Observations of objects of type "Moon"

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Observations of objects of type "Moon":

Moon (Moon)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector   Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: severe   Transparency: fair   Seeing: fair
Time: Mon Mar 10 01:55:00 2003 UT   Obs. no.: 781

Principle Observers: Tony Donnangelo and Dave Mitsky Other Observers: Mike Snider, Joe Rossi, and Rob Altenburg Date: 2003/3/10 UT Location: ASH Naylor Observatory, Lewisberry, PA (76d53'4" west, 40d8'54" north) Elevation: 190 meters Seeing: mediocre Transparency: variable Dome Temperature: 30 degrees Fahrenheit Instruments: 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain, 12.5" f/6.5 Cave Newtonian Oculars: 17" - 32mm University Optics Koenig-II (202x) & 24mm Brandon (270x); 12.5" - 12.5mm orthoscopic (165x), 8mm Brandon (258x) & 13mm Tele Vue Ploessl with a 2x Barlow lens (317x) Time: 01:55 UT We observed this sunrise lunar light ray during a public observing session so it was not monitored on a constant basis. The ray, which was discovered by former ASH member Larry Smith in January, appeared as a narrow shaft of light stretching across the flat, plained area southeast of the crater Hind (Rukl #45), about 1 hour and 53 minutes before the predicted time of occurrence. It emanated from a break in a ridge located to tts east. An elevated area located to the west of the break was high enough to be illuminated and gave the false impression of a second ray. To the north, the rim of crater Hind Z was prominently illuminated. By 03:15 UT, 33 minutes prior to the predicted time of occurrence, the ray had broadened appreciably. Mike Synder imaged the ray using his Minitron color video camera, video monitor, and laptop computer. The ray was visible on the monitor but by then seeing and transparency had deteriorated so the image quality was poor.

Moon (Moon)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch other   Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: light   Transparency: fair   Seeing: good
Time: Thu Feb 13 02:30:00 2003 UT   Obs. no.: 779

Date/Time: 2003/2/13, ~2:30 to 7:25 UTLocation: ASH Naylor Observatory, 670 Observatory Drive, Lewisberry, PA, USAInstrument: 17" f/15 classical CassegrainMagnifications: 162, 202, 216, 259, 381, 404, and 432xConditions: Clear to partly cloudy, windy, dome - temperature 20 degrees Fahrenheit, relative humidity - 56%Seeing: VariableWhile observing the moon I happened to notice a possible lunar sunrise ray in an area about two degrees west of the crater Clausius in Lacus Excellentiae. The ray, located at approximately 46 degrees W and 37 degrees S, was a moderately narrow triangle when I first saw it. By the time I last looked at the moon at ~7:25 UT the ray had broadened to the point that it was no recognizable as such.

Moon (Moon)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 12-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector   Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: light   Transparency: fair   Seeing: poor
Time: Sun Feb 9 02:20:00 2003 UT   Obs. no.: 778

I helped a friend wring out an ITE DeepSky Pro video camera on Saturday night (see http://www.itetelescopes.com/products/cameras/overview.php?p=D_SkyP). The relative humidity was a miserable 65% and the temperature was -14 degrees Celsius or less. All told I spent about 5 hours outside imaging the moon, Jupiter, and quite a few deep-sky objects using the camera and a 12" Meade LX200 SCT working at f/6.3. Despite my many layers of warm clothing I was as cold as I've ever been while observing. The numbing chill served to make working the camera and telescope controls a frustrating experience at times. Frost covered the table that held the monitor and camera controller and the SCT was more slightly sluggish by the end of the session. Unfortunately, C/2002 V1 (NEAT) was too close to the horizon to image by the time we got everything working properly. The Barrow lunar sunrise ray was visible through a 12.5mm orthoscopic eyepiece but not on the video monitor or the videotape upon playback. Another ray, one previously unreported, was visible just north of Barrow. Add this one to Tony Donnangelo's growing list of lunar ray discoveries. (Tony called me to inform me about this new ray.) One of the interesting aspects of Saturday night's moon was ab X-shaped area of illumination on the dark side of the terminator. Before tearing down the LX200 we had a look at the Curtius ray. The moon was close to the horizon by then and the seeing was horrible but I believe I saw that ray too. And so I witnessed three lunar rays in one night, a record for me. I did manage to image Io's reappearance from eclipse at 3:48 UT (2003/2/9 UT). Long before that we had watched Io beingocculted. Images of the moon and Jupiter were done with a lunar filter and the Sense Up control set at 2, the lowest level. At this setting Jupiter's equatorial belts were discernible but the Galilean satellites were a bit subdued. While we were imaging with the camera I happen to gaze overhead in time to see a fine -2 magnitude meteor streak across the zenith on a southwestern trajectory. Images of the following deep-sky objects were captured successfully: M31, M32, M35, M37, M42, M51, M65, M66, M81, M82, M103, NGC 457, NGC 869, NGC 884, NGC 2903, and Alcor-Mizar. We used the Sense Up control set at 96 for these images. Due to image scale and other factors the images of M37, M42, M82, M103, and NGC 869 were the most impressive to me. Some of the mages (M32, M81, and M82 for example) looked similar to those at http://www.lafterhall.com/avastellacamex.html

Moon (Moon, est. mag -11+, est. to be in Pisces)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 102-mm refractor   Location: Hummelstown, PA, USA
Light pollution: severe   Transparency: good   Seeing: good
Time: Sun Jan 12 01:30:00 2003 UT   Obs. no.: 763

On a bitterly cold Saturday night fellow ASH members Tony Donnangelo, Maura Smith, and I had a look at Ganymede and Europa after first observing the Hesiodus Lunar Sunrise Ray. We used Tony's Takahashi FS-102 apochromatic refractor at magnifications up to 234x. Prior to traveling to Tony's house Maura and I witnessed Iridium 54'sbrilliant -8th magnitude flare.The two Galilean satellites formed a very close pair separated by a few arc seconds at most. There were definite size and color differences between the two moons. After a much needed warm-up break we caught a glimpse of the GRS sometime around 2:30 UT as it approached the preceding limb. Early in the evening Tony observed a previously unreported triple sunrise ray in the crater Parry. Unfortunately, the event ended before Maura and I arrived at his residence. The Hesiodus Ray, bythe way, appeared similar to the several other times since 1994 thatI have seen it, i.e., as a slowly widening dim streak of light that gradually illuminated the floor of Hesiodus. Other lunar features were noteworthy. Rupes Recta was well displayed as were Tycho, Clavius, Plato, and several other craters. Eratosthenes wasstriking. Tony and I both noticed an unusual aspect of Alpetragius. The central peak was extremely prominent which made the crater look dimpled. Also eye catching were the many isolated peaks on the dark side of the terminator that were nicely illuminated. Tony and I also spent some viewing Saturn. The C ring was visible at the ansae along with a definite demarcation of the polar hood and two cloud belts. Before calling it quits at approximately 3:30 UT wemade a final check on the progress of the Hesiodus Ray.

Moon (Moon)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: binoculars   Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: good   Seeing: good
Time: Wed Nov 20 02:15:00 2002 UT   Obs. no.: 721

After being 100% clouded out for the Leonid Meteor shower, I tried to observe a partial Penumbral Lunar Eclipse with my 10x50 binoculars. The peak of the eclipse occurred at 8:46 PM EST, but it was obscured by clouds. At 9:15 PM EST,the clouds broke and I was able to observe a slight shading on the northern limb of the moon in my binoculars. The shading disappeared by 9:25 PM EST. I was not able to see any shading with my naked eye.

Moon (Moon)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector   Location: Lewistown , PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: fair   Seeing: poor
Time: Thu Nov 14 03:05:00 2002 UT   Obs. no.: 720

After the introductory astronomy class that I help to teach had ended I did a bit of lunar observing under very unsteady skies from the ASH Naylor Observatory on Wednesday evening. Using the 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain at 162 (40mm U.O. MK-70) and 259x (25mm U.O. MK-70) Rupes Recta, also known as the Straight Wall, although a bit past its best illumination, looked quite good as did Clavius, Tycho, Hesiodus, and other craters. The views of Saturn were rather poor although the Cassini Division was visible and four of the planet's satellites. I also looked at M35, M37, M42, Sigma Orionis, and Struve 761 at 162x before closing up the dome for the night.

Moon (Moon)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: other Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Time: Wed Oct 30 02:00:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 706

At a meeting of our local astronomy group, one of our members had a collection of moon rocks and moon dirt from N.A.S.A. He has possession of these samples for 2 months to show different groups of people. He then has to return the samples to N.A.S.A. We were able to view these moon samples through a 25x projection microscope. The samples were from different parts of the moon from different Apollo missions. Through the microscope, we observed dark soil which had tinges of orange in it. We also viewed a white moon rock. The dark moonrock samples had white calcium blotches on them. In fact, the calcium blotches seemed to be on every sample. In my wildest dreams, I never thought I would see moonrocks under a microscope.

Moon (Moon)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector   Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: good   Seeing: good
Time: Tue Oct 1 06:15:00 2002 UT   Obs. no.: 688

The moon's libration permitted me to observe Mare Orientale on the extreme left edge of the moon. From what I could see, Orientale is flanked by mountains on both sides of it. One side had many more mountains than the other side. There will be two more dates to see it. 10/29/02 and 11/27/02.

Moon (Moon)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 10-inch Dobsonian reflector   Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: fair   Seeing: fair
Time: Sat Sep 14 00:30:00 2002 UT   Obs. no.: 684

At a local star party, we used a favorable libration of the moon to observe two hard to see mares. Next to Mare Crisium at the right edge of the moon was Mare Marginis. It is in view only from 9/12 to 9/15 this month. It is fairly easy to see, even with binoculars. Below Mare Marginis is Mare Smythii. This mare is right on the edge of the moon and is somewhat difficult to see. Libration will allow these mares to be viewed again in mid Oct. for a few days.

The moon's libration tilted the southeast corner of the moon from 16 July to 19 July. This allowed my friend, Joe and I to observe Mare Australe. Mare Australe seems to be a collection of 4 mares which seemed divided either by mountains or possibly crater walls. The moon's libration will allow Mare australe to be viewed again from 12 Aug. to 15 Aug. 02. We are going to try to View it again At that time. I'm curious to see how others see this mare.

Moon (Moon)
Observer: Bob Becker (e-mail: bobbbec@hotmail.com)
Instrument: 90-mm other Location: Kent, CT, USA
Time: Mon Apr 8 18:30:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 638

According to my Meade astrolonomical program on 4/15/02 at 19:30EDT a near perfect alignment of the Sun, Mercury,Venus, our Moon, Saturn and Jupiter will occur viewed from the region of 41.802N 73.469W. The moon will be positioned exactly due West between Venus and Saturn. The Ram is chasing the Sun. Mercury is located in the heart and Venus in the hind quarter. At 20:30EDT on the 17th the moon jumps between Jupiter and Saturn, again exactly due West.

Moon (Moon)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector   Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: fair   Seeing: fair
Time: Thu Feb 28 01:30:00 2002 UT   Obs. no.: 611

Tonight, I observed the lunar rays eminating from the different craters of the moon.The crater tycho has several large rays eminating from it, including one ray that covers half of the moon's surface.Copernicus and kepler's ray systoms are very complicated. Proclus has two bright rays that that come out of it and two faint rays thatcome out from the bottom of it as seen in a newtonian.Menelaus has a long ray coming out of it that is brightest in the middle.Messier has two rays that spread apart as they spread further out from the crater.Finally aristarchus has a ray that is very bright, short and broad.

Moon (Moon)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 4.5-inch equatorial reflector   Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: fair   Seeing: fair
Time: Fri Jun 29 03:15:00 2001 UT   Obs. no.: 560

On Thursday night, June 28-29th, at ~23:15 EST (03:15 UT), while taking a quick look at the moon and Mars with my C4.5 Newtonian, I happened tonotice that there was a lunar sunrise ray in progress in the crater Maginus, an event that I had also witnessed (and reported) on 2001/5/1 from 02:45 to 03:40 UT. (John Bajtelsmit, a fellow DVAA member, happened to image the crater coincidentally early during the May occurrence but was unaware of the ray.) This is an unreported ray as far as I know and may be the same one that I saw very briefly throughthe 7.1" Astro-Physics Starfire belonging to DVAA member Jim Sweeney at ~04:30 UT on 2000/6/10 from northeastern Philadelphia.During the course of an Internet search I came across an image athttp://home.pacbell.net/twerick/moon020.htm that clearly shows the Maginus Sunrise ray.

Moon (Moon)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 4.5-inch equatorial reflector   Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: good   Seeing: good
Time: Tue May 1 02:45:00 2001 UT   Obs. no.: 553

Time and Date: 2001/5/1 02:45 to 03:40 UT Location: ~10 km east of Harrisburg, PA, USA Conditions: Clear, good seeing, moderate light pollution Telescope: 114mm f/7.9 C4.5 Celstron Newtonian Oculars: 12.5mm Edscorp ortho (72x), 8mm Tele Vue Radian (112x), 2x Celestron Ultima Barlow lens (144x, 224x) Late Monday night I set up one of my small telescopes to have a quick look at the moon. While scanning along the terminator at 112x I chanced upon what I believe is a new lunar sunrise ray in the 163km walled plain Maginus (Rukl chart 73). When I first saw it the ray extended westward from the crater's eastern wall into the darkened crater floor illuminating the central peak. As time went by the ray broadened and brought more of the crater floor into view. Barlowing the 12.5mm ortho (144x) allowed me to witness the event in fine fashion. I took a number of eyepiece projection photographs using 17 and 26mm Tele Vue Ploessls. Hopefully I was able to capture the Maginus Lunar Sunrise Ray on film.

Moon (Moon)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector   Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: severe   Transparency: poor   Seeing: fair
Time: Fri Feb 9 04:05:00 2001 UT   Obs. no.: 545

On this particular Thursday night the question was whether a lunar event that happened 1 saros cycle ago (some 18 years) would reoccur. Or was the brightening of crater Torricelli B a true TLP and not the result of a chance alignment of the sun, earth, and moon? The evening got off to a start when I caught an ISS/STS pass through less than ideal conditions beginning at 23:30 UT. It was quite nice despite the haze and thin cloud layer. The sky stayed clear long enough to see a GRS transit and the beginning of a shadow transit of Io a half hour or so later. Then it became completely overcast in a matter of a few minutes. However, about 03:10 UT I checked the sky and it had cleared somewhat. I showed my significant other Jupiter, Saturn, M42, and a binary star or two with my 6" f/10 planetary Dobnewt and then trained my C4.5 on the moon at 129x (7mm Nagler). After pointing out Messier, Messier A, Proclus, and Theophilus to Maura I located Torricelli and Torricelli B but this was before the predicted time of the possible sun glint. At 04:05 UT I returned to the eyepiece but the clouds unfortunately had also returned. I managed a few glimpses of Torricelli B through those clouds using the 6" at 190x (8mm Radian). It seemed that the crater might have been a tad brighter but I say this with no certainty whatsoever.

Moon (Moon)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: naked eye   Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light   Transparency: poor   Seeing: poor
Time: Tue Jan 9 05:00:01 2001 UT   Obs. no.: 540

Observed the full moon, naked eye, after watching my Christmas present of the From the Earth to the Moon DVD.

Observed the full moon, naked-eye, after watching my Christmas-present DVD of From the Earth to the Moon.

I observed the waning crescent moon this morning while fetching the morning paper. Who says being tagged with the first-parent-out-of-bed-when-the-kids-wake-up duty is without its compensations?

On the night after the total lunar eclipse, I went outside with Linda and saw a beautiful halo surrounding the one-day-past-full moon; a great circle in the thin layer of high clouds.

Moon (Moon)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector   Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light   Transparency: poor   Seeing: poor
Time: Fri Jan 21 03:40:00 2000 UT   Obs. no.: 508

Even through complete cloud cover, I just took a look and saw the moon with a big chunk taken out of it by the Earth's shadow. Way cool. (By the way, somebody should have bugged me about the Y2K bug in the form. Sorry about that.)

Moon (Moon)
Observer: Mike Pierce (e-mail: xtozaj@webtv.net)
Instrument: 90-mm refractor   Location: Malone, Florida, USA
Light pollution: light   Transparency: excellent   Seeing: excellent
Time: Fri Nov 6 05:30:00 1998 UT   Obs. no.: 416

Tonight, we went on a crater hunt on the nearly full moon. Observed clearly the eastern limb and the accompanying craters. Especially noteworthy was Crater Purbach and Stoflor. The contrast was excellent tonight as was the "seeing." Tonight's moon was as brilliant as we have seen it in recent months. We are under a severe cold front and therefore had a great opportunity to observe Luna.

Moon (Moon)
Observer: Marylin F Keel (e-mail: xtozaj@webtv.net)
Instrument: 03-inch refractor   Location: Malone, Florida, USA
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: fair   Seeing: fair
Time: Fri Sep 4 04:30:00 1998 UT   Obs. no.: 383

Tonight, we observed the nearly full moon and checked our moon chart. Had a good observation of Sinus Iridum and Mare Imbrium. We looked for and saw shadow on crater wall of ARCHIMEDES. Crater hunting fell off soon after we started our hunt. Moisture set in and we resolved to look again, hoping for better "seeing" later this weekend.

Moon (Moon)
Observer: Tim Collins (e-mail: timcol@yahoo.com)
Instrument: naked eye   Location: Shingle Springs, California, US
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: poor   Seeing: poor
Time: Mon Jun 8 06:00:00 1998 UT   Obs. no.: 339

Cloudy with drops of moisture. Have not had a clear night since Feburary. My brand new telescope is collecting dust in my living room. I don't even know if if works yet. The tree accross the street looks great!

Moon (Moon)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch other   Location: Harrisburg, Pa, U.S.A.
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: good   Seeing: good
Time: Thu May 29 07:10:00 1997 UT   Obs. no.: 141

ASH Naylor Observatory, Lewisberry, Pa.; 76d53'4" west, 40d8'54" north; elevation 570 feet. After a very successful Herschel 400 globular cluster hunt on Wednesday night/Thursday morning (I bagged 9 new H400 objects), I took a quick look at Jupiter and then the Moon as its light obliterated the summer Milky Way. Although it was getting very late and quite chilly I was very happy to discover what may be a new "lunar ray". I was scanning along the terminatorat 249x when I noticed a triangular ray of sunlight streaming through a break in the western crater wall of Walter (at approximately 2 degrees west, 33 degrees south - Rukl chart #65). The ray illuminated Walter's western floor and the lower part of its central peak (the upper part was in direct sunlight, I believe). At approximately 07:42 UT I spotted a "reverse" triangular shadow being cast from an object on the western wall onto the illuminated crater floor. I could not stay any longer and by the time I had returned to my residence and set up my C4.5 (about 08:30 UT) the phenomenon was over and the crater floor was in darkness.

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