4/30/2023 0 Comments Moving up in the world tonightThose located from Thailand to the Philippines will see that occultation in a darker sky on Friday evening. Observers located along a zone stretching across southern and eastern Africa, Madagascar, the southeastern Arabian Peninsula, India, Pakistan, and the southern half of Asia can see the moon occult Venus during mid-day on Friday. Sometimes called the Ashen Glow or the Old Moon in the New Moon’s Arms, the phenomenon is visible within a day or two of new moon, when sunlight reflected off Earth and back toward the moon slightly brightens the unlit portion of the moon’s Earth-facing hemisphere. On Thursday, March 23, the very slender crescent of the young moon will resemble the Cheshire Cat’s smile when it shines below Venus and above Jupiter – setting up a wonderful widefield photo opportunity in the western sky after sunset on both Thursday and Friday. Thursday, March 9 - Evening Zodiacal Light (after dusk) When fully illuminated, the moon’s surface geology is enhanced, especially the contrast between the ancient cratered highlands and the younger smoother maria. Full moons always rise in the east as the sun sets, and set in the west at sunrise. The Cherokee call it Anvyi, the “Windy Moon”, when the planting cycle begins anew. The Cree of North America call it Mikisiwipisim, the “the Eagle Moon” - the month when the eagle returns. For them it signifies a time to balance their lives and to celebrate the new year. The indigenous Ojibwe people of the Great Lakes region call this full moon Ziissbaakdoke-giizis “Sugar Moon” or Onaabani-giizis, the “Hard Crust on the Snow Moon”. The March full moon, known as the Worm Moon, Crow Moon, Sap Moon or Lenten Moon, always shines in or near the stars of Leo or Virgo. PST, or 12:40 GMT, it will appear full in the Americas on both Monday night and Tuesday night. Monday, March 6 - Sirius Sparkles like a Diamond (all night)īecause the moon’s full phase will occur on Tuesday, March 7 at 8:40 a.m. Toward midnight, the mare will swing toward the bottom of the moon. In evening, Mare Australe will be on the moon’s right-hand edge. Between them, look for the similar dark craters Brisbane Z and E and the large, lighter grey crater Lyot. The northern and southern boundaries of the mare are dominated by the isolated dark ovals of the craters Oken and Hanno, respectively. Together they comprise Mare Australe, the Southern Sea. For several nights surrounding Saturday, March 4, the moon’s brightly lit southeastern limb will be rotated toward Earth, revealing a collection of dark patches that can be seen in a backyard telescope. Over time, this lunar libration effect lets us see 59% of the moon’s total surface without leaving the Earth. Saturday, March 4 - Lunar Libration Shows Elusive Edge Features (all night)ĭue to the moon’s orbital inclination and ellipticity, it nods up-and-down and sways left-to-right by up to 7 degrees while keeping the same hemisphere pointed towards Earth. In a backyard telescope you can see where the mountains, actually the original crater’s rim, submerge below the basalts, forming the promontories named Laplace (the northern tip) and Heraclides (the southern tip). Sinus Iridum is almost craterless, but hosts a set of northeasterly-oriented wrinkle ridges that are revealed at this phase. A clair-obscur effect named the Golden Handle is produced when the low-angled sunlight along the terminator brightens the eastern side of the prominent Montes Jura mountain range surrounding Sinus Iridum on the north and west. That semi-circular feature, 155 miles (249 km) in diameter, is a large impact crater that has been flooded by the same basalts that filled the much larger Mare Imbrium to its east – forming a round bay on the western edge of the mare. On Friday night, March 3, the terminator on the waxing gibbous moon will fall just west of Sinus Iridum, the Bay of Rainbows. (Image credit: Starry Night Education) (opens in new tab)
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