The Moon

Observing the Moon

The Moons seems such an obvious object but there is much to be observed, with just your mark 1 eyeball try observing the different phases, the order they occur and the time of day best to observe them. Look for the highlands and seas and see if you can spot the wobble of the moon (libration).

However if you have a telescope try observing the Lunar 100, or imaging the Moon’s features.

BAA Lunar Section | Wikipedia Entry

Recommended Filters

Neutral Density (ND) filters to remove the glare
Fringe Killer to remove any colour cast from refractor telescopes.
Imaging Filters:
IR Pass filter to improve the seeing.

Slideshow

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Thursday 2nd Jan 2025

NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY. Please click here for solar observing safely.

Thursday 2nd January 2025 was a good day & night for Astronomy. Clear views of the Sun during the day and a fantastic clear night. It was also an informal night too for the Society and as the sky was absolutely clear; without no hesitation members got out their telescopes and spent the evening observing the night sky. Below are some of the superb images members took that day and night.

The Sun with lots of sunspots taken by Honor Wheeler

Crescent Moon in the sunset taken by Honor Wheeler

Waxing Crescent Moon & Earthshine by taken Honor Wheeler. The moon was 2.62 days old and 8.35% illuminated.

Crescent Moon by taken by John Archer

Crescent Moon taken by Dr Mike Rushton using a Dwarf II smart scope. 1/30 sec x 20 at gain 0 and no filter.

The Moon & Venus by taken Honor Wheeler (Venus is in the top left corner)

Orion, Jupiter and Mars by taken Honor Wheeler. Mars is left of Orion and Jupiter is above Orion.

Members observing at the Pavilion on the 2nd Jan 2025 taken by Honor Wheeler

The Horsehead Nebula taken by Jim Burchell using a Seestar S50 smartscope. 205 stacked images and processed using the Seestar S50 processing software. The Horsehead Nebula (also known as Barnard 33 or B33) is a small dark nebula in the constellation Orion and is located just to the south of the star Alnitak, the eastern most star of Orion’s Belt,

The Pleiades (also known as the Seven Sisters or Messier 45 is a young open star cluster in Taurus) taken by Diane Clarke taken using a Seestar S50 smartscope. 85 x 30sec exposures, Jpeg stacked using Seestar S50 internal software.

Lunar Corona by Honor Wheeler – 15th Dec 2024

Light cloud passing over the Moon; producing some rather spectacular Lunar Corona were caught on camera by Honor Wheeler on the 15th Dec 2024. One of Honor’s images also made it to the front page on spaceweather.com😁 It was the last Full Moon of 2024 too and known as the ‘Cold Moon’.

Sun & Moon – 14th Dec 2024

NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY. Please click here for solar observing safely.

A stunning set of images of the Sun by Honor Wheeler and a beautiful one of the Moon by Jim Burchell taken on the 14th Dec 2024.

The Sun by Honor Wheeler

Honor said ”I’ve had about 20 mins in-between the cloud to capture the Sun in white light with my ED80 refractor and the Sun in H-alpha. In H-alpha there is a massive prominence visible which took me by surprise when I got the camera on it. Shame I can’t follow the sun for longer as a neighbours tree and cloud are in the way.”

The combined image of the sun; with the H-alpha image inverted and then the white light disc added.

The Moon by Jim Burchell

A very atmospheric photo of a Waxing Gibbous Moon which was 13.58 days old and 99.76% illuminated.

First Quarter Moon by Neil Webster – 6th Jan 2025

A fantastic mosaic image of the Moon taken by member Neil Webster on the 6th Jan 2025. The Moon was 6.85 days old and 47.8% illuminated.

Below are the individual frames from the mosaic.

Neil acquired the images using an AA 115mm apo, EQ6 R, ZWO ASI 290MM, and a Astronomik R/IR filter.

Processed using Firecapture, AutoStakkert, PS, and Microsoft ICE.

8 frames (each 90 x 33fps). 20% selected by AS.

Check out Neil’s flickr page at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/137388222@N05/

Hunter’s Supermoon – by Honor Wheeler

This is a lovely image of the largest and brightest Full Moon of 2024 that lit up the skies of Earth on the 17th Oct, taken by member Honor Wheeler from Dartford whilst waiting for the comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-Atlas to made an appearance. This Full Moon is also known as the Hunter’s Supermoon. October’s full Moon is called the Hunter’s Moon because it occurs when hunters would traditionally have been most active.

”People in the Northern Hemisphere spent October preparing for the coming winter by hunting, slaughtering, and preserving meats, giving this Full Moon its Anglo-Saxon name Hunter’s Moon. The name was added to the Farmer’s Almanac in North America and is used widely today.

Native Americans named this Full Moon after things that happen in the fall, including Drying Rice Moon, Falling Leaves Moon, and Freezing Moon. The Celts used Seed Fall Moon in the same way.

The names Pagan Blood Moon or Sanguine Moon have also been used for this Full Moon. However, these names should not be confused with a Blood Moon—another name for a total lunar eclipse.” Ref:https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/hunters.html

October’s Full Moon was also a Supermoon too.

”Supermoons happen because the moon’s orbit isn’t a perfect circle around Earth but is instead an oval, or ellipse. That means that sometimes our lunar companion is closer to Earth, reaching its closest point to us in what is known as perigee. Other times, it is further away, during what is known as its apogee. When the Moon is close to perigee during a Full Moon, that’s a Supermoon. On Thursday 17th Oct, as the Full Moon rose, the Moon arrived at its closest point to Earth, sitting at just 221,938 miles (357,174 km) away. There have been two Supermoons in 2024 thus far, in August and September, and there will be another in November, but October’s Hunter’s Supermoon will be the biggest and brightest of 2024. That’s because this is the closest occurrence of a perigee to a Full Moon.” Ref:https://www.space.com/hunters-moon-supermoon-2024-photos

Moon – 24th Oct 2024 by Neil Webster

A stunning image of a waning gibbous Moon by Neil Webster taken at 6.45am on the 24th Oct 2024. The Moon was 51.0% illuminated and 21.46 days old.

Neil acquired the image by using a AA115 Apo, EQ6 R, ZWO ASI 290MM, and Astronomik R/IR Filter.

Check out Neil’s flickr page at https://www.flickr.com/photos/137388222@N05/54090033889/in/photostream/ to see a higher resolution photo of this image.

Super Harvest Moon – 17th September 2024

A superb selection of images taken by members Jim Burchell and Honor Wheeler on the 17th September 2024 of the Super Harvest Moon.

Why is this Full Moon called a Super Harvest Moon?

”Supermoons occur at perigee: the point in the Moon’s orbit where it’s closest to Earth. A perigee full Moon appears a little brighter and larger than an average full Moon, and is known by some as a ‘supermoon’. The technical name for a ‘supermoon’ is a perigee syzygy Moon.” Ref:https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/supermoon-what-when-next

Plus Full Moon names reflect the time of year they happen and the Harvest Moon graces the skies in the harvest season in the Northern Hemisphere. The Harvest Moon is also the Full Moon nearest the autumn equinox, which happens around September 22, depending on the year and time zone.

Fly me to the Moon by Honor Wheeler

Image taken using a Canon M6II camera, 400mm lens, ISO800, F7.1 and EXP1/800s.

Moon with Saturn (Composite image) by Honor Wheeler

Images taken using a Canon M6II camera, 177mm lens, ISO800, F7.1 and EXP1/3s.

Super Harvest Moon by Honor Wheeler

Image taken using Canon M6II camera, 400mm lens, ISO800, F7.1 and EXP1/8s.

Super Harvest Moon taken by Jim Burchell

This image was taken using a Pentax KP body attached to a 102 mm refactor, F11, 1/80 sec and iso 100.

Moon & Cloud by Jim Burchell

This is a cropped image. taken using a Pentax KP, F11, 1/125 sec, 300 mm and ISO 100

For more information check out https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/supermoon-what-when-next and https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/harvest.html

The next Supermoon is on Thursday 17th October.

Crescent Moon & Venus by Richard Bohner

A lovely photo of the crescent Moon and Venus captured by member Richard Bohner from the USA. The single shot photo was taken on 4th September 2024 with a Canon 6D camera and 135mm lens f2.8. ISO 1600 @ 1/30 second exposure from Cottonwood, Arizona, USA.

Moon with Earthshine – 29th August 2024

A fantastic image of the Moon with Earthshine taken by member Jim Burchell on the 29th August 2024. This is a single shot image which was processed in Snapseed. Details of how Jim acquired his image are on the photo.

The Sun & Moon – 25th August 2024

NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY. Please click here for solar observing safely.

Jim Burchell, Simon Dawes & Dr Mike Rushton imaged the Sun in white light on the 25th August 2024 and below are their splendid results. As you can see the Sun was very active.

Mike used his Dwarf II smart scope to acquire his image below.

Jim used a Pentax KP body attached to 102mm Altair Astro F11 refractor fitted with a Solar filter. The mage of the Sun is a single shot and then processed in Snapseed.

Below is an image of the Sun taken from Spaceweather.com on the same day with the sunspots numbered.

Simon’s images are of the Sunspots and as you will see some of the sunspots are rather stunning. Details of how Simon acquired his images are on the photos.

Later that day Jim captured this super image of a Waning Gibbous Moon. The moon was 20.65 days old and 62.92% illuminated. Details of how Jim acquired his image are on the photo. This is a single shot image and then processed in Snapseed.

Astro-images from the 28th and a little bit of the 29th June 2024

NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY. Please click here for solar observing safely.

A lovely selection of images from Society members.

First two superb images are of the Sun and Moon taken by Jim Burchell on the 28th.

Next are a selection of fantastic images of the Noctilucent Cloud that put in an appearance during the night of the 28th/29th June. It turned out to be quite a stunning display as you will see 🙂

First set of images are from our Chairman John Archer whilst in Northumberland on the 28th June. The 1st 3 images show the NLC developing over the North Sea.

Taken at 10.46pm.

Taken at 10.55pm.

Taken at 11.04pm.

Taken at 11.20pm.

The next 2 images are from Diane Clarke taken from Belvedere. The 2nd image is absolutely stunning.

Taken at 10.53pm.

Taken at 11.15pm.

The next 2 superb images were taken by Honor Wheeler from Dartford.

Taken at 10.10pm.

Taken at 11.14pm.

This super image was taken by John Howarth from Bexley.

Taken at 11.10pm

This dramatic NLC image was taken by Bob Bryne from Dartford.

Taken at 11.27pm.

These lovely NLC images were taken by Sonia Rubie from Bexley.

Taken at 11.06pm.

Taken at 11.12pm.

These last 2 superb images were taken by Jim Burchell from Dartford just after midnight, so on the 29th June 2024 at 12.06am and 12.07am.

Crescent Moon & Mercury – 7th July 2024

A super collection of images by members of a Waxing Crescent Moon and Mercury taken on the 7th July 2024. The Moon had an illumination of 3%, which is the percentage of the moon that is illuminated by the Sun and an age of 1.6 days old, which is how many days it has been since the last New Moon.

John Howarth – Bexley

Honor Wheeler – Dartford

Mercury is just above the ‘M’ on the label Mercury in the photo.

Jim Burchell – Dartford

Richard Bohner – Arizona, USA.

Image taken 6 hours after Honor and Jim’s images in the UK. Notice how the Moon position has changed relative to Mercury.

The Moon – 15th May 2024

A super image of the Moon taken by member Diane Clarke on the 15th May 2024. During this day the phase of the Moon is First Quarter. The Moon is 49.91% illuminated; which is the percentage of the moon that is illuminated by the Sun. The Moon was 7.37 days old, which shows how many days it has been since the last New Moon.

Diane’s image is a stacked image from a 10 min AVI file. Taken with a Seestar s50, using Autostakkert, with slight colour correction using Affinity Photo.

You should also be able to make out the clair-obscur effects on the Moon known as the Lunar X and V in this image too.

Lunar X and V are famous optical features on the Moon, visible for several hours around the time of the First Quarter through a telescope. When the Moon’s terminator; the line between light and dark on the Moon is just in the right place, you can see a letter X and a letter V on the Moon’s surface.

Lunar X and V are examples of how lighting and topography can combine to produce a pattern that seems familiar to the human eye. The X is formed when parts of the rims of the craters La Caille (68km wide), Blanchinus (68km) and Purbach (118km) catch the Sun’s light. The V is caused by Sun light illuminating the Moon close to the crater Ukert along with several smaller craters.

For more information check out https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/skills/lunar-x-v and https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/what-is-lunar-x/

The Moon – 12th May 2024

A stunning collection of photos of the Moon taken on the 12th May 2024 by Neil Webster. The Moon was 25.1% illuminated and 4.71 days old.

AA115mm APO EQ6 R, ZWO ASI290MM, R/IR filter

4 frames stitched in Microsoft ICE: each 90sx33fps. Best 20% stacked in AutoStakkert.

Acquisition: firecapture
Processing: AutoStakkert & Photoshop

For higher resolution photos of the above; check out Neils flickr page at https://www.flickr.com/photos/137388222@N05/

Waxing Crescent Moon by Neil Webster

A Waxing Crescent Moon taken by member Neil Webster on the 11th May 2024. The Moon was 16.3% illuminated and 3.66 days old.

Neil used a R/IR filter (642 – 840nm) when taking his image.

Check out Neil’s flickr page at www.flickr.com/photos/137388222@N05/

Moon – 15th April 2024

A super image of a Waxing Crescent Moon taken by Dr Mike Rushton on the 15th April 2024. The Moon was 7 days old, 46% illuminated and in the constellation Gemini.

Mike captured the image using a smartscope called a Dwarf II. The photo is a stack of 30 x 1/250 second images at gain 0 but with no filter (except IR cut).

Crescent Moon

Two lovely images of a 32 hour old Moon with Earthshine taken by member Richard Bohner from Arizona on the 9th April 2024.

The 1st image of the crescent moon with Jupiter (top left) was taken with an iPhone. The dot to the right of the Moon was an aeroplane.

The 2nd photo of the crescent moon was taken at 7:30 pm using a Canon 6D with 200mm telephoto lens f2.8, 1/20 sec exposure at ISO 3200.

The Worm Moon by Honor Wheeler

Three fantastic Full Moon images taken by CMHASD member Honor Wheeler on the 24th March 2024 from North Kent.

This is the first Full Moon of the spring season and appeared on the night of Sunday 24th March and Monday 25th March reaching its peak illumination in the early hours of Monday 25th March 2024.

In March, the Full Moon is also known as the Worm Moon and if it occurs on or after 21st March it is also known as the Paschal Moon, which is used to determine the date of Easter. In some years the Paschal Moon is the Worm Moon as in this year 2024; in others, it’s the Pink Moon (Full Moon in April). The dates for the Paschal Moon range from the 21st March to the 18th April.

Moonrise half risen

Honor used a Canon M6II, Tamron 18-400mm lens set to 400mm, F8.0, exp1/640s and ISO400.

Full Moonrise

Honor used a Canon M6II, Tamron 18-400mm lens set to 400mm, F8.0, exp1/640s and ISO400.

Full Moon and Blossom

The image below is a composite photo of the moon through an Apricot tree in bloom. The first photo was focused on the moon the second focused on the tree then overlayed using snapseed.

Honor used a Canon M6 II, Tamron 18-400mm lens and Tripod.
For the Moon exposure the settings were; lens set to 400mm, F8.0, exp1/3200s and ISO800.

For the tree exposure the settings were; lens set to 400mm, F8.0, exp1.1/3sec and ISO800.

For more information about the March Full Moon check out https://www.almanac.com/content/full-moon-march and https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/worm.html

The Moon by Neil Webster

A super selection of Moon images taken by member Neil Webster in March 2024.

22nd March 2024

A Waxing Gibbous Moon, 94.7% illuminated and 12.47days old.

7 frames each 90s x 32fps. Best 20% aligned and stacked in Autostakkert. Processed in PhotoShop.

Neil captured the Moon using an AA115 triplet APO, EQ6 R, ZWO 290MM and Astronomik R/IR filter (642-840nm).

24th March 2024

A Waxing Gibbous Moon, 99.9% illuminated and 14.53 days old.

Check out Neil’s flickr page for higher resolution images at https://www.flickr.com/photos/137388222@N05/

Lunar Clair-obscur Effects – French for “light” (clair) and “shadow” (obscur)

Some fantastic images showing two ‘Clair-obscur’ effects visible on the surface of the Moon taken by member Jim Burchell on the 19th & 20th January 2024.

Clair-obscur effects are revealed when light and shadow interact with the Moon’s craters and other features to trick the eye into seeing something that isn’t really there. Below are 7 of the best recognisable shapes created on the surface of the Moon.

Photo ref:https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/skills/clair-obscur-effects-on-moon

Most Clair-obscur effects require specific timing. Some last for days and are easy to see. Others last for a few hours and are more challenging. Clair-obscur effects on the Moon are not one-time or rare events; this is because lunar lighting patterns repeat in a cycle of approximately 29.5 days, so each effect can be observed from somewhere on Earth once every month.

All of Jim’s images below were a single shot; taken with a Pentax KP body attached to 102mm Altair Astro refractor. The images where then processed in Snapseed.

Lunar V