Backyard Moon 1035

Lunation 1035 - 23rd Aug to 21st Sept 2006

21st Sept 2006 - 28 days


Near dawn - last crescent of moon would be in the east, Alt 4, Az 85 with Venus close behind, Saturn already higher ... new lunation starts - with darker skies ...	Sirius was still shining brightly to the south, alt 16. Az 153, Orion now out of sight but had been a wonderful sight in the earlier hours these last few nights

14th Sept 2006 -22 days

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Very cloudy - but it thinned before midnight just enough to see the wonderful line of craters on the terminator and the 'floating' Apennine mountains. Pic through Bresser from indoors! 25mm

12th Sept 2006 - 20 days

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Dodging in and out of clouds before midnight. Caught a better view in the early hours ... with the Bresser

10th Sept 2006 - 18 days

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Was struck by the clear inner and outer rings round Mare Nectar. The impact making the multi-ringed crater was around 3900 million years ago. The pale rays of ejecta from Tycho reach it - thrown out a mere 109 million years ago. And all is still there to be seen clearly - even through binoculars, though this pic was taken through the Bresser

9th Sept 2006 - 17 days


21:36 UT cloud spoils view for Tal	By 22:15 UT sky was clear. This from Bresser 20mm. Large craters below Crisium were a great sight.	Didn't have x3 Barlow to hand - could view through 4mm but hard to get a photo. This was through the 12mm - rather fuzzy

8th Sept 2006 - 16 days

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No clouds, sky dark, Moon high .... 8-)

7th Sept 2006 - partial eclipse huh!

hope you had better views ...!!


Few clouds for this eclipse - but still trees and chimneys and rooftops By standing on a bed I could just see the moon appearing at 19:37 UT - main 'excitement' already over - just out of umbra!!	19:47 UT - moon in the penumbra, still in the trees but has negotiated a chimney!	19:50 UT - getting exciting - leaves thinner here ...	19.59 UT - a breakthrough - in the top branches now!!


20:03 UT Moon breaks free of trees, almost! Binoculars on Tripod, me still on bed, Moon in penumbra.	20:06 UT Penumbral moon!! Through 10x50 binoculars	20:23 UT - set Bresser up (on floor) inside	20:35 the Harvest Moon - through Bresser


Bresser again - Crisium at 20:40 UT with 12mm	Moon just visible from Backyard - dust the Tal down 21.45 UT	22:02 Crisium from Tal - 25mm+3x - moon going behind chimney (see below), me going in!


Moon low and threatening to find another chimney	Mare Imbrium and libration rim from Bresser 20:52	Similar view from Tal - around 22:00 UT

Fortunately the experts were ready - Brilliant photos here from Anthony Ayiomamitis again

Sept 7th
Brief eclipse of Moon see Lunar Section of Society for Popular Astronomy SPA

Space Weather News for Sept. 7, 2006
http://spaceweather.com

BIG FULL MOON: Tonight's full moon is the closest and biggest of 2006. Why? The Moon's orbit is lopsided: one side is closer to Earth than the other. When the Moon turns full on Sept 7th, it will be on the close side, making it seem a bit wider than usual. Look for the extra-wide Moon rising in the east at sunset--very pretty.

BONUS--A LUNAR ECLIPSE: If you live in eastern Europe, Asia, Africa or Australia, you might also see a partial lunar eclipse tonight. The Moon will dip into Earth's shadow for about 90 minutes around 1851 UT on Sept. 7th. Only 19% of the Moon will be covered, but that's enough for a nice display. Maps and animations may be found at http://Spaceweather.com .

6th Sept 2006 - sunsets again! then 13 day moon

Towards midnight BST: Alt 21 Az 165


Spectacular skies to west and north west around 20:00 BST - below, the east and south east can't compare!	But in the early hours, on a couple of clear nights recently, these eastern skies held views of Taurus and its sparkling stars and later, the SE showed Orion in all its glory!! Winter is icumen in - loud sings ... er, owl?? Well, might hum a bit ...

Low 10 day Moon - 3rd Sept 2006

Few clouds - but there's always a tree - or a gate :-)

Altitude: 6° 46'
Azimuth: 163° 20'

Update on SMART-1 crash


ESA staff watching moment of impact (from BBC News)	Canadian astronomers on Hawaii catch flash more on CFHT site	ESA showed the intended crash site - also links to CFHT pics

for 3rd Sept 2006 - SMART-1 crash ...

Smart-1 to crash land on Moon on 3rd September 2006 in the Lacus Excellentiae region at around 05:41 UT (with up to 5 hours either side a possibility - midnight to 10:00 UT) .

Ground based observations wanted - can you help?

See ESA or SPA for more details

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Photo and data from ESA site:
Depicts: View of the Moon on 20 August at 00:00 UT
Copyright: ESA, Virtual Moon Atlas & Clementine Project, BMDO, NRL, LLNL

Reconnaissance view of the Moon on 20 August at 00:00 UT. The lunar north pole is up.

The SMART-1 impact is expected on 3 September 2006 in the Lacus Excellentiae region, at the top of the U shape feature situated north of the crater Drebbel B. The nominal impact position is marked by the red circle. (From ESA website)

For updates on actual timing of crash see this ESA site