Moon 28th August 2017

"Moon illusion" Mystery!

The Moon looked very big in the sky tonight.

It was very low in the sky, only 4 degrees above the horizon.

This is called the "Moon illusion", which is an optical illusion that causes the Moon to appear larger when near the horizon than it does higher up in the sky.

No-one knows 100% for certain why this happens, neither Ptolemy nor NASA!

Time 22:30.
Distance 250,011 miles.
First quarter phase.
240 degrees SW compass point (azimuth).
Altitude 4 degrees.

Moon 27th August 2017

The terminator tonight is on... Surveyor 5!

Surveyor 5 landed on Mare Tranquillitatis in 1967 (near the Apollo 11 landing).

It had a TV camera that transmitted 19,049 images.

A magnet on one of its feet detected magnetic materials in the lunar soil.

It was made by Hughes Aircraft, owned by Howard Hughes.

The total cost for the 7 Surveyor spacecraft was $469 million - wow!

Time 20:10.
Distance 248,201 miles.
Waxing crescent phase.
220 degrees SW compass point.

Moon 26th August 2017

I tried using the tripod and a self-timer but it was a faff because the slightest movement meant the Moon went out of the viewfinder! It was easier to hand hold. The tripod needs a geared head but they're very expensive! I think I'll stick to hand holding.

Time 20:50.
Distance 245,708 miles.
Waxing crescent phase.
235 degrees SW compass point.

Moon 5th August 2017

This is another (summer) problem I have - too much evening light - it looks nice but doesn't show any detail!
The second picture was about an hour later.

Moon 4th August 2017

This is an example of the common problem that I have - too much cloud!
But thankfully there was a brief break in the cloud for the third photo.

Moon 3rd August 2017

The Terminator has moved across to almost a perfect arc for three Luna landings, and is pretty much exactly on the site of Luna 17!

Luna 17 landed in 1970, 47 years ago.

As well as 4 TV cameras it had... an x-ray spectrometer, an x-ray telescope, cosmic-ray detectors and a laser - wow!

It's still there and was photographed in 2010 by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter!

!!! APOLLO 15 ANNIVERSARY !!!

(30th July 2017)

Incredible! Not only is it the 46th anniversary of the Apollo 15 landing but also...
...the landing site is on the Terminator and...
...the photo was taken at more or less the same time!

It took three and a half days to reach the Moon's orbit.
It was half a day quicker on the way back!

It was recovered by USS Okinawa which not only served in the evacuation of Saigon, the Iranian hostage crises and the Gulf war, but also recovered Apollo 6!

Distance 248,395 miles.
First quarter phase.
140 degrees SE compass point.