Beginner Astronomy – Part IV – Lunar Observing Part II – The Bright Side of the Moon We’ve talked about the bright side of the moon before, specifically about how bright it is, and the illusion of flatness during a full moon. Today we’ll discuss ways of getting more inspiring and exciting views of the moon. First and foremost; look at the details. It seems obvious, but when I’ve asked visitors to my telescope what they saw, almost invariably their answer is “the moon” with no mention of anything else. When I ask if they saw the sunlight terminus, or a particularly large crater, they always take another look through the scope. Explore the shape of the mountains, the textures around the craters, and jump from mountaintop to mountaintop along the sunlight terminus. Second; get a filter. The moon is super bright, and just like walking out of a dark room into a bright day, your eyes get overwhelmed and can’t process many details. A “moon filter” simply cuts down the amount of light coming in, which allows our eye to register a lot more contours on the moon. If you’re using a larger scope, or if your eyes are light sensitive, a “double polarizing filter” may be more useful, because it can be adjusted to reduce even more light. Third; take notes. In days of old, this was an essential part of observing. Draw a circle on a page of paper. While observing, draw what you see, so you can compare it to maps or previous observations at a later time. Don’t worry if you’re not a great artist… these are your notes, and nobody else’s. If all of those don’t help make the moon more interesting, show the moon to someone who’s never seen it through a telescope before. Their excitement should spread to you. Next week, we’ll discuss lunar photography, as we’re now only 10 days away from the total lunar eclipse. If you’ve got any photos of the moon that you’d like to share, please send them to VTCHarout@gmail with the subject line “Lunar photography”. Filters – Enhancing Lunar Observation bit.ly/1lv9wFk Telescope Observation of the Moon’s Surface (note the thermal illusions, cloud obscuration, and “wash out” effects presented) bit.ly/QLEdfn Apollo 17 astronauts singing on the moon bit.ly/1gW2dWU
Posted on: Fri, 04 Apr 2014 16:55:09 +0000
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