Townsville Astronomy Group

Well, another great night was enjoyed for Townsville Astronomy Group's monthly viewing night.

This was held at Pallaranda, and was made into a public night, as the previous public night was clouded over, and we had a good turnout of about 30 or so of the public.  The Howards had their signs up on the road, and they definitely helped, with even the coppers slowing down to see what they said.

Viewing The Moon – First few Days

Craters on the Terminator Etc.

Well, here we are again!  So let’s begin with one or two vagaries.  Like, what is a ‘Blue Moon’?  This phenomenon has been researched at great length and the jury is out, so to speak Astronomically, it is two Full Moons in the one month.  If we figure that a synodic period is 29.53 days (one lunar month) and that a normal month is only slightly more at 30 days then from virtually anywhere we can have a ‘Bluey’ about every 2 ½ years.

I read in a book somewhere that we little folk think the moon is larger when it is rising than when it is at the zenith for instance.  Sorry people, not so.  The moon only seems to be larger at that time because we have something to compare it to, such as buildings, mountains, trees, etc..  It even looked bigger to me when I was at sea many years ago with nothing to compare except the horizon.  Ah!  Just an old romantic, I guess.

Looking at the moon when it is only a small sliver (hardly worth looking at from a features point of view) is the time when we can see a fair amount of ‘The Dark Side’.  You can see if you look closely when it is new moon and conditions are good that nearly the whole globe is illuminated by earth-shine.  This occurs when the moon is roughly between us and the sun.  Due to the fact that the earth reflects 10 times as much light