moon – Astronomy Now

Moon pesters the Pleiades

23 August 2024 Mark Armstrong

Some of the most spectacular observing events tale place when the Moon’s around, most gloriously when it lines us perfectly over the Sun, producing a total eclipse of the Sun.

Watch as the Moon hides Saturn

20 August 2024 Mark Armstrong

Let’s hope for some clear skies on the morning of 21 August, so we can observe the beautiful ringed planet Saturn being occulted by the Moon.

There’s so much that the Moon offers to an observer armed with just modest instrumentation and the unaided eye. Here’s some of the Moon’s best sights on an exciting observing journey as the Moon waxes from new to full phase.

Inspect impressive Mare Imbrium

15 March 2024 Steve Kelly

In and around the vast Imbrium Basin is a very fertile area for lunar observers. For our Imbrium expedition let’s zero in on its magnificent mountain ranges and great selection of impact craters.

Uranus occulted by the Moon

4 December 2022 Mark Armstrong

A pretty rare observational event visible across the whole of the UK, a planet occulted by the Moon, occurs on the early-evening of 5 December when the Moon moves over Uranus.

Watch the Moon hide Uranus

12 September 2022 Mark Armstrong

On the night of Wednesday, 14 September there’s a pretty rare circumstance to observe as the planet Uranus is occulted by the Moon.

Observe the Moon occulting Porrima, Virgo’s celebrated second star.

11 May 2022 Mark Armstrong

On the morning of 13 May (12/13), the Moon occults Porrima (gamma Virginis), Virgo’s celebrated binary star, in an event that’s visible across the UK.

VIPER rover targets Nobile Crater at Moon’s south pole

21 September 2021 Astronomy Now

NASA targets Nobile Crater near the Moon’s south pole for the ice-hunting VIPER rover.

Adding impetus to Artemis, water found on sunlit surface of the Moon

26 October 2020 Astronomy Now

In a surprise, infrared observations of the Moon have found unambiguous signatures of water molecules across sunlit regions of the lunar surface.

Expert astronomy: watch the Moon occult Venus

18 June 2020 Mark Armstrong

The Moon occults Venus on the morning of Friday 19 June in an exciting and quite rare event, which can be observed across the whole of the UK through a pair of binoculars or a small telescope.