moon

News

NASA lunar orbiter to image Chandrayaan 2 landing site

13 September 2019 Stephen Clark

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will try to locate India’s Vikram lander on the moon during a flyover of the landing site Tuesday. Indian space officials said they found the disabled spacecraft on the moon using the country’s own Chandrayaan 2 orbiter, but declined to release any images.

Observing

Watch the crescent Moon graze a double star at dawn on 27 August

26 August 2019 Ade Ashford

Depending on where you live in the British Isles, you may be fortunate to view a lunar occultation of naked-eye double star delta (δ) Geminorum at dawn on Tuesday, 27 August 2019. Observers fortunate enough to lie on the so-called graze line will see the star appear to flicker on and off as the mountains and valleys of the northern lunar polar regions drift by.

Observing

See the Moon hide a trio of Hyades stars at dawn on 24 August

20 August 2019 Ade Ashford

Have you ever seen the Moon hide a star? If you’re an early riser in the UK with a small telescope on Saturday, 24 August 2019 then you can potentially witness the disappearance and reappearance of three naked-eye stars in the Hyades open star cluster of Taurus between 3:40am BST and shortly after sunrise.

Observing

See ringed planet Saturn at its best in July 2019

30 June 2019 Ade Ashford

Observers in Western Europe with a clear sky around local midnight cannot fail to notice the conspicuous ‘star’ that is Jupiter low in the south. But look a span-and-a-half of an outstretched hand at arm’s length to Jupiter’s left and you’ll find another giant of the solar system – Saturn. The ringed planet is closest to Earth for 2019 on 9 July, so here is our quick observing guide.

Observing

See the Moon and Jupiter get close in the small hours of 21 May

19 May 2019 Ade Ashford

Observers in the UK with clear skies around 1am BST on Tuesday, 21 May can see Jupiter, the solar system’s largest planet, just 4 degrees from the waning gibbous Moon low in the south-southeast. At this time both the Moon and Jupiter fit within the same field of view of binoculars magnifying less than 10×, while telescope users can also view Jupiter’s Great Red Spot.