Moon

Dial-a-Moon | 2025

Jim R 2 Comments

What will the Moon look like on any date in 2025? What will it look like on your birthday? Find out at NASA Dial-a-Moon. An example of what you will see is pictured below for 15 January 2025. The 2025 dates will give a different phase of the Moon. Set dates and see views for readers in the northern hemisphere and for southern hemisphere by following either link. Enter any month and day to see a high definition image. You may leave the universal time (UT) hour at the default value. If you want to be more precise, your local-to-Universal time conversion can be done at this link. Or, type ‘universal time’ into Google. Go back to Dial-a-Moon to enter the UT.

After visiting Dial-a-Moon, scan down that web page for a wealth of additional information about the Moon’s motions and appearance. The images of Dial-a-Moon are made from those of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) in low altitude orbit around the Moon since 2009.

Moon Occults Spica | 27 Nov 2024

Jim R 8 Comments

I had hopes for clear skies this morning to witness the Moon’s occultation of Spica. Mostly cloudy skies prevented seeing most of the event. An opening in the clouds came by 20 minutes after Spica reappeared and I was able to get this shot.

A larger patch of clear sky was overhead as I waited for the Moon and Spica. A stream of satellites was going over me toward the southeast. I assumed it was a group of Starlink satellites. I saw a similar stream of them two weeks ago. I quickly reset my camera from the Moon and tried to capture some of the stream before they went out of view. The bright star is Arcturus.

Lunar Occultation of Spica

Jim R 7 Comments

The Moon and Spica were well positioned on 13 July 2024 for viewing the occultation in the southwest sky. The weather cooperated with clear skies. A few minutes before 10 PM I went to the front sidewalk with my camera on a tripod. Starting at about 9:55, I captured an image about every 3 minutes. The position of Spica closest to the Moon was at about 10:05. As I watched the camera’s viewfinder, the star suddenly disappeared. I used software to align the images of the Moon in layers. Each layer was erased except for the star Spica so that progress of the Moon to cover it was clear.

Moon Occults Antares | 23 May 2024

Jim R 2 Comments

During the evening of 23 May, I waited for the Moon to rise at 9:10 PM CDT. Prior to moonrise, Antares was in occultation by the Moon. This chart by Dominic Ford shows the region in dark blue where the occultation was visible. I am located near the blue dotted line at the upper left of the open end of the figure. As the Moon rose for me, occultation was over. But, I wanted to view the two bodies in close proximity to each other.

Fortunately, the weather cooperated with clear skies that evening. I walked down the street for a clearer view of the southeast horizon. By 9:28 PM, the Moon was emerging above a tree line. I zoomed in all the way. Exposing for the star completely overexposed the Moon. Exposing for the Moon caused Antares to disappear. I chose an in-between setting. Later, I adjusted the region of the star to make it more visible. The image shows a great amount of turbulence in the atmosphere since the Moon was only about 2˚ above the horizon.

Apollo 11 Plus 55 Years

Jim R 7 Comments

July of 2024 marks the 55th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. That event is one of the monumental achievements of mankind. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first humans to set foot on another body of the solar system while Michael Collins orbited the Moon and awaited their return from the surface. Plans are under way to return a human presence on the Moon and eventually Mars. I am certain I will live to see the return to the Moon. Mars is a much bigger challenge. At age 77, I am running out of years.

The space program has always interested me. I saw the efforts to launch satellites as we raced the Russians in order to be first. I saw Sputnik fly over. Some launch failures were spectacular. Successes were thrilling. I was impressed with the challenges and the dangers. Each manned flight got my attention. This book took me back through those days of the early flights leading up to the Apollo missions.

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