but I noticed something really interesting it looked like the moon was smiling.  Now I don't mean smiling in the sense that there was a grin, but instead of the regular crescent moon we see in the sky that's "open" to the side like the letter "C", this looked more like the letter "U" almost in the sky as the "opening" was to the top.   It turns out there's a name for this, it's called a Cheshire Moon.

The Cheshire Moon or Wet Moon

During this time of year if you look up in the sky you may get to see a cool phenomenon known as the wet moon, or as some call it the "Cheshire Moon."  It's because of the way the moon is positioned from our view on Earth, at certain times it looks like the moon is smiling, like the Cheshire Cat's smile from Alice in Wonderland.  This same moon is also referred to as a wet moon because it looks like it could hold water.

The Farmer's Almanac says in the fall season, it is best to look at the moon very early in the morning to see it looking like a smile in the sky.

In the evenings during the spring (March, April, May), and in the mornings during the fall (September, October, November), for “temperate” (mid-northern) latitudes, the crescent Moon is oriented in such a manner so as to resemble a “smile” or “boat” with the “horns,” or “cusps,” of the crescent pointing straight up.

So during these fall months, be sure to pay attention to the sky, you just might notice the Cheshire Cat's grin smiling down. Which Cheshire Cat is your favorite version?  I personally love this one more than the original!