As we all know, the moon is the brightest object in the night sky.
Except during its new moon phase, the moon can, weather permitting, be viewed any night throughout the year, making it an ideal object for observation with a telescope or a set of binoculars.
Although people typically divide the moon’s phases into four – first quarter, full, last quarter, and new – there are two other varying phases, crescent and gibbous, that also occur.
Monthly moon orbit
As the moon moves out from between the Earth and the sun, when it is at its new moon phase, sunlight will begin to illuminate the western (right-hand) edge of the moon’s surface facing Earth. Remember, we only see one face or side of the moon, due to it being “tidally locked” – the spinning period of the moon is almost the same that it takes for the moon to orbit around the Earth in a month.
Depending on the moon’s position in the evening sky, this extremely thin crescent of sun-lit lunar surface – called a “young moon” – can sometimes be seen. This where the phrase “the old moon in the new moon’s arms” comes from.
The slowly increasing crescent is called a “waxing crescent” moon. The soft glow on the barely visible dark portion of the moon is referred to as “earthshine” – sunlight reflects off the Earth’s sun-lit side and hits the un-lit portion of the moon’s face pointed towards Earth. As the sun-lit portion of the moon increases, “earthshine” becomes harder to see.
A look at the phases of the moon. – 123RF Stock
As the moon continues its orbit around the Earth, each subsequent night illuminates more of the lunar surface, increasing the size of the crescent until half the lunar surface is illuminated – the first quarter phase. As the illuminated portion continues to grow (from right to left), it is referred to as a “waxing gibbous” moon, until the entire surface of the face of the moon oriented towards Earth is illuminated for the full moon phase.
After the full moon, the entire process begins again in reverse, with the moon’s western (right-hand) edge beginning to fall into shadow. That part of the moon doesn’t receive any sunlight as it orbits around the Earth.
As the sun-lit portion decreases (“wanes”) and the shadow portion (moving from right to left) covers more and more of the lunar surface, the phases are reversed, with a “waning gibbous” moon (sun-lit portion still largest), followed by the last quarter moon (lunar surface equally divided between sunlight (on the left) and shadow (on the right), then the “waning crescent” moon (on the left), and finally back to the new moon (none of the lunar surface facing Earth is illuminated).
What to watch
There is an incredible array of lunar features to be seen when viewing the moon. However, unless using a “lunar filter,” which reduces the amount of sunlight striking your eye through your telescope, looking at the full moon is usually not a good time to observe it, as viewing the full-lit lunar surface through your scope or binoculars is comparable to looking into a flashlight.
Rather, the best time to view the moon is at or just past the first quarter phase, at or just before the last quarter phase, or around the time of the crescent phases. Lunar features (mountains, valleys, rifts, and craters) are best seen when the sun’s light strikes these features at a low angle (versus directly on, as during a full moon), creating clear, sharply defined areas of light and dark.
Some of the more prominent and famous lunar features are the impact craters Copernicus (left side of the moon) and Kepler (to the left of Copernicus); the Apennine Mountains (in the north, between Mare Imbrium – Latin for “Sea of Rains”) and Mare Serenitatis (“Sea of Serenity”); the Alpine Valley (north-central area); the Caucasus Mountains (along the northern edge of Mare Serenitatis); Mare Tranquillitatis (“Sea of Tranquility”, where Apollo 11, the first manned landing on the moon took place on July 20, 1969); Mare Frigoris (“Sea of Cold”, in the north); and the heavily-cratered area in the south between Mare Nubium (“Sea of, Clouds”, on the left) and Mare Nectaris (“Sea of Nectar”, on the right).
A good lunar map (go online) will show countless other geographical features of the moon, enough to keep you interested and occupied for months. If you haven’t looked at the moon through a telescope or binoculars, you should give it a try some clear night; you’ll be amazed at what can be seen on the surface of our nearest celestial neighbour.
This week’s sky
Venus (magnitude -3.9) is visible in the southeast pre-dawn sky for a short while this week. Look for the thin, crescent moon to the right of Venus on the morning of Jan. 11 as the planet rises around 6:40 a.m.
Mercury, Jupiter, and Saturn continue to put on a show this coming week. On Jan. 11, look for the three planets low above the southwest horizon just after sunset (around 5:20 p.m.), with Jupiter (magnitude -1.9) the brightest of the three, Mercury (magnitude +1.5) to the lower left, and Saturn (magnitude +0.6) to the lower right. On Jan. 15, the three planets will form a shallow arc above the southwest horizon just after sunset, with Mercury now the uppermost planet.
As the planets are fairly low in the sky, they may be hard to see in the post-sunset glow; an unobstructed view of the horizon and a set of binoculars would greatly assist in locating the planets before they set. A great photo op presents itself on the evening of Jan. 14, with a young crescent moon near the planets.
Until next week, clear skies.
Events:
Jan. 11 – Crescent Moon to right of Venus (low in SE, pre-dawn)
Jan. 13 – New Moon
Jan. 14 – Thin crescent moon near Mercury and Jupiter (low in the southwest post-sunset)
Jan. 15 – Mercury, Jupiter, and Saturn form arc (low in the southwest post-sunset)
Glenn K. Roberts lives in Stratford, P.E.I., and has been an avid amateur astronomer since he was a small child. He welcomes comments from readers at [email protected].
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
