Moon's giving up good librations
Oct
29
Written by:
10/29/2012 9:39 PM
No, no libations (though the Wisconsin Amber I had was quite tasty). No, I figured I would pop outside for a moment and catch the just-barely-past-full Moon tonight. Took a simple 70mm Meade refractor and - what's this? Are those 'edge of the Moon" mare I see? Why yes, indeed! I spotted Mare Australe initially, then after I snapped a few (mostly bad - there are some high clouds that made the shots look poorer than I could see with my eye) pictures with my cellphone camera, I noticed I had also managed to see Mare Smythi and Mare Marginis. These are not "always seen" mare, as the Moon must be 'tilted' the correct direction for us to see it - a phenomenon known as libration. Anyway, I thought I'd share the picture I got, bad as it is. I added some quick labels for assistance in noticing the not-always-seen mare on the limb. Note that left-to-right is reversed as I took the picture through a refractor with a star diagonal.
