Latest From The Observatory



This is from a hand held simple digital camera. Click on the image to see a larger version.

Moon observers might recognize that this is from a reflecting telescope that inverts and reverses the image. The large impact basins, called seas, are obvious in this photo. Primarily basalt like rock, these higher density areas are believed to be the reason this side of the moon experiences stronger gravitational attraction to the Earth and thus always faces us throughout the moon's monthly orbit. In a recent guest lecture about the moon that I provided at the middle school I was surprised at how difficult it was to demonstrate this fact.

Stay tuned for new photos if I break down and invest in proper astro photographic equipment.

April 18, 2009