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The crescents consist of a 120° arc inscribed within a 180° arc (i.e. what is left over when a Vesica piscis figure is inscribed within a circle). This shape is an approximation to the astronomically-correct crescent shown in blue in diagram Image:Gibbous-Crescent-half-ellipse-in-circle.svg (i.e. the average appearance of the illuminated area of the moon at the mid-point of the first third ...
The crescent Moon is most clearly and brightly visible when the Sun is below the horizon, which implies that the Moon must be above the Sun, and the crescent must open upward. This is therefore the orientation in which the crescent Moon is most often seen from the tropics. The waxing and waning crescents look very similar.
The use of astronomical symbols for the Sun and Moon dates to antiquity. The forms of the symbols that appear in the original papyrus texts of Greek horoscopes are a circle with one ray for the Sun and a crescent for the Moon. [3] The modern Sun symbol, a circle with a dot (☉), first appeared in Europe in the Renaissance. [3]
When used to represent a waxing or waning lunar phase, "crescent" or "increscent" refers to the waxing first quarter, while the symbol representing the waning final quarter is called "decrescent". The crescent symbol was long used as a symbol of the Moon in astrology, and by extension of Silver (as the corresponding metal) in alchemy. [4]
English: Astronomical and astrological of the crescent (first quarter) Moon, and alchemical symbol of silver. Also at Unicode U+263D (☽). Also at Unicode U+263D (☽). Français : Symbole astronomique et astrologique de la Lune croissante (premier quartier), et symbole alchimique de l'argent.
The crescent, a symbol of the Moon, normally appears with its horns upward; if its horns are to dexter it represents a waxing moon (increscent), and with horns to sinister it represents a waning moon (decrescent).