Archives for the 'moon' Category
Copernicus and Tycho Craters
Published on 10 Jun 2006 at 4:57 pm.
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People often don’t look very closely at the Moon. So, they don’t realize that you can see a lot on the Moon with just the naked eye. Those that do look at the Moon a little more carefully see that you can see dark markings on the face of the Moon. These are the “seas” […]
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Surveyor 1
Published on 2 Jun 2006 at 12:30 am.
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Filed under moon, space exploration.
40 years ago, a young astrokid was no doubt playing in his back yard as major events unfolded. For, 40 years ago today, the Surveyor 1 spacecraft landed on the Moon. Three days earlier, an Atlas rocket wtih a Centaur upper stage lifted off from Pad A of Launch Complex 36 at the Cape Canaveral […]
Apollo to the Moon!
Published on 20 May 2006 at 11:48 am.
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Filed under moon, space exploration.
So, how many men have been to the Moon? I get asked this question now and then. Hmm. You’d think that it’d be a simple answer. Like so many things, though, it depends upon how you define your terms. What do you mean “to the Moon”?
Well, you might say that […]
Full Moon Names
Published on 13 May 2006 at 12:50 pm.
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Filed under moon, skywatching.
Happy Flower Moon!
Well grades are done. I got them all turned in to the registrar. The semester is over!!!!! I think that I look forward to that more than most of my students. This has always been a stressful time of the year for me. I sort of envy my friends who are not in […]
The Origin of the Moon
Published on 10 May 2006 at 10:42 am.
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Where did the Moon come from? Once astronomers came to realize that it wasn’t always there, then the natural question was to ask how it got there. However, the Moon is far enough away that getting good data that can be used to answer the question proved difficult until the space age. True, telescopes helped, […]
The best time to observe the Moon
Published on 9 May 2006 at 6:43 pm.
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When is the best time to observe the Moon? People often ask me this. They assume that the best time will be full moon. Well, full moon is coming in a few days. So, that’s the best time to set up your telescope and look, right? Well, probably not. […]
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Solar and Lunar Atmospheres
Published on 13 Mar 2006 at 8:11 pm.
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Filed under Sun, moon.
The Moon is an airless world. The Moon’s gravity is insufficient for it to hold onto an atmosphere of any consequence. There are a few atoms hanging around, and lunar scientists talk about a “lunar atmosphere,†but it is so thin that it shouldn’t really count as an atmosphere at all. In fact, you get […]
