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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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0.01 Phase Moon by Jim Burchell – 25th August 2022

Two absolutely fantastic images of the Moon at 0.01 phase taken by member Jim Burchell on the morning of the 25th August 2022 from Dartford. The second image shows the Moon with Venus on the right.

 

The Crescent Moon at 0.01 phase – taken using a Pentax KP at  F6.3, 1/4s, 210mm and iso 200.
 
 
The Crescent Moon (0.01 phase) and Venus – Taken using a Pentax KP at F6.3, 1/4s, 120 mm and iso 200.

Waning Crescent Moon by Neil Webster

A superb image of the moon at 3.30am on the 20th Aug 2022. This is Neil’s first waning crescent moon image of the moon at 40.9% & 33 days old.

Full Moon Rising – 11th August 2022

Three CMHASD members imaged the full moon – the 4th and last supermoon of the year rising on the 11th August 2022 and below are their stunning photos.

A full moon occurs when the moon and sun are opposite each other and sunlight strikes the moon face-on.

The August full moon is also known as the Sturgeon Moon so this was a Sturgeon supermoon! 

Nasa explain: ‘The term ‘supermoon’ was coined in 1979 and is often used to describe what astronomers would call a perigean (pear-ih-jee-un) full moon: a full moon occurring near or at the time when the Moon is at the closest point in its orbit around Earth. Therefore the moon appears larger and brighter than usual as it reaches the full moon stop of its cycle.  A supermoon will usually cast around 30 per cent more light onto Earth than it does when it is at its dimmest.  This is because the supermoon will be closer to the sun’s rays and therefore able to reflect more light.’  

We have already witnessed three supermoons this year, in May, June and July.  Surprisingly, supermoon streaks like the one we have seen this year are not uncommon. 2023 will also see four consecutive full supermoons, as will 2024. Even 2025 has three in a row.

 
Member Diane Clarke wrote  ‘Fellow member Honor Wheeler sent out a message reminding us that the full moon would be rising, so along with fellow member Jim Burchell, Honor & myself went to a local vantage point to await moonrise above the distant horizon.  Unfortunately we were a little late in arriving and from the remaining colour in the sky we no doubt missed a superb sunset.  The image below shows moonrise over a 15 minute period as it breached the horizon and proceeded to climb into the late evening sky.  The middle image was taken 8 minutes after the initial breach and the image at the top of the frame was taken 7 minutes later as the evening was moving into night.  Shortly after we all decided to depart after experiencing another spectacular moonrise.‘
 
Diane’s image was acquired using EOS M50m2, Sigma 18-250mm @ 250mm, 1/6 – 1/15 sec f/6.3 and ISO 1600 at 8.57pm to 9.12pm.

 

Jim Burchell’s full moon rising images below were all taken with a Pentax KP at 300mm, F7.1, 1/3s & iso 200.

 

 

Honor Wheeler’s full moon rising images.

The Moon – 7th July 2022 by George Buckberry

Two super images of the Moon taken by member George Buckberry on the 7th July 2022 whilst at the pavilion on a society informal night.  George acquired the images using a Canon 550D ISO 800 1/60s with T-mount and 2xBarlow on Isaac.  Isaac being one of the societies Dobsonian telescopes built by members Steve Floodgate & Dave Grist.

Jubilee Moon – 2nd June 2022

Several members took the opportunity to photograph the waxing crescent Moon on the evening of 2nd June 2022 – The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Day and some stunning shots were acquired.

 

Neil Webster’s Jubilee Moon

A composite of three images shot at about 9.20pm before it disappeared behind trees/buildings. It was still very light and the setting Sun was nearby.

 

Martin Crow’s Jubilee Moon & Beacon

Taken from Burnham On Crouch, Essex.

 

John Archer’s Jubilee Moon

 

Jim Burchell’s Jubilee Moon with Earthshine

 

Diane Clarke’s Jubilee Moon with Earthshine

Young Moon

A great capture of a very young Moon at 33.5 hours old on the 31st May 2022. Photo taken by member John Howarth from North Kent.

Moon – 10th June 2022

A superb composite image of 8 frames showing a Waxing Gibbous Moon (79%) taken on the 10th June 2022 by member Neil Webster.  Acquired using a ZWO ASI 290MM + R/IR filter.

Super Strawberry Moon – by Jim Burchell on the 14th June 2022

June’s Full Moon is also known as the Strawberry Moon after the wild strawberries that start to ripen during early summer.  On Tuesday evening 14/06/22 member Jim Burchell took these lovely photos of the Strawberry Moon rising from Dartford top road. The Full/Strawberry Moon was near its closest approach to Earth on that day too, so making it a Supermoon as well.  Therefore this Full Moon was a Super Strawberry Moon!
 
Image 1 Moon just appearing above the horizon. 
135mm F9.00 5 sec iso 200
Image 2 Moon halfway  above the horizon  this image has been under exposed to bring out more detail and colour. 
135 mm F9.0  1.5 sec iso 200
Image 3 Moon above the horizon image under exposed. 
135mm F7.1 1/30 sec iso 400.

Jim Burchell – The Moon – Sept 2021

This fantastic image of the Moon was taken by Jim Burchell back in September 2021.  Jim used his Samsung A10 mobile phone attached to one of the society Dobsonian Telescopes called Isaac at F1.9, 1/50 sec and ISO50.

 

The Moon by Neil Webster – 5th & 7th May 2022

These two superb images of the Moon were captured by member Neil Webster on the 5th & 7th May 2022. 

Neil acquired the images using and Altair Astro 115mm triplet APO, EQ6 R mount, ZWO ASI290MM camera plus Astronomik R/IR filter.

Each image consists of 3 frames stitched: each 90s x 33fps….20% selected, aligned, stacked in AutoStakkert3 and processed in PS.

The Moon – 5th May 2022 – Waxing Crescent 19% and 4.23 days old.

The Moon – Moon 7th May – Waxing Crescent 36% and 6.02 days old.

The Moon – 8th May 2022

A lovely image of the Moon taken by Simon Dawes on the 8th May 2022 from Bexleyheath, Kent.

Details of how Simon acquired the image are on the photo.

BAA Picture of the Week – Diane Clarke

Congratulations to member Diane Clarke for one of her images being selected for ‘Picture of the Week’ by the BAA (British Astronomical Association). 

The image that was chosen is called ‘Eclipsed Moon Rising’ and is a composite of 14 images taken between 8.17 – 8.26pm of the full Moon as it was rising above a distant horizon – see below.  There was a band of cloud that drifted across as Diane waited and as the Moon started to rise the cloud bank obscured parts of the moon as it climbed into the sky.  

Absolutely stunning………

Click the following link to be taken to the BAA Picture of the Week page of their website where you will find more detail about Diane’s image. https://britastro.org/observations/observation.php?id=20220415_141246_3339ce105b39a7a8

Pink Moon – 16th April 2022

On the night before Easter, the sky will look a little more “pink” due to the full Moon.

This is because the 1st full moon of the spring season is known as the Pink Moon and the name derives from a pink flower called phlox subulata that blooms in spring in North America.

While the moon itself won’t actually be pink, you might notice a slight change in its colour, depending on what time you viewed it on the 16th April 2022.

Members Jim Burchell, Diane Clarke and John Howarth all captured the full Moon last night on the 16th April 2022 as it rose, which appeared as a glorious ‘pink’ colour due to taking the photos whilst the Sun was still setting.

All photos were taken from locations in North Kent.

 

Below is the Pink Moon rising by Jim Burchell

 

Photo below is by Diane Clarke

 

Photo below is by John Howarth

 

For more information about the Pink Moon, click on the link and you will be taken to a new site https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/pink.html

 

The Moon by Neil Webster

Neil has been busy and produced these two beautiful images of the Moon.

The image below was taken on the 8th April 2022 from Kent.

The image below was taken on the 13th April 2022 from Kent.

For a more detailed view of these images and more photos of the Moon see Neil’s flickr page at https://www.flickr.com/photos/137388222@N05

Crescent Moon by Jim Burchell

Two beautiful photos by Jim Burchell of a crescent Moon both taken with an Olympus E-M10 Mark on the evening of 02/02/22.
 
The first photo is of the crescent Moon and Jupiter.  40mm F4.0 1/40 sec  Iso 800.
 
The second photo is of the crescent Moon and a wind turbine.  150mm F5.6 1/13 sec Iso 800.

Diane Clarke’s The Moon & M45 The Pleiades on the 8th March 2022

A lovely image of the Moon 4.1° south of M45 taken on the 8th March 2022 by Diane Clarke.
 
Diane said ”I had my doubts about capturing this event due to the cloud forecast, but there were breaks starting to appear as 19.00 hrs approached, so I went to set up but there was a strong breeze forcing me to find a sheltered spot to stop my equipment suffering wind blast, the breeze was also making the clouds scud across the sky very quickly.  So much so that any breaks in the cloud could disappear as quickly as they appeared the image was taken in one of these short lived break’s in the cloud cover.”
 
Image Details: Camera EOS M50m2 using a 100mm Canon EF Lens.
2.5 sec’s @ f5.6, ISO 2000, on a static tripod, with a 2 sec delay to remove camera shake.
 

Neil Webster’s Moon 7th March 2022

A spectacular image of the Moon by Neil Webster; taken on the 7th March 2022.

Waxing Crescent Moon, 23%, 4.72 days

4 frames stitched (each 44fps x 75, 20% stacked in AutoStakkert) and then processed in PS.

 

Below is 1 image taken from the above stitch of 4.

For a more detailed view of these images see Neil’s flickr page at https://www.flickr.com/photos/137388222@N05

Other Images
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