An exceptional Observe the Moon Night

Our First-Quarter Moon on International Observe the Moon Night, as seen through the Stephens telescope at 9:04 PM EDT. Iphone SE at eyepiece.

Stephens Memorial Observatory, Hiram College -- Our October 5 Open Night was the local event of the International Observe the Moon Night — an annual occurrence meant that encourages observation, appreciation, and understanding of our Moon and its connection to planetary science and exploration. Over the course of the night at Stephens Memorial Observatory some 34 happy and inquisitive visitors attended and were treated to beautiful and unusual views of Earth’s Moon and planet Saturn.

Unusual? The earliest visitors arrived just as the telescope was set to go … with the sky still bright with twilight. The Moon appeared light and against a power-blue sky background instead of the usual darkness of space. Saturn, invisible to the eye in the bright sky, was also viewed through the telescope in surprising detail. It was gratifying to be able to locate and view Saturn before dark and surprisingly, I was able to observe cloud bands on the planetary body and the Cassini Division within the ring system. This is only the second time I've viewed planets before dark -- the first was Jupiter which was located and offered for viewing by an astronomer friend using his own telescope. Saturn was pretty easy to find this night owing to how close it was to the Moon in the sky.

Zooming in on the previous image: That dot in the center of dark-floored crater Alphonsus is its central peak. Over the course of two hours sun rose over that pinnacle making it brighter, and other features began to emerge as we watched. Alphonsus slightly overlaps the crater Ptolemaeus.

After darkness fell enthusiastic visitors took turns looking at a crater and watching a mountain peak become illuminated at sunrise on the Moon! It was a fine night appreciating a sight too often ignored: the wonder of Luna, our nearest neighbor in space. After shutting down the observatory for the night I paused in the front yard and looked up. The sky was dark and clear of clouds that had occasionally played havoc with our viewing. Floating high overhead was a trace of light, a path across the sky... the Milky Way.