1022 - Aug Sept 2005

Present lunation in Latest Photos - recent lunations in Recent - further back try Archive from above menu (this is a rambling website - just rummage through it!)

Thurs/Fri 1st/2nd Sept - Day 28

Dawn and the last waning crescent is too low to catch. For an expert astrophotographer's view click here to see what a lovely sight it might have been! Thanks for sharing them, Pete

But it has been a good lunation with sightings ranging from brief glimpses through the cloud on day 27, to bright daylight moons on days 4 & 5 with better luck on darkening nights through the Tal on days 16, 18, 20 and 21. New bright areas were noticed. New areas seen with favourable libration on the eastern limb. New phases were spotted when I couldn't sleep!! Managed some observations (if not photo-records) on Days 4,5,7,8,9,14,16,18,20,21,23,24,25,26, and 27.

New moon on the 3rd - clear skies!

After midnight the stars were sparkling in the east and Mars glowed: Taurus with the Hyades, Andromeda, Perseus with his clusters, Cassiopeia, Triangulum and others put on a good show for binoculars

Sun having problems later at 0815 UT - no chance for slender waning crescent

Briefest glimpse through binocs as it emerged from the trees 0315 UT and promptly disappeared under low, heavy orange/grey cloud cover. Even the jets going over to Manchester Airport showed beams from their 'headlights' disappearing in the murk. Not even the sun later on in the morning could break through! Ah well, new moon on 3rd September - see what the next lunation brings ...

0230 UT Sky reflecting orange, stars dim

Pollux shone faintly above, joining in the orange theme

Moon had haze round it, Grimaldi visible - as ever. Bright areas to north (round Olbers A - see ESA news below) and south (round Byrgius A). 2 darker craters SE near terminator (Vieta, Fourier??)

Schickard possible to south

Earthshine visible, pale orange, like the sky. Photos through 20 x 50 binoculars, through window

0330 UT Moon higher but no clearer.

Mars moving to the south, Aldebaran and Hyades SE

No sign of Saturn, still in the trees

And definitely not a sniff of Smart-1 which took the photo below 8-)

Photo from ESA

SMART-1 view of Glushko crater

30 August 2005 (from ESA newsletter)
This image, taken by the Advanced Moon Micro-Imager Experiment (AMIE) on board ESA’s SMART-1 spacecraft, shows Glushko impact crater on the Moon.
The crater is located at 8.4° North, 77.6° West and has a diameter of 43 kilometres. The crater is attached to the western rim of Olbers crater was previously designated 'Olbers A' before being renamed in honour of Valentin Petrovitch Glushko, a Russian rocket scientist, by the International Astronomical Union. It is very close to the western limb as seen from Earth.

This crater possesses a relatively high albedo and is the focus of a prominent ray system that extends in all directions across the nearby surface.

Full story


Thick cloud cover around 0200 UT eventually breaking up with a few gaps by about 0230 UT	Moon in the east at around altitude 35 deg. Occasional glimpses of Capella higher up	Earthshine could be seen when the sky cleared sufficiently. Mars appeared now and then in the SE

*Grimaldi could be seen close* to the western limb with the brighter Kepler showing - as did Reiner Gamma. The curve of Sinus Iridum was sharp in the north, almost cut by the terminator**	Mare Humorum showed as a dark circle near the terminator to the south. Seeing steady and clear - though binoculars were heavy and wobbly 8-) Photos taken through old 20 x 50 binoculars with a Ricoh Caplio G3 camera on zoom - as reminder ...	Not sure which large craters stood out so well in the south but possibilities are Wilhelm, Longomontanus and maybe Clavius??? A couple of large craters showed on the northern horn, possibly round Pythagoras, Babbage and J Herschel??


Midnight UT - heavy cloud cover - occasional glimpse in NW (Alt around 14 deg)	0300 UT - high in the east - clouds even thicker (Alt about 45 deg)

20 day moon nicely placed near Mars and Pleiades

But trees and then cloud conspired to spoil the view in the east near midnight

Some fast viewing before the cloud banks rolled in - Mars appeared in a small clear patch when the moon was obscured

In the south the terminator crept closer to the 3 huge craters in the NW of Mare Nectaris with the central peaks of Cyrillus showing

The Rupes Altai, a huge arced scarp round the SW of the old mare was very clear

Further south, the battering taken over the years showed in the impact craters - crater overlapping crater on the rocky highlands

The walled plain of Maurolycus (114km) formed on top of an older crater, with yet more smaller craters on top

	Clear night - though seeing was shimmery - some wisps of high thin cloud about Watched the stars till the moon came out of the silver birches Waited for Mars to appear around midnight UT
	Terminator covering much of Mare Crisium in the east but still the 3 bright sparks stood out in the west with the strange plateau round Aristarchus showing raised (but not clear in this pic) Atlas and Hercules were very clear with their different floors showing well
	Further south the terminator was creeping towards the old Mare Nectaris and the battered Janssen (190 km)
	Mars took its time climbing out of the trees in the east and shone like a jewel through the branches for a while Seeing very poor - couldn't make out detail yet - perhaps a hint of pale in the south - but nothing like the detail the Mars Previewer graphic showed (right)


	Nearly missed it - this just-about 16 day moon crept up through the trees and into Tal territory about 22:30 UT After a series of daytime moons and binocular viewing it was a welcome sight
	Although the photos don't do it justice and the seeing was shaky and close to the garage roof, there was still a lot to be seen Part of the Mare Humboldtianum was sharply visible on the terminator east of a dark Endymion Mare Crisium had a rounder look, seen whole for a change - Proclus bright as ever. Seneca and Plutarch dark to the north east
	Further south Langrenus stood out at the edge of the mare Fecunditatis and the Messier lines showed well


Overexposed virtually (0.998) Full Moon skirts the rooftops, chimneys and trees	Altitude around 17 deg. and rising .... should be around 50 deg and in amongst the Pleiades, Mars and the Hyades at around 3 in the morning at the next quarter - just east of south

Thurs 11th August - getting towards a 6 day moon

Fri 12th August - 7 day 2 hrs

Sat 13th Aug - 8 day moon

Sun 14th Aug - 9 days 5hrs

Alas - no chance of finding a daylight moon in this. It is getting rather low right now which doesn't help! Still, I found a copy of 'Full Moon' in Oxfam and England did well at Old Trafford so all is not lost ;-)

20:00UT in SW - too low for Tal - over Pennington Park - low in SW

Altitude about 9 deg

Low, just a glimpse then cloud, rain ..

Creeping over the rooftops when seen from ground level at 21:30 UT in SW

Alt about 4 deg - not visible from Backyard earlier - in the trees

would get better views with IR equipment but this is the low tech version ;-)

Observing from around 14:50 - 16:50 UT

Again took the chance of some! blue sky to view the 5 day moon. More of the Mare Crisium was showing and Proclus was starting to shine. Theophilus stood out alone for much of the afternoon but as the sun went over the rooftops the old Mare Nectar showed dark against the bright surface. Hercules and Atlas were more visible than the awful photo shows, as were the craters towards the rim.

Birds disapproved of daytime viewing but friendly neighbourhood cat was happy to keep me company

Moon clear in West that evening in darker skies but not able to observe then

Mars, Pleiades and Hyades out around 03:00 UT on 11th

Blue sunny sky in the afternoon but rain/clouds forecast for later here in the NW. Decided to look for the moon in the daylight. Watched off and on from around 13:20 UT till around 16:20 UT

Not promising - plane trails from Manchester airport traffic almost covered the important bit of the sky - even when I finally found the moon another jet went past.

Moon about altitude 30 average

Very difficult to see anything at first as the sun was so bright - but detail could be seen in the south. The Mare Crisium did not stand out at first but a crater was clear to the south. It looked like Petavius?

Craters to the south were quite clear with those round Janssen visible. Even the Rheita Valley could be seen (see photo) Further south, a group of three craters were clear - take your pick from the group round Vlacq - couldn't get a pic for reference!

The Mare Crisium eventually stood out with the craters to the north showing as the afternoon wore on. Atlas and Hercules could be seen, plus Endymion. Clouds building up from 16:10 UT - total cover before 18:00 UT

Moon 1 day old - sky too bright, trees too high here - but hope some of you managed a glimpse

But - Vega, Deneb and Altair were around later , forming the Summer Triangle to the South, - with Double Double, Albireo and the Coathanger Cluster beautiful in binoculars around 22:00 UT plus loads of satellites (but saw no meteors yet!)

Later around 03:00 BST Mars glowed down from the SE with the Pleiades, red Aldebaran and the Hyades in the east

Equipment used		Areas of the Moon
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some pages under construction ...	Latest Photos and Observing Log	Index .... coming soon ... well maybe ...


Terminator cutting into the Mare Serenitatis	Cloud, rain, late risings - but managed a reasonable look	Mare Nubium with the huge walled plains and craters to the east