Observing the moon

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Observing the moon
Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center, January 19,
2008 Theo Ramakers
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• Bad choice for my presentation!
• Needed a lot of research such as
• Moon Observations
• The Moon (Movies and the Web)

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• Researching the Web brings language issues
• Such as

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• Researching the Web brings language issues
• Such as
• Is someone who is observing the moon a Lunatic

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• Researching the Web brings language issues
• Such as
• Is someone who is observing the moon a Lunatic
• While Observing the moon Mooning?

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A Mooney M20C Airplane
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Some Lunatic is attempting to set a world record
in Mooning Here in Brussels
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Annual mooning of the Amtrac train in S.
California
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Even Santa tried to moon
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• Concluded that Larry did not want a presentation
  on how to observe those kind of moons
• Went back in time more than a century attempting
  to learn about the basics of the moon

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• A study of the Sky (1896) Herbert A Howe

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The same book that mentioned the panic in Atlanta
with Comet 17P/Holmes In 1892
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• A study of the Sky (1896) Herbert A Howe
• Alexander from Humbolt
• People from Asia Minor say the moon exhibits a
  reflection of earth as if it were a mirror

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• A study of the Sky (1896) Herbert A Howe
• Alexander from Humbolt
• People from Asia Minor say the moon exhibits a
  reflection of earth as if it were a mirror
• This would be great We could use Google Earth as
  a guide and map to observe the moon

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• A study of the Sky (1896) Herbert A Howe
• Alexander from Humbolt
• People from Asia Minor say the moon exhibits a
  reflection of earth as if it were a mirror
• In the minds of many, a human figure is outlined
• Judas Iscariot

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Man in the Moon
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• A study of the Sky (1896) Herbert A Howe
• Alexander from Humbolt
• People from Asia Minor say the moon exhibits a
  reflection of earth as if it were a mirror
• In the minds of many, a human figure is outlined
• Judas Iscariot
• The casual onlooker perceives a human face with
  eyes, nose and mouth.

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Woman need their place also!!
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Who said there was no life on the Moon? Rabbits
can jump pretty far!
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And Frogs can jump far too!!!
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And Brother Toad is very close.
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But how Crabs swim to the Moon is a
secret!! Primarily Pacific Region
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• Most Notable Phases of the moon
• New Moon
• Waxing Cresent
• First Quarter
• Gibbeous Waxing

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• Most Notable Phases of the moon
• New Moon
• Waxing Cresent
• First Quarter
• Gibbeous Waxing
• Full Moon
• Gibeous Waning
• Last Quarter
• Waning Cresent
• (Complete Phase lunation)

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The Phases of the Moon in a diagram
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• Observing the Moon
• Constellations and Stars move across the sky in
  yearly cycles from East to West
• The Moons sidereal orbit takes 27.3 days
• The Moons phase takes 29.5359 days,
• The Moon moves each day approx 12 degrees east
  against the night sky
• Optimal Observation points of interest on the
  the moon change approx. 12 degrees each day.
• Limiting conditions for optimum observation
  during a given month

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Movement of the Morning Terminator from 1/19/2008
1200 2400 ET
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• Locations on the moon are identified in
• Selenographic coordinates
• Moon axis runs through the North and South Poles
• Lunar Equator
• Prime meridian runs through apparent center of
  the disk with both longitude and latitude
  libration O
• Coordinates are expressed in North and South
• East and West. (sometimes you might see and -
  signs

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• Selenographic Coordinates

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• Selenographic Colongitude
• Points of Sunrise on the Moon
• Location of Morning terminator in degrees west
  from the Prime Meridian
• Sunrise at Prime Meridian concurs with First
  Quarter
• Goes from O-360 degrees

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• Selenographic Colongitude
• Points of Sunrise on the Moon
• Location of Morning terminator in degrees west
  from the Prime Meridian
• Sunrise at Prime Meridian concurs with First
  Quarter
• Goes from O-360 degrees
• Anything gt90 West or East not visible from
  Earth, with the exception of Libration

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• Libration
• Orbit of the moon is elliptical
• Rotation is constant
• Speed is sometimes faster, sometimes slower

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• Libration
• Orbit of the moon is elliptical
• Rotation is constant
• Speed is sometimes faster, sometimes slower
• So the moon is
• Sometimes a little ahead,
• sometimes a little behind

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• Libration
• Orbit of the moon is elliptical
• Rotation is constant
• Speed is sometimes faster, sometimes slower
• So the moon is
• Sometimes a little ahead,
• sometimes a little behind
• Moons orbit is inclined to Earths orbital plane
• Appears to nod up and down
• Net exposure 7 53 East and West 6 51 North and
  South

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Example of Libration between January 8 and
February 4, 2008
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• Observing the moon
• Observe details at times when they are most
  distinct (Highest contrast) for the object you
  want to see/capture (Objects near terminator)

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• Observing the moon
• Observe details at times when they are most
  distinct (Highest contrast) for the object you
  want to see/capture
• Make the moon part of a special configuration
  with other celestial or earth objects

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• Different ways to observe the moon
• Observe details at times when they are most
  distinct (Highest contrast) for the object you
  want to see/capture
• Make the moon part of a special configuration
  with other celestial or earth objects
• Make many images, increasing the chance of having
  an extraordinary image

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Day 3
Image Courtesy Jim Honeycut
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• Day 4

Image Courtesy Jim Honeycut
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Day 5
Image Courtesy Jim Honeycut
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Day 10
Image Courtesy Jim Honeycut
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Full Moon
Image Courtesy Jim Honeycut
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• To get the best out of your Moon observations
• Use a good Atlas
• Determine when the object is visible
• Use Filters to bring out contrast
• Verify the Phase of the moon (Observation time)
• You can observe some features during daytime
• Plan the observations in advance
• Anticipate what you will see

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Online Moon Atlas http//www.inconstantmoon.com/a
tlas.htm
The images in the following slides have been
obtained From instantconstantmoon.com See
website for credits.
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Moon Basins or Mare
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Bright Spots on the Moon
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Craters and Other points of interest
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Use Reverse View Technology to view the Far
Side of the Moon ?
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Topographic Map of the Near Side of the Moon
meters
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Topographic Map of the Far-Side of the Moon
meters
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American Landings
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Soviet Landings
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Charles Woods Moon 100 spreadsheets
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http//www.inconstantmoon.com/atlas.htm
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Jim Honeycutts image of the Hyginus Rilles
Image Courtesy Jim Honeycut
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Jim Honeycutts image of the Highlands
Image Courtesy Jim Honeycut
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Whats best visible today January 19, 2008
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General Area of de Gasparis Rilles
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Location Map for Rilles de Gasparis
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Area rich of Rilles
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Overview of the Gasparis Rilles
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Rilles de Gasparis Crater
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• The Moon and other celestial objects
• Eclipses
• Occultations
• Near misses
• Grazing
• Special configurations

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Moon eclipse of March 3rd 2007 (Angela Poore)
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The conditions do not have to be perfect as
Angela proves. Moon and Venus
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Say Hello to the Smiling Cat (Thank you Clevis
for the idea) A special conjunction of the Moon,
Venus, Regulus and Saturn
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And 1 ½ hours and 105 images later The moon has
sunken quite a lot.
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And the best image ?
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Moon and Mars sequence 1 ½ hour on December 23rd
2007
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The Moon and Mars at Mars apparation
2007 Image Courtesy of Gary Jones (Cleves
brother)
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Solar Eclipse March 7, 1970. (Larry Owens)
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• Reference Material
• The next pages show some interesting websites
• Download Charles Woods Moon 100 in Excel
  format for easy
• Sorting, and planning of interesting moon
  features from my
• FILES- section in the CE - Yahoo group
• Virtual Moon Atlas
• On-line Moon Maps and images
• A number of images in this presentation, unless
  mentioned differently, have been taken from some
  of these website

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Free Downloadable Moon Atlas Virtual
Moon http//www.astrosurf.com/avl/UK_index.html
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Very nice resource http//www.inconstantmoon.c
om/atlas.htm
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Very interesting resource links on Selenographia
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http//www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/cla/
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Charles Woods Moon website http//the-moon.wikis
paces.com
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Google for Lunar images http//www.googlelunarxp
rize.org
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For your observatory Buy an acre of Moon land
for 19.95 https//www.moonlandrush.com/
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• Thank You
• See you on the moon?