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People on the South Pole don't see a New Moon either

Q: I have heard repeatedly that you cannot see the new moon except during a solar eclipse. While I have never been up so far north, it seems within the arctic circle one could see the new moon during the winter months since it is dark then. Can one see the new moon at the poles and within the arctic and antarctic circles during their winters? -- Rick

[Fred Espenak of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center] A New Moon on Oct. 24, 1995 during a solar eclipse

A: "We here at the Poles do not see new moons either (except, as you say, during solar eclipses), says Katherine Rawlins, astronomer at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station.

The reason is that a new moon is always close to the sun. So if the sun is below the horizon, then so is the new moon and we can't see it, she says. If the sun is above the horizon, then it's too bright to see the new moon. This is true no matter where on Earth you live.

A new moon might be above the horizon at or near sunrise or sunset but even then the sunlight drowns out dim Earthshine (sunlight reflected from Earth onto the Moon).

"So, for us here in the Antarctic, the moon will be up for two weeks at a time and then down for two weeks. During the summer, we see only crescents. During the winter, we see full and gibbous moons," Rawlins says.

But, only during a solar eclipse, do we see a New Moon.

Further Surfing:

NOAA/CMDL: South Pole life