Backyard M
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Backyard Mn
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Areas of the Moon | |
| Phases of the Moon | Links, Books, Software | Moon news, librations, lunations... |
| some pages under construction ... | Latest Photos and Observing Log | Index .... coming soon ... well maybe ... |
Recent Photographs Archive Planets Transit of Venus Sun Clouds Sketches
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!)
Lunation 1024 - Oct/Nov 2005
29/30th Oct and 30th/31st Oct 2005
Clouds and then sleep meant no sightings of these late phases of the moon, barring any lucky views of the last bit of its waning ...
Next New Moon due at 01:24 UT on the 2nd November 2005 - the start of lunation 1025 (see also News page). If you have clear views to the west you might like to join in the MOONWATCH and/or help out with sightings here at the Yahoo Lunar Observers Group - a couple more links on Early Moons page
Meanwhile - make the most of MARS while it's around - more on Planets page
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| Photo of Mars from 30th Oct |
28th/29th Oct 2005 - 25 day moon
 Another
sketch of Mars, thin pink cloud
covering sky (ours, not Mars') but still
could see detail - well, dark patches - 2130 UT - south up |
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Mars photo!! Clouds covering its brilliance tonight |
Cloud worse by 0330 UT later on but while spotting a few stray stars in the East (Leo maybe? too few to tell) the low moon appeared in the trees | The 25 day obligingly raced the clouds to
climb out of the trees to altitude about 10 deg. Earthshine
Cloudy - even Saturn was struggling in SE and Orion had given up |
27/28th Oct - clouded out in more ways than one .... :-(
26/27th Oct 2005 - 23 day moon
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| Clear sky just before midnight VERY ROUGH GRAPHIC of markings on Mars from Tal | Blanket cloud at 0300 BST then a sudden
half showing of moon behind thick cloud
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25/26th Oct 2005 - 22 day moon
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| 01:30 UT Moon and
Saturn in Cancer
Been clouded out earlier in the night, with mere glimpses of Mars between banks of swift cloud Alt about 23 deg - last gap in Phases caught |
Binoculars again - old 20 x 50 on a
tripod
Moon still just 22 days nearly 23 days. Copernicus stood out clearly, as did the huge craters to the south |
Grimaldi and Mare Humorum
Orion was clear to the south east, with Gemini bright above Saturn - and Cancer with the Beehive around the yellow planet and waning moon |
23rd Oct clouded out ... and looks like 24th Oct will be to ...
Started the clouds page ... any good cloud prediction links??? email me ...
22nd Oct 2005 - clouded over - (20 day moon)
Clear around 18:00 UT - watched the last of the Summer triangle backed by the stars of the Milky Way, with Vega with Double-double in the south west, glimpsed Cassiopeia high in the east, Capella to the north but the dull, blanket cloud came over and blotted it all out ... no moon, no Mars ...
21st Oct 2005 - 19 day moon
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| High cloud, low cloud - snatched this in a brief clear(ish) patch. Good job the Tal doesn't take long to set up or I'd miss more moons!! No time to observe before the clouds covered both the moon and Mars which had sparkled briefly ... Mare Crisium gone into the evening shade, Mare Nectar next ... At least it fills one of the gaps in my Phases collection ... |
20th Oct 2005 - 18 day moon
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| Clouds never far away, rain threatening but the egg-shaped moon rose over the trees and peered through the weeping cherry tree before 20:00UT in the ENE | The terminator covers the Mare Crisium -
even Proclus isn't shining quite as brightly here
more later ... |
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19th Oct 2005 - 17 day moon
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| 17 day moon
Rain, clouds ... then clear sky - in spells. This taken 21:50 UT - moon was clear and high in the sky just past the east. Altitude about 34 deg. Mars just further south - no sign of nearby Pleiades or Taurus but Capella was bright to the north of the moon. |
Moon and Mars from the Backyard
More on Mars on Planets page |
The western rim of Mare Crisium ...
have a look through your telescope in this region to see wrinkles in the
lava covering the floor, almost covering ancient craters like Yerkes
and Lick.
Younger craters Picard to the south and Peirce further north stand out. Here, too, near the mountains on the rim, O'Neil saw a 'bridge' - alas, just a natural rock formation ... |
Craters north of Mare Crisium
with Cleomedes, (129km), formed in the same
impact as Crisium about 3.92 - 3.85 billion years ago in the Nectarian
period of Moon history.
Microscopic life might have appeared by then on Earth, with oceans forming around 3.9b years ago. The oldest moon rock from Apollo was dated at 4.5 billion years old - just younger than the Earth |
18th Oct 2005 - rain ..........
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No viewing from the Backyard tonight - hope you have clear skies where you are ...
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| Space Weather News for Oct. 18,
2005 http://spaceweather.com "Looking for Mars? Tonight you can find it using the Moon as a "landmark." Go outside between 9 and 10 p.m. local time and look east. (You can do this even earlier if you have a clear view of the eastern horizon.) You'll see the Moon and Mars rising together in the eastern sky. Both are bright: The Moon is almost full and Mars looks like a brilliant orange star. If you're impressed by Mars tonight, you'll be even more impressed two weeks from now when Mars makes its closest approach to Earth for the next 13 years. Get the full story and a sky map at http://spaceweather.com." |
17th October 2005 - Just off full ...
| 15 day moon - now the mountains and craters in the east
are starting to show shadows ... the mountains and deep craters in the
west which showed so clearly last night are flat again ... the evening
terminator is now showing the features east of Mare Crisium and
Langrenus and Endymion ...
Which of these impact craters is the oldest??? |
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| Mars was out dodging the clouds - dark patches seen again - check out Planets page - some useful links for Mars watchers ... | Space Weather News for Oct. 15, 2005 http://spaceweather.com "According to folklore, October's full moon is called the "Hunter's Moon" or sometimes the "Blood Moon." It gets its name from hunters who tracked and killed their prey by autumn moonlight, stockpiling food for the winter ahead. The Hunter's Moon of 2005 is due on Oct. 17th. If you live on the Pacific side of Earth (California to Alaska, Hawaii, Japan and Australia), you can see a partial eclipse of the Hunter's Moon. The best time to look is Monday morning at 5:00 a.m. PDT (Oct. 17, 1200 UT) when the edge of the Moon dips into the darkest part of Earth's shadow. Only a little bit of the Moon will be shaded. A casual observer might not even notice the eclipse; but if you know what to look for, you'll definitely see it." |
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16th Oct 13/14 day Moon
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Plato (100km) and Pythagoras (130 km diameter, double central peaks) | Just 14 days
still the last daytime sun in the west another few hours till Full |
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Grimaldi (220 km) and Riccioli (150 km) |  |
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Gassendi fading on the NW edge of Mare Humorum and Byrgius with the brilliant crater Byrgius A (19 km) on its eastern edge - the only rayed crater in this area. Have seen this small bright spot in a sunlit sky, daylight moon, in high summer see July 30th 2005, lunation 1021 from recent photos or via archive depending on when I get round to moving them on ... ;-) |
Seeing poor
Moon getting higher ... Want more information? Check out the books (under construction ...) |
more later ...
!!!!
15th Oct 12/13 day Moon
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| 12 nearly 13 day moon
seeing poor |
Aristarchus | Schickard and co | Mars - could finally see some detail
through the Tal
Graphics and more information on Planets page |
14th Oct 2005 - 11 day moon
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| 18:50 UT still low for the Backyard - clouds approaching
No analysis yet - maybe when I'm recovered |
Cloud covering moon, getting thicker, managed 2 minutes viewing! |
13th Oct 2005 10 day moon
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| 22:30 UT still too low for the Tal but getting better - altitude about 19 degrees, needs a few more days? | Easier to see when there are no outhouses!! - but no telescope either :-( and could do without the cloud |
9th, 10th Oct 2005 ...
very low moon, clouds, now menieres ...
back soon ... maybe even with the first telescope views since August ...
Look at some other pages if you are bored ... very bored ... or talk amongst
yourselves for a while ... ;-)
8th Oct 2005 - 5 day moon
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| Brief glimpse - low over the houses/trees in SW about 5 deg altitude - still not in Tal view yet! Will be higher for the later moons this month see heights |
6th Oct 2005 - Day 3 ... cloud ... cloud ... cloud ... likewise Fri 7th Oct 2005 - Day 4 ... heh ho!
When is the moon high in the sky? Check heights for Greater Manchester UK
5th October 2005 - Day 2
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| Lovely sunset but low clouds and bright skies hid low young moon |
| Join in MOON WATCH - spot the young moon |
4th October 2005 - cloud ... cloud ... cloud ...
Story on Earthshine from NASA Science News
3rd October 2005 - New Moon
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Clouded out completely the whole time in
Greater Manchester
Seemed to get darker around 10 am BST but then maybe it was just the cloud getting thicker ... ;-) |
Partial Eclipse of
the Sun
Monday 3rd October 2005 07:50 - 010:16 UT approx max cover at around 09:00 UT - 10:00 BST |
Below are photos from Peter Grego's webcast
from Birmingham - cloud cover from about 09:05 UT, shortly after 3rd
photo it would appear - then simulations?
Thanks Peter |
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Photos from Norwegian Astronomical Society
webcast in Heggedal - thanks folks!
Watched all the sequence
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Eclipse not as full in Norway as in Birmingham (66%) - middle photos about highest cover |  |
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New moon 10:27 UT on 3rd of October Get ready for the partial solar eclipse on Monday - SPA guide here plus links to Peter Grego's webcast Check out Norwegian Astronomical Society's live webcast in case of cloud here http://www.astronomy.no/ or http://hyades.uio.no/live.html safe solar viewing - check |
