Find a spot - even in town, the Moon is bright enough not to be impeded too much by light pollution - set up your telescope, and eager viewers will be lining up for their share of time at the eyepiece. One option, if you do have your own telescope, is to create your own event. What if you don’t have binoculars or a telescope but want to get a closer look? No problem: Science museums, planetariums, and local astronomy clubs all over the world organize events to bring people together on this night. Curious about Clavius Crater and others like it? Find an International Observe the Moon Night event near you on Saturday, October 20th, to learn more. ![]() With binoculars, you start to see startling details of the craters and ridges, and a telescope brings these features into sharp relief. ![]() Go into your backyard, or local park, and find the Moon: You can already see so much by simply casting your gaze skyward. What do you need to do to participate in International Observe the Moon Night? For starters, just step outside and look up! The wonderful thing about our Moon is that it is so accessible. The waxing gibbous Moon (as it will be on Saturday) is perfect for observing craters, valleys, and ridges, especially near the terminator where you see these features in dramatic chiaroscuro. Another - very good, I might add - reason to schedule this for a quarter Moon is that surface features are so much more exciting, especially during dusk-time observing when shadows are long. To begin with, the Moon at first quarter is high enough already in the late afternoon or evening sky, and in the fall, it’s sufficiently dark for observing (which means people don’t have to stay up until the wee hours of the morning, and younger observers do not have to miss their bedtimes). Why a first-quarter Moon? There are several very practical reasons for this. International Observe the Moon Night is normally scheduled for a Saturday in September or October as close to a first-quarter Moon as possible. Their collective aim is to get people inspired by our closest cosmic neighbor, and to instill both a sense of awe in the Moon and a desire to learn more about its history and science. The event is also sponsored by other NASA institutes dedicated to increasing our understanding of and appreciation for the Moon, such as the Lunar and Planetary Institute, the Planetary Science Institute, NASA's Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute, and several others. If you are as fascinated by the Moon as I am, why don’t you take advantage of Saturday’s International Observe the Moon Night? This event debuted in 2010, very much the thrust of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite mission teams. I want to know all about its craters, ridges, and maria - I envy the astronauts who walked on the Moon’s surface, returned to Earth covered in Moon dust, and who bandied about terms such as “breccia,” “rille,” and “regolith.” ![]() ![]() Whether it’s the slimmest of crescents, ethereally suspended in the waning twilight, or a half Moon with an impossibly straight terminator, or the blazing orb of the full Moon seemingly bursting with light as it traverses the night sky, I cannot get enough of our satellite. Join fellow lunar enthusiasts this Saturday, October 20th, for International Observe the Moon Night! The Moon will be waxing gibbous (between first quarter and full) on Saturday, October 20th.ĭo you feel awestruck every time you look up and see our closest celestial neighbor? I sure do.
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