Al Bustan 
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IC5146 - Cocoon
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M8 - Lagoon Nebula
M15
M16 - Eagle Nebula
M17_Swan
M20 - Trifid
M27 - Dumbbell
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M33 - Pinwheel
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M98 - NGC4192
M99 - Pinwheel
M100 - NGC4321
M101 - NGC5457
M104 - Sombrero
M105 - NGC3379
M106 - NGC4258
C/2004 Q2 - Machholz
NGC 891
NGC2024 - Flame
NGC2244 - Rosette
NGC6960 - Veil
The Mice - NGC4676

 

 

 

 

 

The Moon, Earth's nearest celestial neighbor, is only 380,000 km away from us on average, so close that it appears sufficiently large and bright to dominate our nighttime sky. The Moon's mass is only 1/81 that of the Earth, and the gravity at its surface is only 1/6 that of the Earth. Essentially all of any atmosphere and any water that may once have been present would long since have escaped into space. The Moon is about 1/4 the diameter of the Earth - most solar system moons are much smaller fractions of the sizes of their parents.

The Moon rotates on its axis at the same rate as it revolves around the Earth, always keeping the same face in our direction. The Earth's gravity has locked the Moon in this pattern, first causing a bulge in the distribution of the lunar mass and then interacting with the bulge to prevent the moon from rotating freely.

Even a small telescope reveals a surface pockmarked with craters. The highlands are heavily cratered. Other areas called maria (singular mare) are relatively smooth. Besides maria and highlands other types of structures visible on the Moon include mountain ranges and valleys. The mountains are formed by debris, though, unlike mountains on Earth, which are formed from plate tectonics. Lunar rilles are cracks that can extend for hundreds of kilometers along the surface. Some are relatively straight while others are sinuous. Raised ridges also occur. The craters themselves come in all sizes, ranging from as much as 295 km across for Bailly down to tiny fractions as a millimeter. Crater rims can be as much as several kilometers high over the crater floors. Most existing craters resulted from meteoritic impact, though some small fraction may have come from volcanism. Though only a few craters may have resulted from volcanism, there are many other signs of volcanic activity, including the lava flows that filled the maria. The Maria Hills in Oceanus Procellarum, for example, have many domes and rilles that apparently resulted from repeated volcanism. More lavas may have flowed from such areas.

When the Moon is full, it is bright enough to cast shadows or even to read by. But full moon is a bad time to try to observe lunar surface structures, for any shadows we see on the Moon surface are short. When the Moon is a crescent or even a half moon, however, the part of the Moon facing us is covered with long shadows. The lunar features then stand out in bold relief. Shadows are longest near the Terminator, the line separating day from night.

The Moon makes an orbit of the Earth, as seen from far away from the Earth-Moon system, in 271/3 days, the sideral revolution period of the Moon. But since the Earth is moving in its orbit around the Sun, the phases repeat with a different period. The Moon makes an orbit of the Earth in respect to the position of the Sun in 291/2 days; the interval between successive new moon is the synodic revolution period of the Moon. Because the same side of the moon always faces the Earth, different regions face the Sun as the moon orbits. As a result the terminator moves completely around the Moon with this 291/2-day synodic period. Most locations on the Moon are thus in sunlight for about 15 days, during which they become very hot  - 130 0C - and then in darkness for about 15 days, during which their temperature drops to as low as -110 0C. The cycle of phases that we see from Earth also repeats with this 291/2-day period - a synodic month.

The space age began on October 4, 1957, when the U.S.S.R. launched its first Sputnik (the Russian word for "traveling companion") into orbit. The shock of this event galvanized the American space program, and within months American spacecraft were also in Earth orbit. After a series of one-person and two-person spacecraft in orbit and parallel robotic exploration of the Moon, the three-person Apollo missions began. In Apollo 8, three astronauts circled the Moon on Christmas Eve 1968 and returned to Earth. About six months later, Apollo 11 brought humans to land on the moon for the first time. It went into orbit around the moon after a three day journey from Earth, and a small spacecraft called the Lunar Module separated from the larger Command Module. On July 20, 1969 -  a date from that from the long-range standard of history may be the most significant of the millennium - Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left Michael Collins orbiting in the Command Module and landed on the Moon. Six Apollo missions in all, ending with Apollo 17 in 1972, carried people to the Moon.

Observer´s Log

Moon
Earth-Moon distance: 399420,0 km (248188,7 miles)
True Equatorial RA: 06h 11m 06.2s Dec: +26°18'04"
Topocentric coordinates: RA: 06h 08m 05.0s Dec: +25°53'18"
Angular diameter: 00°30'09"
Physical ephemeris
Position angle of the bright limb: 268,5°
True ecliptical coordinates: Lambda: 92°29'29" Beta: 02°53'05"
Parallax: 00°54'53.881"
Geocentric angular diameter: 00°29'55"
Optical libration: l': -5,845°, b': -3,703
Physical libration: l": -0.038, b": 0.036
Total libration: l: -5,883, b: -3,667
Position angle: 2,43°

 

 

Mosaic processed with iMerge. Post-processing with Photoshop.

Equipment: LX200-12", 3.3 focal reducer, Toucam SC1.5

Date: 03/03/19

 

 

 

Ditto pic above but with strong unsharp mask processing in Photoshop.

 

 

Mosaic processed with iMerge. Post-processing with Photoshop.

Equipment: LX200-12",

Date: 04/04/28

Number of Frames: 25 from AVI file

Equipment: LX200-12", 6.3 focal reducer, Toucam SC1.5

Date: 03-05-10

Captured with K3CCDTools. Levels, contrast/brightness and unsharp masking with Photoshop.

Plato walled plain (centre left)

101x101km wide. Circular formation crushing the chain of Alps with pretty steep slopes to the East. Little high walls with 2000 m summits and a colapsed part to the West. Immense flat floor filled with somber lava. Clear spots and craterlets
MARE IMBRIUM - Sea of Showers (central area)
Very large formation 1250x1250km wide. Second lunar sea, with 830,000 km2. Very flat floor with numerous wrinkle ridges to the periphery.

 

 

 

Number of Frames: 10 from AVI file

Equipment: LX200-12", 6.3 focal reducer, Toucam SC1.5

Date: 03-05-09

Captured with K3CCDTools. Levels, contrast/brightness and unsharp masking with Photoshop.

 

 

 

Number of Frames: 8 from AVI file

Equipment: LX200-12", 6.3 focal reducer, Toucam SC1.5

Date: 05-02-17

Captured with Registax. Levels, contrast/brightness and unsharp masking with Photoshop.

 

 

 

Number of Frames: 32 from AVI file

Equipment: LX200-12", 6.3 focal reducer, Toucam SC1.5

Date: 05-02-17

Captured with Registax. Levels, contrast/brightness and unsharp masking with Photoshop.

   

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This site was last updated 2006-04-19                                                                                                          Site created and maintained by Jorge Lázaro