Moon Phases, a Lunar Eclipse, a Solar Eclipse, Planets, and a comet
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Moon Phases as seen from space
are different than how we see them on earth. If astronauts could observe the earth very far from earth for a month, this is the view of the moon that would be seen from their spacecraft. The "DOC" is visible only from our vantage point on earth. Only one side of the moon is visible to us because it rotates one time every 28 days. Fortunately, the side we can see is the prettiest and most interesting!
was visible at 4:30 p.m. in late February. I was photographing strange cloud formations when I noticed it. This is the best phase to observe the moon with a telescope, it is not too bright and some of the craters are side-lit by the sun making them easier to see. My school (Willow Brook Elementary) has had "Star Night" where we set up telescopes for moon and star gazing in the soccer field. I schedule it to be during the 1st quarter phase in February. Once a parent asked, "Who in the world came up with the crazy idea to have this in February?!" I just smiled and said, "I did!" I explained that we needed to have it in the winter for 2 reasons, first of all it is still dark early in the evening and the humidity is usually pretty low so the sky is clearer. Out of the 4 years we have had the program, we had 2 good nights and 2 rainy nights. The first year we saw Venus, Mars, Jupiter and its 4 Galilean moons, Saturn and even a fly-by of the International Space Station! We have people from the local astronomy club and astronomy students from Roane State Community College come with telescopes and their expertise to help. I love to see the look on a child's face the first time he or she sees the rings of Saturn! Priceless!
through my picture window in the living room at a little after 7:00 in the morning on March 6, 2007. The light is beginning to disappear from the right side.
Movable Earth, Moon and Sun revolution Demonstration Diagram; landscape page layout
. To get a full page layout: 1. Right click on the picture 2. Click "save picture as" and store it in your photo file manager 3. Insert the saved photo into a Word document (go to "properties" and set to print in landscape layout and make the page margins as small as the program will allow) 4. Enlarge the photo to fit the page (look at "print preview" first) and print. Follow the directions on the diagram to put the pieces together.
On August 21, 2017 a total eclipse crossed the United States from Oregon to South Carolina. We were fortunate to live close enough to the path of totality that we could drive to Spring City, Tennessee to spend 2 minutes, 39 seconds in darkness. This photo is the beginning of the eclipse at 1:03 PM Eastern Daylight Time. I used a 500mm telephoto lens with a solar filter to take the following photos of the eclipse as it progressed. Note the three small sunspots in the upper center of the photo.
The Sun is nearly covered by the moon! In just a few seconds there will be...
, the "C", to finish out the "moonth" (no, it isn't a waxing crescent reversed)! This was taken at 6:15 a.m. on Aug. 9, 2007. I woke up at 4:15 a.m. and 5:15 a.m. in anticipation of getting this shot, but the moon would not have been visible at those times (we have a lot of trees in the way). I "got caught" by only one neighbor in my mis-matched clothes and bleary-eyed state while I was set up on the cul-de-sac in front of my house with the tripod! I don't think anything I do surprises them anymore! :)
in this photo. Due to its slightly eliptical orbit, the moon is closer to the Earth at times than others. The average distance of the moon from the Earth is approximately 240,000 miles (384401 kilometers). When it is at perigee, or the closest, it is 221,441 miles (356375 km) away. At apogee, the farthest in its orbit, it is 252,724 miles (406720 km). The gray mare (pron. mah-ray) and impact craters are easy to see. For more indepth information on this subject see: perigee and apogee
was taken at 7:15 in the morning. The light is becoming less and less each night, soon it will be a waning crescent.
with a halo. The halo is caused by the refraction of the moonlight shining through the ice crystals in high, cirrus clouds. Cirrus clouds are the first clouds to move in before a rain or storm system. The larger the halo, the sooner rain is expected. This was hand-held, so it's a bit blurry.
The less common "solar" eclipse happens during a New Moon when the moon passes between sun and the Earth. The moon's shadow races across the earth at 1000 miles per hour, so the time of totality (darkness) in a particular area lasts just 2 minutes or less. If the sky is clear during totality, the stars can be seen, birds roost, and insects turn in for the night! I'll bet they wonder why they got such a short nap when the area starts to lighten up again a few minutes later! :)
...Totality!!! When the Moon completely blocked the Sun, it was safe to take off our eclipse glasses and enjoy this spectacle! The white corona is the hot gases that surround the sun. They are visible only during a total eclipse. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for our part of the country. It is something that anyone who saw it will never forget!
waxing crescent Moon and Venus
. Of course, it was much prettier in real life than what the camera could capture! This sight was visible at 10:00 p.m. on May 19, 2007. Venus is a very bright planet due to its size and proximity to the sun and the Earth. It is the only planet named for a female, the Roman goddess of beauty and love. Being the only "female" in the collection of 8 planets, she has to be a little different! Not only does Venus rotate (spin on her axis) very slowly, the angle of her axis is tilted nearly 180 degrees (south and north are reversed), so she also spins backwards! If you could live on Venus (which you couldn't because of the hotter-than-an-oven heat and a crushing, poisonous atmosphere), your day would be equal to nearly 4 Earth days and the sun would rise in the west and set in the east! Venus has an active crust with mountains, volcanoes and "Venusquakes".
(pron. mah-ray), the Latin word for "sea". Early people assumed the dark areas on the moon contained water, thus the "seas" and "ocean". There is little if any atmosphere and with temperature extremes between -250 degrees F (on the dark side) and 250 degrees F (on the sunlight side), it is impossible to have liquid water on the surface of the moon. The Mare Tranquillitatis or Sea of Tranquility was the location of the first Moon landing by the Apollo 11 astronauts in 1969. Mare are smooth plains formed when lava rose to the surface and hardened after asteroid impacts billions of years ago. Two of the moon's large impact craters, Tycho and Copernicus, look like sunbursts. Copernicus Crater is 57 miles wide and was caused by an asteroid impact about 800 million years ago. At 109 million years, Tycho is much "younger". Since there is no air or water on the moon, there is no weathering or erosion to change the surface features. The Apollo astronauts' footprints and moon buggy tracks will be up there forever unless they are struck by another meteorite or blown away by a manned lunar landing! Websites explaining a theory of how the Moon formed: moon formation moon formation animation and what might have happened if there was no moon
This photo of the Moon, as it is beginning the waning crescent phase, was taken in the desert of southern California on March 23, 2007 at 8:15 p.m. I was excited to finally get a good shot with the craters visible! Using a tripod, of course, I set the camera on Aperture mode and stopped it down -4.7 stops to get this shot without the "blinkies"! In this phase, the moon looks like a "C". You'll have to get up very early to see the moon in the thin, "fingernail" sliver crescent since it rises shortly before dawn.
casts a shadow on the earth. When the sun's light is completely blocked there is a total eclipse. It becomes as dark as night for up to 2 minutes. It doesn't stay dark for long though, the shadow moves across the earth's surface at 1000 mph!
The Moon is covering more of the Sun's disk at this stage.
Solar Eclipse sunset 8-21-2017
When darkness fell during totality, we could see a faint glow in the distance. This is where the Sun was still shining outside the Moon's shadow about 35 miles away. If we had been somewhere without so many trees, we would have had a 360 degree view of it!
, the"D", in this photograph. The moon rises an hour later each day, so during some phases in the 28-day lunar monthly cycle (which I call a "moonth"), it can be seen early in the afternoon. To find out the present phase of the moon check out this website:Moon phases for the month
(pron. "mah-ray"), which is Latin for "sea". Early people assumed those areas had water, just as the earth has oceans. We now know that the mare are flat plains that once had lava flows. The moon is approximately 240,000 miles from the Earth and is about 1/4 size of the Earth. This photo was taken with a Nikon ED-82 spotting scope and my Nikon D80 camera.
The Moon Phases as viewed from Earth; new moon
. The sun is shining on the back side (what we call the "dark side" of the moon) which can't be seen from our vantage point. We always see the same side of the moon because it rotates so slowly the same face is always toward the Earth, fortunately, the side we see is the prettiest! In 3 days a tiny sliver of a waxing crescent can be seen, this is the "D" in "DOC". Every night more light is added on the right side (waxing), making more of the moon's disc visible. One week into the lunar cycle half of the moon is visible (but it is called the 1st Quarter). This is the best phase to view the moon with binoculars or a telescope because it can be seen early in the evening and the craters are well defined by the shadows. It is often possible to see the moon during the afternoon in this phase. On day 12 the moon is almost, but not quite, full. This is the waxing gibbous phase. Two weeks into the moon's revolution around the earth we enjoy a big, bright full moon, the "O". Up until this point, the moon has had more light added each night, from here on out, there will be less light each night. By day 16 the light begins to wane to the right and the moon is in the waning gibbous phase. Day 21 brings the 3rd Quarter phase when the other half is seen. The moon rises an hour later each night, by day 26 only a tiny crescent is visible early in the morning, this is the "C" phase. On Day 28 the moon has completed its cycle. The rare times that there are 2 full moons in one month, it is called a "Blue Moon".
Kris viewing the Solar Eclipse 8-21-2017
We viewed the eclipse at the base of the TVA fire tower at Grandview, TN (above Spring City). I was glad there was a concrete pad from an old building that I could set up my tripod on. We had to wear special eclipse glasses with strong filters to block the ultraviolet and sunlight to protect our eyes. I used a solar filter from my telescope to photograph the sun before totality.
Solar Eclipse shadows 8-21-2017
During the eclipse, we enjoyed seeing the shadows of the Moon passing in front of the Sun.
occurs when the moon passes through the earth's shadow. The moon turns a reddish color because the longer red wavelengths of the sun's light bend slightly around the earth. A lunar eclipse happens only during the full phase of the moon if the moon is in the correct orbital plane.