Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! Are you ready for what’s hot and what’s not this weekend? Then start by taking a look at Anders Celsius and then journey to some challenging lunar features! Evolve your selenographic knowledge by locating Darwin and double your vision with binary stars. Monkey around? You bet! But only if it’s with a star with unusual spectral qualities that you can see! Whenever you’re ready, I’ll see you in the dark…
Tonight let us go from one extreme to another as we begin on the northernmost limb of the lunar surface. From the northernmost Sinus Roris, look for lens-shaped crater Markov. To Markov’s northeast is a large, flat crater with very few distinguishing characteristics. Its name is Oenopides.
If conditions are stable, look for a gray slash known as Cleostratus on the lunar limb further north of Oenopides. On the southern limb, look for familiar craters Wargentin, Nasmyth, and Phocylides. Even farther south, note the long oval Pingre.
Saturday, November 28, 2009 – On this date in 1659, Christian Huygens was busy at the eyepiece, but he wasn’t studying Saturn. This was the first time any astronomer had seen dark markings on Mars! Why don’t you try your luck at Mars tonight, too? Wait for it to rise well above atmospheric disturbance and power up! It’s too bad it isn’t – or as big (!) as close as the Moon. . .
Tonight the great Grimaldi will again capture the eye, but let’s head southeast for another featureless dark gray oval, Crueger.
Continuing south, the next crater—Darwin—is hard to see because of its rather un-craterlike appearance. Darwin is best caught by focusing on the rima that includes its eastern wall. Look for a Y formation pointing toward Crueger.
Tonight, launch your way toward the Moon and see if you can spot crater Riccioli. . . You’ll find it centermost and almost on the limb!
Until next week? Ask for the Moon, but keep on reaching for the stars!
This week’s awesome images are (in order of apppearance): Anders Celsius (widely used image), Northwest Limb Mosaic (credit—Alan Chu), Crueger (credit—Alan Chu), Lambda Arietis (credit –Palomar Observatory, courtesy of Caltech), Enos the Chimp (credit–NASA), Riccioli (credit—Alan Chu) and Theta Aurigae (credit—Palomar Observatory, courtesy of Caltech). We thank you so much!
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