Latest Photographs and Observing Log (low tech)
Backyard Moon made Lunar Photo of the day! - see Chuck Wood's LPOD for March 31st 2007
Lunation 1076: 16 Dec 2009 - 15 Jan 2010
The ever changing shape of the viewed moon ... from 2-day to 25-day
Morning moons, rising moons, setting moons, cloudy moons, misty moons ...
Some of this session's Lunar shapes (not adjusted for size or angle)
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| 2 day | 5 day | 7 day | 10 day | 11 day |
1) WAXING: the lunar morning ... starting with a 2-day moon on the 19th of December
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| Full - before eclipse | Around maximum eclipse |
2) FULL: lunar midday ... moving on through the Blue Moon Eclipse on New Year's Eve ...
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| 17 day | 18 day | 20 day | 22 day | 25 day |
3) WANING: lunar evening encroaching ... on through to a faint 25-day moon on January 10th ... then more clouds!
Lunar night - next new moon around 07:13 UT on January 15th ...
Fuller set of phases on my first website
From the NASA Terra Satellite - United Kingdom under Ice!!
2010/007 - 01/07 at 11 :50 UTC
Snow across Great Britain
Satellite: Terra

Photo: NASA/GSFC, MODIS Rapid Response
3rd January 2010

Moon and Mars tonight! Screenshot from free software from STELLARIUM open source
Morning Skies
07.45 - sun about to rise SE, 17 day moon going down around NW
2nd January 2010
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Was looking for Mars and the 17-day Moon - found them in a brief break in the clouds! Look closely ;-)
1st January 2010
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Skies were still clear as 2010 arrived!! And even clearer as the moon went to bed around 09:30 UT in the NW
New Year's Eve - Second Full moon of the month rises about 15:30 UT in the NE (cloud here)
sometimes nick-named a 'Blue Moon', and a Partial Eclipse as well to end 2009!!

And here it is!! - See more photos and a Bresser Skylux Eclipse shot on the Blue Moon page on side index
Details on Partial Lunar Eclipse from Spaceweather PARTIAL LUNAR ECLIPSE: On Dec. 31st, the Moon will dip into Earth's shadow for a partial lunar eclipse. The event is visible from Europe, Africa and Asia. At maximum eclipse, around 19:24 UT, approximately 10% of the Moon will be darkly shadowed. [animated preview] [visibility map] |
And from the satellites at the Earth Observatory - a reminder of our Blue Planet and its life ...

NASA image by Norman Kuring, Ocean Color Team.
From: NASAs Aqua satellite - for more details follow the links
"An expansive bloom of phytoplankton (single-celled, plant-like organisms) traced colorful swirls across the South Pacific Ocean between New Zealand (left) and the Chatham Islands (right) on December 23, 2009. ."
30 December 2009 - Lashing rain and gales for the 13 day moon
28 December 2009 - 11 day moon near Pleiades and Hyades - and cloud! Heavy rain on the 29th!
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Clear skies as the 11 day moon rose high in the East - but the clouds soon followed
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There were brief clear spells later apart from when trying to catch the nearby Pleiades and Hyades.
Aldebaran was clear and the halo effect showing
27 December 2009 - mist, snow and clouds .... 10-day moon
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Icy, mist and snow - did no long viewing ... ;-)
25 December 2009 - Christmas Day SUN in the freezing fog
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Fog and Ice for Christmas Day - and a low Winter Sun after lunch ...
24 December 2009 - Christmas Eve snow and clouds .... 7-day moon
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22 December 2009 - STILL in the snow .... 5-day moon
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Brief glimpses of the 5-day Moon showing one of the Moon-faces in the cloud! Jupiter low over the outhouse roof

Moon and Sun ...
19 December 2009 - in the snow .... 2-day moon
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Didn't think I'd catch the 2-day moon after the snow clouds at sunset - but there it was in a break later ...
December 17, 2009: No - not our moon but Saturn's! We can spot Titan with binoculars but NASA's Cassini Mission gets much closer 8-)

More details from Nasa: Glint of Sunlight Confirms Liquid in Northern Lake District of Titan PASADENA, Calif. -- NASAs Cassini Spacecraft has captured the first flash of sunlight reflected off a lake on Saturns moon Titan, confirming the presence of liquid on the part of the moon dotted with many large, lake-shaped basins. More on http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/newsreleases/newsrelease20091217/ And BBC Science news: BBC News - 'Boat' could explore Saturn moon |

Dawn on the 17th Dec 2009 - New moon for this lunation now trails behind the rising sun in the SE
18th Dec - young moon still hugs the SE-SW horizon over the snow, but too low for me yet!
First Quarter moon will be high in the sky by Christmas Eve
August, Sept, Oct, November ...
Sorry
folks - Menieres strikes again ... and again... will be back when I get a gap ...
thanks for the emails - will reply when I can ...
Archives since May 2006 - click archives on side Index
For previous Lunations and Logs before May 2006
Click here for Original Backyard Moon Archives
Archives, planets, books, links and other pages still on Original Backyard Moon site
All photos are copyright Škjcstudios and may not be used without permission