the moon

"jojo" wrote in message
.. .
Well, you have to admit, you did come off a bit "trollish".
I hope you enjoyed a bit of fun and hope I did not offend you!

To set the record straight (although I'm sure you will never trust a thing
I
say now)

Of course, what's happened now is that there are people posting wondering
when the 'other side' is going to face Earth, and where exactly they can see
the flag....

"J. Scott Miller" wrote in
:

Dang dude that was nice of you to write all that I even printed out your
words so i dont forget them. Im not yanking a chain i do like to mess
around but not here when it comes to the moon im seriuos.
Mars I will give a chance i looked at it agian last night and it looked
better.
So you said the dark spots are from lave so does that mean that there are
stil l volcanoes on the moon ? and if so where r they ?
And about the paper tube thing ok Ill try it but I dont really see what its
about yeah i know the big moon will look bigger than the little moon but i
can see that without a tube actualy.
Dang saturn dont come out until 2 am ? That sucks i guess that means i
won't be seeing it. I guess that explains why i never found it i figured it
was out there somewhere.
Thanx for the web sites things ill check them out later after i get done
doing some stuff.

Holly (

Okay, assuming this is straight and you are not just yanking our
chains...

Holly wrote:
Hey ya peeps glad i found this spot i liked to look at all the other
messages . I got some questions about the moon.
I got my telescope like 2 years ago i got it for christmas and at
first i was like oh wow a telescope whoope de doo .. and my dad set
it up for me and i looked at it like 2 times and that was it. So it
was sitting in the garage for 2 years and finaly with this mars thing
going on i was hearing it was closer to us than ever so i figured why
not ? So i took out the telescope and i figured out how to use it -
its a meade and its a big white one and its got one of them things
that you can ,, the things that let you make it move by itself with a
remote control. Im 15 by the way. So anyways,I found mars and really
it wasnt that great i mean i can tell its a planet its round but
everyone was telling me that it was red but it didnt look red to
me,so no big deal there but guess what ?

First, give Mars a bit of a chance. Viewing it takes a bit of
patience. It is not red, as you indicate, but appears reddish to the
eye when looking at it against the background star - concentrate
orange light into a small point and the sensitivity of the eye argues
for a red color.

But, if your scope can get upwards to 100x or more, with some patience
you will be able to see dark features on its surface and the southern
icecap. I have been involved with public observations these last
couple of weeks and have been able to get those using my scope to see
these things. They do not jump out and say "Hi!". You will need to
teach yourself how to look all over again, using tricks like
peripheral vision (not looking at it directly but perhaps just past
it so the more light-sensitive parts of your eye get a chance at it)
and simply waiting for the sky to stand still for a moment (it is in
constant turbulent motion, but every once in a while, things will
sharpen).

So, if you are into instant gratification, Mars is not a good choice
for looking, but if you have the patience, it can be a bit satisfying.
To help you identify what might be in your scope at the moment you
are looking at Mars (assuming you go back to it), Sky and Telescope
(http://www.skypub.com) has an online program that lets you put in
your date and time and it will recreate that part of Mars facing you.
At least it is a start.


I got hooked on the moon. I love looking at the moon and seeing all
the craters the only crappy par tis it hurts my eye after a while
..My freinds like looking at the moon too.. so heres my questions. .
You know how like on the moon theres alot of craters of course,but
there are also a lot of dark areas that look flat. what are those ?

The dark areas are lava planes, much like the dark lava one sees when
viewing the active volcanos of Hawaii. They are referred to as mare
(in the singular) and maria collectively, a name that means "sea".
One of those, visible in your scope is the Sea of Tranquility, the
general location of the first manned Moon landing.


Another thing is why does the
moon look bigger sometimes and other times it looks small ? I guess
it must come closer some times.

This is really an optical illusion. To show this to be the case, look
at the Moon when it looks big (probably near the horizon) through a
tube, like a paper roll tube or toilet paper roll tube. Note how much
room it takes up within the opening. Then go out several hours later
when the Moon is high in the sky and do the same thing. I found this
dramatically illustrated for me while shooting photographs of the Moon
during the last lunar eclipse and centering it within the viewfinder
of my camera for each shot.


One more thing is im wondering why the moon is orange sometimes - im
guessing it has something to do like with the position of the sun.

Actually, it is our air, and the effect is similar to that which
causes an orange/red sunset. Our air scatters out some wavelengths of
light better than others. In particular, blue gets scattered more
than yellows and reds - the reason we have blue skies during the day.
Near the horizon, both the light from both objects must pass through
that much more air to get to our eyes, so that even the yellow light
begins to be scattered out.

There is another, rarer time when the Moon will appear reddish. That
is during a lunar eclipse. The next of those that you might catch,
weather permitting in in early November (8th/9th I believe, without
references in front of me).

Ok im going now if its nice tonite which it looks like it will be im
going to go out moon hunting.
If anyones got some tips for me,and i mean besides spelling and
stuff,that would be nice.
Oh yeah especialy if some1 can tell me how to finf saturn that would
be great.


Saturn rises about 2 a.m. locally and is located among the stars of a
constellation called Gemini the Twins. If you would like help finding
the planets among the stars, at least the naked eye planets, you might
visit a site called Heaven's Above (http://www.heavens-above.com).
After putting in your country and city, it generates a collection of
observational aids, from satellite passes to planet locations to sky
maps. The sky maps are interactive - put in the date and time (based
on a 24 hour clock rather than our more common 12 hours + 12 hours)
and it creates a map. Use the black on white option to get a
printable one. If there are planets up at that time, it includes
their location in the sky.

And, another reference would be an article I post once a month on my
planetarium's web site (http://www.louisville.edu/planetarium). Click
on the "Current Sky" button and it will give you a summary of planet
locations and dates when the Moon will be passing near a planet so
that the Moon can help you locate them.

Good luck with your observing.

Holy,
at other times of the year Saturn come up much earlier. So there will be
times to see it, just not right now.
jojo


"Holly" wrote in message
...
"J. Scott Miller" wrote in
:

Dang dude that was nice of you to write all that I even printed out your
words so i dont forget them. Im not yanking a chain i do like to mess
around but not here when it comes to the moon im seriuos.
Mars I will give a chance i looked at it agian last night and it looked
better.
So you said the dark spots are from lave so does that mean that there are
stil l volcanoes on the moon ? and if so where r they ?
And about the paper tube thing ok Ill try it but I dont really see what
its
about yeah i know the big moon will look bigger than the little moon but i
can see that without a tube actualy.
Dang saturn dont come out until 2 am ? That sucks i guess that means i
won't be seeing it. I guess that explains why i never found it i figured
it
was out there somewhere.
Thanx for the web sites things ill check them out later after i get done
doing some stuff.

Holly (

Okay, assuming this is straight and you are not just yanking our
chains...

Holly wrote:
Hey ya peeps glad i found this spot i liked to look at all the other
messages . I got some questions about the moon.
I got my telescope like 2 years ago i got it for christmas and at
first i was like oh wow a telescope whoope de doo .. and my dad set
it up for me and i looked at it like 2 times and that was it. So it
was sitting in the garage for 2 years and finaly with this mars thing
going on i was hearing it was closer to us than ever so i figured why
not ? So i took out the telescope and i figured out how to use it -
its a meade and its a big white one and its got one of them things
that you can ,, the things that let you make it move by itself with a
remote control. Im 15 by the way. So anyways,I found mars and really
it wasnt that great i mean i can tell its a planet its round but
everyone was telling me that it was red but it didnt look red to
me,so no big deal there but guess what ?

First, give Mars a bit of a chance. Viewing it takes a bit of
patience. It is not red, as you indicate, but appears reddish to the
eye when looking at it against the background star - concentrate
orange light into a small point and the sensitivity of the eye argues
for a red color.

But, if your scope can get upwards to 100x or more, with some patience
you will be able to see dark features on its surface and the southern
icecap. I have been involved with public observations these last
couple of weeks and have been able to get those using my scope to see
these things. They do not jump out and say "Hi!". You will need to
teach yourself how to look all over again, using tricks like
peripheral vision (not looking at it directly but perhaps just past
it so the more light-sensitive parts of your eye get a chance at it)
and simply waiting for the sky to stand still for a moment (it is in
constant turbulent motion, but every once in a while, things will
sharpen).

So, if you are into instant gratification, Mars is not a good choice
for looking, but if you have the patience, it can be a bit satisfying.
To help you identify what might be in your scope at the moment you
are looking at Mars (assuming you go back to it), Sky and Telescope
(http://www.skypub.com) has an online program that lets you put in
your date and time and it will recreate that part of Mars facing you.
At least it is a start.


I got hooked on the moon. I love looking at the moon and seeing all
the craters the only crappy par tis it hurts my eye after a while
..My freinds like looking at the moon too.. so heres my questions. .
You know how like on the moon theres alot of craters of course,but
there are also a lot of dark areas that look flat. what are those ?

The dark areas are lava planes, much like the dark lava one sees when
viewing the active volcanos of Hawaii. They are referred to as mare
(in the singular) and maria collectively, a name that means "sea".
One of those, visible in your scope is the Sea of Tranquility, the
general location of the first manned Moon landing.


Another thing is why does the
moon look bigger sometimes and other times it looks small ? I guess
it must come closer some times.

This is really an optical illusion. To show this to be the case, look
at the Moon when it looks big (probably near the horizon) through a
tube, like a paper roll tube or toilet paper roll tube. Note how much
room it takes up within the opening. Then go out several hours later
when the Moon is high in the sky and do the same thing. I found this
dramatically illustrated for me while shooting photographs of the Moon
during the last lunar eclipse and centering it within the viewfinder
of my camera for each shot.


One more thing is im wondering why the moon is orange sometimes - im
guessing it has something to do like with the position of the sun.

Actually, it is our air, and the effect is similar to that which
causes an orange/red sunset. Our air scatters out some wavelengths of
light better than others. In particular, blue gets scattered more
than yellows and reds - the reason we have blue skies during the day.
Near the horizon, both the light from both objects must pass through
that much more air to get to our eyes, so that even the yellow light
begins to be scattered out.

There is another, rarer time when the Moon will appear reddish. That
is during a lunar eclipse. The next of those that you might catch,
weather permitting in in early November (8th/9th I believe, without
references in front of me).

Ok im going now if its nice tonite which it looks like it will be im
going to go out moon hunting.
If anyones got some tips for me,and i mean besides spelling and
stuff,that would be nice.
Oh yeah especialy if some1 can tell me how to finf saturn that would
be great.


Saturn rises about 2 a.m. locally and is located among the stars of a
constellation called Gemini the Twins. If you would like help finding
the planets among the stars, at least the naked eye planets, you might
visit a site called Heaven's Above (http://www.heavens-above.com).
After putting in your country and city, it generates a collection of
observational aids, from satellite passes to planet locations to sky
maps. The sky maps are interactive - put in the date and time (based
on a 24 hour clock rather than our more common 12 hours + 12 hours)
and it creates a map. Use the black on white option to get a
printable one. If there are planets up at that time, it includes
their location in the sky.

And, another reference would be an article I post once a month on my
planetarium's web site (http://www.louisville.edu/planetarium). Click
on the "Current Sky" button and it will give you a summary of planet
locations and dates when the Moon will be passing near a planet so
that the Moon can help you locate them.

Good luck with your observing.

Hello Holly and Welcome to the wonderful Hobby of Astronomy 8*)

Might I recommend a book for you to check out from the Library on the moon?

The Title is "Observing the Moon" by Gerald North. AN Excellent resource on
Lunar Observing and how to Draw what you see in the eyepiece so that you can
document your Lunar observing.
Most local Libraries have a copy and if you decide you want your own copy
then you can get it from Sky Publishing he

http://skyandtelescope.com/shopatsky...artingrec=2 8

Or Amazon.com he

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books

Another good internet source on lunar observing is The American Lunar
Society found he

http://otterdad.dynip.com/als/index.html


Also start Observing the Moon during the Phases and not at Full Moon as you
will see much more detail on the surface that way.

As for Saturn, have Patience, in Mid to late December you should be able to
Observe Saturn in the evenings before you have to call it a day. The thing
that astronomy will teach you the most is patience, as it takes time to see
things in the night sky.

Enjoy our lunar romps! I know I do!
--
Clear Skies!

========
Tim Longwell
Black River Astronomical Society
http://junior.apk.net/~arstar50/BlackRiver.index.html
Elyria, Ohio


=========

"Holly" wrote in message
...
Hey ya peeps glad i found this spot i liked to look at all the other
messages . I got some questions about the moon.
I got my telescope like 2 years ago i got it for christmas and at first i
was like oh wow a telescope whoope de doo .. and my dad set it up for me
and i looked at it like 2 times and that was it. So it was sitting in the
garage for 2 years and finaly with this mars thing going on i was hearing
it was closer to us than ever so i figured why not ? So i took out the
telescope and i figured out how to use it - its a meade and its a big
white
one and its got one of them things that you can ,, the things that let you
make it move by itself with a remote control.
Im 15 by the way. So anyways,I found mars and really it wasnt that great i
mean i can tell its a planet its round but everyone was telling me that it
was red but it didnt look red to me,so no big deal there but guess what ?
I got hooked on the moon. I love looking at the moon and seeing all the
craters the only crappy par tis it hurts my eye after a while ..My freinds
like looking at the moon too.. so heres my questions. . You know how like
on the moon theres alot of craters of course,but there are also a lot of
dark areas that look flat. what are those ? Another thing is why does the
moon look bigger sometimes and other times it looks small ? I guess it
must
come closer some times.
One more thing is im wondering why the moon is orange sometimes - im
guessing it has something to do like with the position of the sun.
Ok im going now if its nice tonite which it looks like it will be im going
to go out moon hunting.
If anyones got some tips for me,and i mean besides spelling and stuff,that
would be nice.
Oh yeah especialy if some1 can tell me how to finf saturn that would be
great.

"jojo" wrote in
:

Oh yeah I suppose it will rise 40 feet over my bedroom window starting in
November,right ?
and I beleive in God and all that but its Holly,not holy.

Holy,
at other times of the year Saturn come up much earlier. So there will
be times to see it, just not right now.
jojo


"Holly" wrote in message
...
"J. Scott Miller" wrote in
:

Dang dude that was nice of you to write all that I even printed out
your words so i dont forget them. Im not yanking a chain i do like to
mess around but not here when it comes to the moon im seriuos.
Mars I will give a chance i looked at it agian last night and it
looked better.
So you said the dark spots are from lave so does that mean that there
are stil l volcanoes on the moon ? and if so where r they ?
And about the paper tube thing ok Ill try it but I dont really see
what
its
about yeah i know the big moon will look bigger than the little moon
but i can see that without a tube actualy.
Dang saturn dont come out until 2 am ? That sucks i guess that means
i won't be seeing it. I guess that explains why i never found it i
figured
it
was out there somewhere.
Thanx for the web sites things ill check them out later after i get
done doing some stuff.

Holly (

Okay, assuming this is straight and you are not just yanking our
chains...

Holly wrote:
Hey ya peeps glad i found this spot i liked to look at all the
other messages . I got some questions about the moon.
I got my telescope like 2 years ago i got it for christmas and at
first i was like oh wow a telescope whoope de doo .. and my dad
set it up for me and i looked at it like 2 times and that was it.
So it was sitting in the garage for 2 years and finaly with this
mars thing going on i was hearing it was closer to us than ever so
i figured why not ? So i took out the telescope and i figured out
how to use it - its a meade and its a big white one and its got
one of them things that you can ,, the things that let you make it
move by itself with a remote control. Im 15 by the way. So
anyways,I found mars and really it wasnt that great i mean i can
tell its a planet its round but everyone was telling me that it
was red but it didnt look red to me,so no big deal there but guess
what ?

First, give Mars a bit of a chance. Viewing it takes a bit of
patience. It is not red, as you indicate, but appears reddish to
the eye when looking at it against the background star -
concentrate orange light into a small point and the sensitivity of
the eye argues for a red color.

But, if your scope can get upwards to 100x or more, with some
patience you will be able to see dark features on its surface and
the southern icecap. I have been involved with public observations
these last couple of weeks and have been able to get those using my
scope to see these things. They do not jump out and say "Hi!".
You will need to teach yourself how to look all over again, using
tricks like peripheral vision (not looking at it directly but
perhaps just past it so the more light-sensitive parts of your eye
get a chance at it) and simply waiting for the sky to stand still
for a moment (it is in constant turbulent motion, but every once in
a while, things will sharpen).

So, if you are into instant gratification, Mars is not a good
choice for looking, but if you have the patience, it can be a bit
satisfying.
To help you identify what might be in your scope at the moment you
are looking at Mars (assuming you go back to it), Sky and Telescope
(http://www.skypub.com) has an online program that lets you put in
your date and time and it will recreate that part of Mars facing
you. At least it is a start.


I got hooked on the moon. I love looking at the moon and seeing
all the craters the only crappy par tis it hurts my eye after a
while ..My freinds like looking at the moon too.. so heres my
questions. . You know how like on the moon theres alot of craters
of course,but there are also a lot of dark areas that look flat.
what are those ?

The dark areas are lava planes, much like the dark lava one sees
when viewing the active volcanos of Hawaii. They are referred to
as mare (in the singular) and maria collectively, a name that means
"sea". One of those, visible in your scope is the Sea of
Tranquility, the general location of the first manned Moon landing.


Another thing is why does the
moon look bigger sometimes and other times it looks small ? I
guess it must come closer some times.

This is really an optical illusion. To show this to be the case,
look at the Moon when it looks big (probably near the horizon)
through a tube, like a paper roll tube or toilet paper roll tube.
Note how much room it takes up within the opening. Then go out
several hours later when the Moon is high in the sky and do the
same thing. I found this dramatically illustrated for me while
shooting photographs of the Moon during the last lunar eclipse and
centering it within the viewfinder of my camera for each shot.


One more thing is im wondering why the moon is orange sometimes -
im guessing it has something to do like with the position of the
sun.

Actually, it is our air, and the effect is similar to that which
causes an orange/red sunset. Our air scatters out some wavelengths
of light better than others. In particular, blue gets scattered
more than yellows and reds - the reason we have blue skies during
the day. Near the horizon, both the light from both objects must
pass through that much more air to get to our eyes, so that even
the yellow light begins to be scattered out.

There is another, rarer time when the Moon will appear reddish.
That is during a lunar eclipse. The next of those that you might
catch, weather permitting in in early November (8th/9th I believe,
without references in front of me).

Ok im going now if its nice tonite which it looks like it will be
im going to go out moon hunting.
If anyones got some tips for me,and i mean besides spelling and
stuff,that would be nice.
Oh yeah especialy if some1 can tell me how to finf saturn that
would be great.


Saturn rises about 2 a.m. locally and is located among the stars of
a constellation called Gemini the Twins. If you would like help
finding the planets among the stars, at least the naked eye
planets, you might visit a site called Heaven's Above
(http://www.heavens-above.com). After putting in your country and
city, it generates a collection of observational aids, from
satellite passes to planet locations to sky maps. The sky maps are
interactive - put in the date and time (based on a 24 hour clock
rather than our more common 12 hours + 12 hours) and it creates a
map. Use the black on white option to get a printable one. If
there are planets up at that time, it includes their location in
the sky.

And, another reference would be an article I post once a month on
my planetarium's web site (http://www.louisville.edu/planetarium).
Click on the "Current Sky" button and it will give you a summary of
planet locations and dates when the Moon will be passing near a
planet so that the Moon can help you locate them.

Good luck with your observing.

"Tim Longwell" wrote in
:

Thanx for the tip about the books ill see if my libary has them.
im gonna get every book about the moon there is.
and about saturn well the only bad part is by then it will be freezing cold
because i live in Michigan where it gets cold around that time.

Holly {;}

Hello Holly and Welcome to the wonderful Hobby of Astronomy 8*)

Might I recommend a book for you to check out from the Library on the
moon?

The Title is "Observing the Moon" by Gerald North. AN Excellent
resource on
Lunar Observing and how to Draw what you see in the eyepiece so that
you can document your Lunar observing.
Most local Libraries have a copy and if you decide you want your own
copy then you can get it from Sky Publishing he

http://skyandtelescope.com/shopatsky...Fname=Skypub&c
hrMainCategory=Any&chrCategory=Any&product%5Fid=22 743&search=YES&chrPri
ceRange=&chrLevel=&keyword=moon&startingrec=28

Or Amazon.com he

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...qid=1063139171
/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-9115664-3255817?v=glance&s=books

Another good internet source on lunar observing is The American Lunar
Society found he

http://otterdad.dynip.com/als/index.html


Also start Observing the Moon during the Phases and not at Full Moon
as you will see much more detail on the surface that way.

As for Saturn, have Patience, in Mid to late December you should be
able to Observe Saturn in the evenings before you have to call it a
day. The thing that astronomy will teach you the most is patience, as
it takes time to see things in the night sky.

Enjoy our lunar romps! I know I do!

Holly wrote:

So you said the dark spots are from lave so does that mean that
there are stil l volcanoes on the moon ? and if so where r they ?

Any volcanos are ancient and long since extinct. Unlike the Earth,
which has a molten core, the moon is solid all the way through. No
magma exists anymore below the surface, hence, no more volcanic
activity. The lava "seas" are old. They're just not going anywhere.

And about the paper tube thing ok Ill try it but I dont really see
what its about yeah i know the big moon will look bigger than the
little moon but i can see that without a tube actualy.

Try holding a ruler at arms length and maybe marking it with a piece
of masking tape, or whatever. The physical measurement of the moon's
diameter will actually be the same near the horizon as when it's
higher in the sky.
It's not so much atmospheric distortion, which does "fuzzify" the
image a little, as it is a mental effect. ( My guess: I think when
our visual apparatus was evolving, things on the horizon were much
more important that things up in the sky and our brains learned to do
some image enhancement for objects close to the horizon). Basically,
it's all in our heads. Actual measurements, with instruments, of the
angular size of the moon on the horizon and the angular size of the
moon high in the sky are the same. They sure *look* different
though.

Dang saturn dont come out until 2 am ? That sucks i guess that means
i won't be seeing it. I guess that explains why i never found it i
figured it was out there somewhere.

Depending where the Earth and Saturn are in their orbits, the time at
which it rises varies. If you're not into getting up at 2:00 in the
morning to see a dot of light in the sky, then wait a few months and
check again, better yet, consult one of the good astronomy programs
out there and check the schedule. Then you can book an appointment
with Saturn at a more convenient time of night for you, just at some
later time in the year, or maybe next year.
Uh, sorry, but I think that means you'll have to find another excuse
for not having found it before. No matter, you're in good company
and the planets can easily be mistaken for stars unless you're really
studying them and know where to look beforehand.
It's a fun hobby if you're interested in the universe. New
discoveries are coming in all the time and with all the theories
flying around it's a little chaotic right now, but that keeps life
interesting.

--
Regards
Fred

Remove FFFf to reply, please

Fred Williams wrote in
:

thanx for what you said Fred thats intresting.
So the moon is frozen solid there is no magma in it so thats why theres no
volcanoes they are extict,but once upon a time like 10 billion years ago
there was volcanoes.
And since theres no wind and rain on the moon,all that stuff stays there
alot longer than here am i right ?
The big moon/small moon thing well i bet your probly right but i still
can't beleive it that they are the same size because u can see alot more
details of the moo n when it is big and when its way up in the sky it looks
smaller and you can see the details that good.
About saturn well i guess it does what it does and thats too bad 4 me.
Like you said maybe i can find some of them star charts or whatever and see
when it might come out earlyer.
I just wish we had more moons.
Thanx again

Holly (

Holly wrote:

So you said the dark spots are from lave so does that mean that
there are stil l volcanoes on the moon ? and if so where r they ?

Any volcanos are ancient and long since extinct. Unlike the
Earth,
which has a molten core, the moon is solid all the way through. No
magma exists anymore below the surface, hence, no more volcanic
activity. The lava "seas" are old. They're just not going anywhere.

And about the paper tube thing ok Ill try it but I dont really see
what its about yeah i know the big moon will look bigger than the
little moon but i can see that without a tube actualy.

Try holding a ruler at arms length and maybe marking it with a
piece
of masking tape, or whatever. The physical measurement of the moon's
diameter will actually be the same near the horizon as when it's
higher in the sky.
It's not so much atmospheric distortion, which does "fuzzify"
the
image a little, as it is a mental effect. ( My guess: I think when
our visual apparatus was evolving, things on the horizon were much
more important that things up in the sky and our brains learned to do
some image enhancement for objects close to the horizon). Basically,
it's all in our heads. Actual measurements, with instruments, of the
angular size of the moon on the horizon and the angular size of the
moon high in the sky are the same. They sure *look* different
though.

Dang saturn dont come out until 2 am ? That sucks i guess that means
i won't be seeing it. I guess that explains why i never found it i
figured it was out there somewhere.

Depending where the Earth and Saturn are in their orbits, the
time at
which it rises varies. If you're not into getting up at 2:00 in the
morning to see a dot of light in the sky, then wait a few months and
check again, better yet, consult one of the good astronomy programs
out there and check the schedule. Then you can book an appointment
with Saturn at a more convenient time of night for you, just at some
later time in the year, or maybe next year.
Uh, sorry, but I think that means you'll have to find another
excuse
for not having found it before. No matter, you're in good company
and the planets can easily be mistaken for stars unless you're really
studying them and know where to look beforehand.
It's a fun hobby if you're interested in the universe. New
discoveries are coming in all the time and with all the theories
flying around it's a little chaotic right now, but that keeps life
interesting.

No, never was anything like what we call Volcanos, the "Seas" are from the
heating of the moon during the time of the great bombment, and there still lava
pockets and some deep down that could flow out. Once it was all soid and cold,
then the creaters formed when the moon was hit. Most of , if not all the big
creaters are from 2 billion to 3.5 billion years old.


--
"In this universe the night was falling,the shadows were lengthening
towards an east that would not know another dawn.
But elsewhere the stars were still young and the light of morning
lingered: and along the path he once had followed, man would one day go
again."

Arthur C. Clarke, The City & The Stars

SIAR
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"Holly" wrote in message
...
Fred Williams wrote in
:

thanx for what you said Fred thats intresting.
So the moon is frozen solid there is no magma in it so thats why theres no
volcanoes they are extict,but once upon a time like 10 billion years ago
there was volcanoes.
And since theres no wind and rain on the moon,all that stuff stays there
alot longer than here am i right ?
The big moon/small moon thing well i bet your probly right but i still
can't beleive it that they are the same size because u can see alot more
details of the moo n when it is big and when its way up in the sky it looks
smaller and you can see the details that good.
About saturn well i guess it does what it does and thats too bad 4 me.
Like you said maybe i can find some of them star charts or whatever and see
when it might come out earlyer.
I just wish we had more moons.
Thanx again

Holly (

Holly wrote:

So you said the dark spots are from lave so does that mean that
there are stil l volcanoes on the moon ? and if so where r they ?

Any volcanos are ancient and long since extinct. Unlike the
Earth,
which has a molten core, the moon is solid all the way through. No
magma exists anymore below the surface, hence, no more volcanic
activity. The lava "seas" are old. They're just not going anywhere.

And about the paper tube thing ok Ill try it but I dont really see
what its about yeah i know the big moon will look bigger than the
little moon but i can see that without a tube actualy.

Try holding a ruler at arms length and maybe marking it with a
piece
of masking tape, or whatever. The physical measurement of the moon's
diameter will actually be the same near the horizon as when it's
higher in the sky.
It's not so much atmospheric distortion, which does "fuzzify"
the
image a little, as it is a mental effect. ( My guess: I think when
our visual apparatus was evolving, things on the horizon were much
more important that things up in the sky and our brains learned to do
some image enhancement for objects close to the horizon). Basically,
it's all in our heads. Actual measurements, with instruments, of the
angular size of the moon on the horizon and the angular size of the
moon high in the sky are the same. They sure *look* different
though.

Dang saturn dont come out until 2 am ? That sucks i guess that means
i won't be seeing it. I guess that explains why i never found it i
figured it was out there somewhere.

Depending where the Earth and Saturn are in their orbits, the
time at
which it rises varies. If you're not into getting up at 2:00 in the
morning to see a dot of light in the sky, then wait a few months and
check again, better yet, consult one of the good astronomy programs
out there and check the schedule. Then you can book an appointment
with Saturn at a more convenient time of night for you, just at some
later time in the year, or maybe next year.
Uh, sorry, but I think that means you'll have to find another
excuse
for not having found it before. No matter, you're in good company
and the planets can easily be mistaken for stars unless you're really
studying them and know where to look beforehand.
It's a fun hobby if you're interested in the universe. New
discoveries are coming in all the time and with all the theories
flying around it's a little chaotic right now, but that keeps life
interesting.




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For Mars simulations though a range of telescope apertures visit:

http://astronomy.trilobytes.com.au/Marsseeing.htm

Martin

"J. Scott Miller" wrote in
:

Okay, assuming this is straight and you are not just yanking our
chains...

Holly wrote:
Hey ya peeps glad i found this spot i liked to look at all the other
messages . I got some questions about the moon.
I got my telescope like 2 years ago i got it for christmas and at
first i was like oh wow a telescope whoope de doo .. and my dad set
it up for me and i looked at it like 2 times and that was it. So it
was sitting in the garage for 2 years and finaly with this mars thing
going on i was hearing it was closer to us than ever so i figured why
not ? So i took out the telescope and i figured out how to use it -
its a meade and its a big white one and its got one of them things
that you can ,, the things that let you make it move by itself with a
remote control. Im 15 by the way. So anyways,I found mars and really
it wasnt that great i mean i can tell its a planet its round but
everyone was telling me that it was red but it didnt look red to
me,so no big deal there but guess what ?

First, give Mars a bit of a chance. Viewing it takes a bit of
patience. It is not red, as you indicate, but appears reddish to the
eye when looking at it against the background star - concentrate
orange light into a small point and the sensitivity of the eye argues
for a red color.

But, if your scope can get upwards to 100x or more, with some patience
you will be able to see dark features on its surface and the southern
icecap. I have been involved with public observations these last
couple of weeks and have been able to get those using my scope to see
these things. They do not jump out and say "Hi!". You will need to
teach yourself how to look all over again, using tricks like
peripheral vision (not looking at it directly but perhaps just past
it so the more light-sensitive parts of your eye get a chance at it)
and simply waiting for the sky to stand still for a moment (it is in
constant turbulent motion, but every once in a while, things will
sharpen).

So, if you are into instant gratification, Mars is not a good choice
for looking, but if you have the patience, it can be a bit satisfying.
To help you identify what might be in your scope at the moment you
are looking at Mars (assuming you go back to it), Sky and Telescope
(http://www.skypub.com) has an online program that lets you put in
your date and time and it will recreate that part of Mars facing you.
At least it is a start.


I got hooked on the moon. I love looking at the moon and seeing all
the craters the only crappy par tis it hurts my eye after a while
..My freinds like looking at the moon too.. so heres my questions. .
You know how like on the moon theres alot of craters of course,but
there are also a lot of dark areas that look flat. what are those ?

The dark areas are lava planes, much like the dark lava one sees when
viewing the active volcanos of Hawaii. They are referred to as mare
(in the singular) and maria collectively, a name that means "sea".
One of those, visible in your scope is the Sea of Tranquility, the
general location of the first manned Moon landing.


Another thing is why does the
moon look bigger sometimes and other times it looks small ? I guess
it must come closer some times.

This is really an optical illusion. To show this to be the case, look
at the Moon when it looks big (probably near the horizon) through a
tube, like a paper roll tube or toilet paper roll tube. Note how much
room it takes up within the opening. Then go out several hours later
when the Moon is high in the sky and do the same thing. I found this
dramatically illustrated for me while shooting photographs of the Moon
during the last lunar eclipse and centering it within the viewfinder
of my camera for each shot.


One more thing is im wondering why the moon is orange sometimes - im
guessing it has something to do like with the position of the sun.

Actually, it is our air, and the effect is similar to that which
causes an orange/red sunset. Our air scatters out some wavelengths of
light better than others. In particular, blue gets scattered more
than yellows and reds - the reason we have blue skies during the day.
Near the horizon, both the light from both objects must pass through
that much more air to get to our eyes, so that even the yellow light
begins to be scattered out.

There is another, rarer time when the Moon will appear reddish. That
is during a lunar eclipse. The next of those that you might catch,
weather permitting in in early November (8th/9th I believe, without
references in front of me).

Ok im going now if its nice tonite which it looks like it will be im
going to go out moon hunting.
If anyones got some tips for me,and i mean besides spelling and
stuff,that would be nice.
Oh yeah especialy if some1 can tell me how to finf saturn that would
be great.


Saturn rises about 2 a.m. locally and is located among the stars of a
constellation called Gemini the Twins. If you would like help finding
the planets among the stars, at least the naked eye planets, you might
visit a site called Heaven's Above (http://www.heavens-above.com).
After putting in your country and city, it generates a collection of
observational aids, from satellite passes to planet locations to sky
maps. The sky maps are interactive - put in the date and time (based
on a 24 hour clock rather than our more common 12 hours + 12 hours)
and it creates a map. Use the black on white option to get a
printable one. If there are planets up at that time, it includes
their location in the sky.

And, another reference would be an article I post once a month on my
planetarium's web site (http://www.louisville.edu/planetarium). Click
on the "Current Sky" button and it will give you a summary of planet
locations and dates when the Moon will be passing near a planet so
that the Moon can help you locate them.

Good luck with your observing.