Anyone out looking at the moon tonight?

eyeinthesky · #1 22-12-2007, 11:21 PM

Would like to ask a question? HAve been given a telescope and have a fantastic view of the moon at the moment but was wondering what the bright glow/light is about 4 oclock on the planet 3/4 from the centre of the planet to its edge. My telescope isn't powerful enough to see what it is. It is certanly very bright. Any clues??

matt · #2 22-12-2007, 11:27 PM

My guess is it's either (the crater) Tycho, Copernicus or Kepler...but I can't see the moon right now due to the cloud.

You got any moon maps?

matt · #3 23-12-2007, 12:18 AM

OK.

Clouds just cleared for a few minutes.

I grabbed the binos and noticed that Aristarchus is also very bright at the moment.

It's a 13-day waxing gibbous moon. So grab some moon maps or some other lunar reference material and check it out

saberscorpx · #4 23-12-2007, 12:33 PM

A free VMA (Virtual Moon Atlas) download can be found at
http://sourceforge.net/projects/virtualmoon/

Great software for both casual and hardcore lunatics.

SJS

RB (Andrew) · #5 23-12-2007, 01:00 PM

I was out last night enjoying views of the moon with my binos.

What you described sounds like Aristarchus, it was a very bright/tight 'spot' that stood out quite prominently.

Ric · #6 23-12-2007, 01:16 PM

What Moon????

Oh that Moon, I forgot we had one

Cheers

Kirkus (Kirk) · #7 23-12-2007, 01:51 PM

It's funny you ask. I took this photo just last night and being a beginner, I was wondering what that was also.

That bright white spot at the bottom-left, right?

saberscorpx · #8 23-12-2007, 02:12 PM

Aristarchus' extreme brightness also allows it to be seen on the night side of Luna in Earthshine.

Nice catch.

SJS