My favorite photo of the Moon and the best I've
ever taken. I took it with a 6" Criterion Newtonian Reflector telescope at 6:30 a.m., Jan. 23, 1976, during the third quarter phase.
It shows Mare Imbrium (Sea of Showers
or Rain). The two largest craters are Plato near the top and Archimedes at right center.
The Apennine Mountains
are along the right side of the photo. This is a half second exposure using a 9 mm eyepiece and eyepiece projection with
H.S. Ektachrome 400 iso film. Next time the Moon is full, try to find this area with binoculars or a telescope.
THE EARTH and Moon are celestial neighbors. Together, we form a unique system--almost like a double planet. Humans have observed the Moon, worshiped it, studied it, and from 1969 to 1972, even walked on it. It has been bombarded with spacecraft, photographed from afar and close at hand, it has been thoroughly probed and analyzed by hundreds of sampling devices, and still it refuses to reveal all its deepest secrets. The Moon phases sequence below and to the right complements of NASA.
Most people take the Moon for granted, rarely looking up to watch its nightly changes in position and
phase. Few notice the so-called "Man" in the Moon. Actually, the "face" is that
of a Woman in the Moon because the Moon is a female object. She is sometimes referred to as
Cynthia, Diana, or Selene. Some people don't see a face, but instead see other common objects and
critters. All of these observations are a person's way of relating the darker (maria) and lighter (highland)
portions of the Moon's surface to a pattern. Here's an easy way to learn more about the
Moon's surface features. Draw a big circle on a blank sheet of paper and put it on a clipboard or
some other solid surface. Now, the next time the Moon is full or nearly full, take a pencil or other
drawing tool and your paper outside and draw the Moon. Try to do as much as you can with
just your unaided eyes. Then complete the drawing by using binoculars if you have them.
Then get a labeled map of the Moon and learn the names of some of the more prominent features. Soon
you'll be able to look at the Moon on any clear night and be able to call out the names of the
features as if you'd just visited the place yourself.
Basic information about the Moon and some images are available at the following:
The Moon.
Lunar Phases.
Lecture 15: The Earth,
Lunar Geology, Origin, Evolution, and Lunar Exploration.
FTP Directory of Lunar Images.
When most people think of the Moon, they often think of space exploration, because the Moon was the first serious target of our desire to leave our home the Earth. Tons of information is available about space exploration in general and the exploration of the Moon specifically at the following:
Lunar Exploration.
Consider reading parts or all of the famous science fiction novel by Jules Verne entitled From the Earth to the Moon. It will give you a feel for the author's thoughts about a trip to the Moon as early as the 1800's.
We celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, the first manned landing on the Moon, in July of 1999. To learn more about this mission and the other Apollo missions use the following links:
Presidential
Proclamation of the 25th National Apollo Anniversary Observance.
Project Apollo.
The Apollo Lunar Surface Journal.
Moon.
Apollo 11 Plans for Surface Photography.
Two friendly dalmatians on an expedition searching
for features of geological interest.
The Clementine Mission to the Moon of 1994 created a vast storehouse of data and images of the Moon. See what you can find in the following:
Clementine Lunar Image Browser
Clementine 1994.
Clementine Experiments and Data.
Lunar Data From the Clementine
Mission.
Clementine Mission Summary.
What does the future hold for return to the Moon? Will the people of Earth ever again feel the powerful emotions of lunar exploration and development? Here are some possibilities:
Should We Return to the Moon? A World Wide
Web Public Policy Forum.
Geodynamics Branch of the Goddard
Space Flight Center.
DM2--A Mobile
Manipulator for the Moon.