The Moon. A question.

david75

I was lead to believe we only ever see the same side of the moon but late last night it seemed i was looking at a different side, the familiar pattern was totally different or something? can someone clear that up for me?
thanks

Rubecula

We see only one side of the moon, but we do see a bit more than half due to the "wobble".

As time passes the wobble brings a bit more into view on one side or the other, and so the parts you may have seen at the central point will be offset at a later date.

Also if the night was particularly clear you may have seen details you have previously not noticed. Alternately, if the night sky was a little cloudy, some features may have been invisiable.

david75

That explains it 'cos it was parts off to the side on the lower right side looked different and you could almost make out topography. Thanks for that

Rubecula

Incidentally, astronomers tend to examine the topography of the moon by watching where the shadow is and follow the phases of the moon. A full moon has little to see really as without the shadow you can not discern mountains and such properly through a normal telescope.

If you were of a mind to draw a map of the moon showing the topography, you would view it once a night for a full lunar month drawing along the gradually moving shadow line.

namloc1980

It's called Libration:

Beeker

Don't forget that as the night moves on the moon will appear in a different orientation. At Moon rise, the Moons eastern limb will point up and its western limb will point down towards the horizon. By Moon set the eastern limb will point down towards the horizon while its western limb will point up. This difference in orientation can cause confusion as the moon will look different. It is turned by 180 degrees.

Moon Rise



Moon Set

digme

Was wondering do other moons rotate at all ?

namloc1980

Most moons in the solar system are tidally locked to their parent planet just like the Moon is to Earth. The exceptions are some of the small outer moons of the gas giants as they are mostly captured asteroids - but they too will become tidally locked over time. Interestingly Pluto and Charon are tidally locked to each other.

tvbrat

As explained above
I took this the photo the other night



Ive posted more here on facebook

Rubecula

That phot of yours tvbrat clearly shows how shadows help us to observe the moon's contours.

Nice picture too, what did you view it through if I may ask?

tvbrat

Rubecula wrote: »

That phot of yours tvbrat clearly shows how shadows help us to observe the moon's contours.

Nice picture too, what did you view it through if I may ask?

Thanks Rubecula

I used a 6 Meade inch reflector, with a 2 inch 15mm eyepiece.


Specs
Telescope
Meade, OTA, N-6 AT Type Newtonian Aperture 6" (152mm) Focal Ratio f/5 Focal Length 762mm

Eyepiece
2 inch Moonfish 15mm Ultrawide 80°

Mount
EQ5 Heavy-Duty EQ Mount, with a Dual-Axis Motor Drive

bungler

Probably a stupid question to most of you but i have recently taken a huge interest in the night sky.

Why do we only see half the moon or 4/5 of it? i know its a cycle but what makes half of it light up and the other half be in darkness. i know its probably the most basic of questions but i just thought if someone could shed some light on it.

p.s. sorry for the pun

Beeker

bungler wrote: »

Probably a stupid question to most of you but i have recently taken a huge interest in the night sky.

Why do we only see half the moon or 4/5 of it? i know its a cycle but what makes half of it light up and the other half be in darkness. i know its probably the most basic of questions but i just thought if someone could shed some light on it.

p.s. sorry for the pun

Hi bungler, there are no stupid questions here. We all learn from each other or at least try to:)

The Moon like the Earth is lit by the Sun. When we see only half the Moon lit it is because we are seeing part of the "day side" and part of the "night side" of the Moon. During a full Moon we see all the "day side" and during a new Moon we are looking at the "night side" of the Moon so we don't see it. This might help explain it.:)

bungler

Beeker, thank you very much. I think it's the first time on boards ive asked a basic question without everyone telling me to get real.

That diagram has set me straight andhas given me an even bigger interest in the universe.

Thanks very much for that

Beeker

bungler wrote: »

Beeker, thank you very much. I think it's the first time on boards ive asked a basic question without everyone telling me to get real.

That diagram has set me straight andhas given me an even bigger interest in the universe.

Thanks very much for that

No problem, my friend, that is how we all learn and pass on our love for a subject.

bungler

Beeker wrote: »

No problem, my friend, that is how we all learn and pass on our love for a subject.

Cool, you will be seen a lot more of me as i wana learn a lot more about twinkle twinkle

Flukey

You've come to the right place Bungler. This tends to be a sensible forum, being about a science, so you will get lots of detailed and serious responses to your questions. If a little answer on how the moon phases work can increase your interest, then your interest will come on in even bigger jumps as you see more and ask more. Astronomy is a fascinating hobby. So keep coming back and ask more questions, but do spare some time to go outside and look up on those clear nights.

lord lucan

Flukey wrote: »

You've come to the right place Bungler. This tends to be a sensible forum, being about a science, so you will get lots of detailed and serious responses to your questions. If a little answer on how the moon phases work can increase your interest, then your interest will come on in even bigger jumps as you see more and ask more. Astronomy is a fascinating hobby. So keep coming back and ask more questions, but do spare some time to go outside and look up on those clear nights.

I've been posting here a couple of years,mainly because of interest in human spaceflight. But reading through all the other threads on Astronomy has given me a greater appreciation of what's above us and gotten me very interested in it. Not sure i'll be making the jump to a telescope anytime soon but the level of knowledge on here is amazing and has really given me a greater understanding of our position in the universe.

Beeker

lord lucan wrote: »

I've been posting here a couple of years,mainly because of interest in human spaceflight. But reading through all the other threads on Astronomy has given me a greater appreciation of what's above us and gotten me very interested in it. Not sure i'll be making the jump to a telescope anytime soon but the level of knowledge on here is amazing and has really given me a greater understanding of our position in the universe.

+1 to that, some great people here with a wealth of knowledge.

david75

Same again last night. it looked slightly bigger than usual and you could see the countours and ridge lines with the naked eye. really cool thing to see.

tvbrat

Hi
A photo update on my previous post
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=68695785&postcount=9

The camera angle is different on the scope this time, but you can see the changes between the 25th of Oct photo on my previous post and the ones below taken on the 27th of Oct.

Hope you like them, I have posted more here
http://www.bam.ie/bam_bright_arc_man/universe/moon/index.html