Lunation 1053 - 7th Feb - 7th March 2008
7th March 2008
Here's a selection of this month's moons - as a new session starts over again
| Last day of this session - under those clouds the 29
day moon will be getting ready to set, followed closely by the sun. The moon
will be NEW in about 10 minutes time ... at 17:15 UT - just as I put it up on the web! Well - so my software says ;-) To check out some free software see my old web page - Links page |
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4th March 2008
I've not seen the Moon for a few days so here's a shot from: NASA Science News for March 3, 2008
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| from NASA newsletter "This is an image of Earth and
the moon, acquired on October 3, 2007, by the HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance
Orbiter. ... For full story and bigger image see: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/multimedia/mro20080303earth.html
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29th Feb 2008
| NASA Science News for February 29, 2008 New high-resolution radar maps of the Moon's south pole reveal a fantastic land with peaks as high as Mt. McKinley and crater floors four times deeper than the Grand Canyon. NASA has used the data to create a dramatic VR movie of a moon landing from the point of view of an astronaut. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/29feb_radarmoon.htm?list110882 |
| New Radar Maps of
the Moon February 29, 2008: NASA has obtained new high-resolution radar maps of the Moon's south pole--a region the space agency is considering as a landing site when astronauts return to the Moon in the years ahead. "We now know the south pole has peaks as high as Mt. McKinley and crater floors four times deeper than the Grand Canyon," says Doug Cooke, deputy associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. "These data will be an invaluable tool for advance planning of lunar missions." See a video - follow link above
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26/27th Feb 2008 - 20 Day Moon
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| Missed the Earthquake at 1 am!!! Caught the 20 day moon as it drifted through the clouds towards the trees | Low and hazy - getting lower for a couple more days |
24th Feb 2008
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| Recent aerial photo of Jodrell Bank - courtesy of Keith Summers see petition at top of page ... |
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| Low ~Az 124, Alt 8 - Late ~just before midnight |
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| Glorious Sunset - still plenty clouds around |
22nd Feb 2008 - 16 day Moon
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| No scopes out tonight - Lumix on zoom | Thin drifting cloud: 22:00 UT ~ Az 120 ~Alt 19 |
21st Feb 2008 - 15 day Moon
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| Misty moisty moon in the clouds and trees | Getting lower again now ~ Az 108, Alt 19 20:40 UT |
20th/21st Feb 2008 - Eclipse????
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| Fog, Rain, Cloud, more Rain | Brief glimpse before midnight then it was off behind the houses and out of sight. Hope you fared better!! |
ECLIPSE WEBCAST
By Peter Grego (SPA Lunar Section Director) |
19th Feb 2008 - 13 day moon
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| (Lumix on zoom) Still some terminator interest .. though poor for pics | A better view - through the Bresser Skylux using a Canon - by Chris Bailey |
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| Dark Grimaldi on the edge (Celestron+Ricoh) | Bright Sirsalsi shines in the moon morning | Filled Wargentin waking up |
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| Not forgetting the libration zone with the eastern seas ... |
18th Feb 2008 - 12 day moon
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| The Aristarchus complex - Lumix via Celestron | To the west of dimmed Gassendi is Number 44 of Charles Wood's Lunar 100 (see Moon Watching page on side Index) Ricoh video |
17th Feb 2008 - 10/11 day moon
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| Another clear sky!!!! | Early peep at moon with Bresser | Sinus Iridum | and Schiller - stacked videos - varied o/p |
16th Feb 2008 - 9/10 day moon
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| Plato | Copernicus | Clavius to south ... |
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15th Feb 2008 - 8/9 day moon with TAL-1
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| Terminator just moving over to 9 days - Ricoh via TAL-1 |
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| North .. | Rather misty - but with clear spells - poor pics but took videos via TAL | South ... |
14th Feb 2008 - 7/8 day moon
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| North | air not as steady, some thin clouds also | South ( Ricoh via TAL-1 ) |
13th Feb 2008 - 6 day moon
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| Terminator - quick merge of 4 pics (Ricoh via Celestron) |
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| Clear all day | and into the evening.. |
12th Feb 2008 - 5 day moon
more snapshots from the edge ... the terminator moves on ...
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| From Burg in the North | down to Posidonius | then the Theophilus trio | Rheita and Janssen | ending with Vlacq |
Tried the Lunar 100 yet? have a look ... or check out my Moon Watching page - see side Index
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| The dark smoother lava seas in the North | This with Lumix - others with Ricoh via Celestron For links on stacking camera videos click or see Original Backyard Moon Index |
and the bright mountains in the South |
11th Feb 2008 - 4 day moon
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| Spot the 4 day Moon amongst cloud trails | At last a clear sky and a moon within telescope distance of the Backyard |
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4 day Moon Snippets from the terminator - small stacked videos (Ricoh via Celestron) Left hand column, starts with Hercules and Atlas, moves down through the Montes Taurus, down to Cleomedes and then Proclus on the Mare Crisium Need an Atlas? see the free Virtual Moon Atlas software or check out the books pages on my Original Backyard Moon site |
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Top in middle column are the dark seas below Mare Crisium - Undarum, Spumans and Sinus Successus where the Luna 20 got rock samples. Below is part of the Mare Fecunditatis with the 2 Messier craters with white ejected rock showing on the dark lava of the Mare. |  |
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In the third column we come down onto the highlands of the south, starting with the mountains round Mare Nectaris, down to the Rheita crater chain valley, to the compexities of Janssen and down to the southern part of the visible 4-day moon with the craters of Vlacq, Hommel and Rosenberger. This is a fascinating area of the moon. |  |
10th Feb 2008 - 3 day 17 hour moon
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| Lovely day, lovely evening (not said that for some
time!) Alt ~227 Az ~32 17:30 UT |
All of Mare crisium on show now, with the Mare Fecunditatis below. Atlas on terminator to the north and the heavily cratered southern area show up well. (Lumix) |
9th Feb 2008 - 2 day 15 hours - planets later ...
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| Saturn later, Celestron and Lumix | Mars - misty, no features - high in the South |
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| Much clearer sky - lovely 2 day Moon | Just starting to see the huge craters Geminus and Cleomedes on the terminator in the NE |
8th Feb 2008 - 1 day 14 hours - and later, Mars
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| Later ... Mars above Orion in the south 8pm-ish |
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| Here it is - the sliver that starts this session! |
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| 16:00 UT - not looking good (for moons!) | Found it later, hiding in the cloud | Hid again - 17:40 UT! |
| Well - another new moon, another session of looking
skywards, and another cloudy start to the day. Not quite lost hope but after only
around 7 snatched telescope nights since August I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!
Meanwhile ...
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| Meanwhile ... for those wanting a closer look at our Moon
(and a longer look at us), here's a pic from JAXA, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency For more photos follow the link and to follow the SELENE mission news click here Try the videos for flying over the moon's surface ... |
