Questions tagged [the-moon]
Questions regarding Earth's only natural satellite. For questions about the natural satellites of other planets, use the tag [natural-satellite].
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Simulating location of the moon
I'm researching high altitude photography and want to know a schedule for taking pictures of the moon.
Preferably I want a picture of the (full) moon on the horizon.
How would I go about scheduling ...
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Can I measure the moon's gravity?
Since I learned about Newton's gravity law, I wonder if I can measure the moon's gravity using (almost) no special equipment. The best I could come up with is a pendulum, which is in a resting ...
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What's the significance of finding neon on lunar atmospehere? new explanation of moon light?
Now that NASA's LADEE spacecraft has confirmed the presence of Neon in the moon's atmosphere could the official explanation of the moon's light end up being change from reflecting the sun's light to ...
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How did the moon's orbit become eccentric?
The Moon's orbit is more eccentric, 0.0549, than most planets. I can understand that planets get eccentric by disturbing each other like under the late heavy bombardment. And likewise for multiple ...
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Help plotting a trip to the Moon! [closed]
Take me to the moon!
I know this is literally rocket science but, I would like any sources or formulas that would help me plot a trip to the Moon. I'm not sending anything, nor do I ever plan to, I ...
user7914
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Calculate Atmospheric Extinction Using Source Altitude Angle
I am trying to code up the following article http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2349512 (alternative free access version) to calculate the light reflected from the moon to a given point on earth at a ...
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How long is the moon full
Is the moon the most full only for one moment
As stated here and here
Or does if stay the same full for a longer period of time (maybe because, the sun is grater then it, and light spreads out)
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What makes the moon, a super moon
Caught a sight of moon tonight (by chance) and came in surprise that moon looks thrice in size to its usual size.
Mostly called as Blue moon. Didn't succeed in getting the details and explanations ...
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During night on the Moon is there Earth light and Earth phases?
I realise that night time on the Moon is two weeks, however I am curious if during the night there, whether or not the Earth reflects light in similar manner to the Moon.
On the one hand, I know it ...
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Are lunar occultations visible to the naked eye?
The Moon occults a lot of stars. But are these events visible to the naked eye? Won't it be blinded out by the crescent even at its thinnest just before sunrise? Did ancient astronomers actually ...
- 11.1k
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Official Definition of Satellite?
So I had an argument with a friend, which was about whether the Moon is a planet or a satellite.
IAU 2006 Resolution B5 gives definitions on what it is to be a planet, but there is a vagueness, as I ...
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How to calculate the moon phase [duplicate]
I need a way of to calculate the moon phase. Do you know resources for research the theory from behind this? I basically have searched in Google, but the results were not very satisfactory. Exists a ...
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Historical astronomical lunar tables
I hope this is the right place to ask this question, and I apologise if not.
I've come across a date written in an old book, but it is written using what seems to be a lunar/zodiac system.
Below is a ...
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How long until the Earth and Moon become a binary planet?
With the rate at which the moon is further receding into a higher orbit, how long until the barycentre between us and the moon leaves the earth, and going by the IAUs 2006 definition update, we become ...
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How significant and accessible is modern Chinese astronomy?
Is China fully integrated in the international astronomical community, or does military secrecy and language problems and sanctions (ITAR) or something else stand in the way? Does China have valuable ...
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Why doesn't the Moonrise appear red when viewed from orbit?
After searching through many videos, I finally found one that shows, from the perspective of low earth orbit, the Moon transiting the horizon. It is actually a Moonset, but it shouldn't make a ...
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Accidental or deliberate? [duplicate]
We know that the visual size of the Sun and Moon from the Earth in our lifetime (!) is nearly equivalent.
Now my question: Is this event is random? Or have a scientific reason?
For example, maybe ...
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Eclipse on the moon
What kinds of eclipse is seen by the person on the moon, when there is:
Solar eclipse on the earth, and
Lunar eclipse on the earth?
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How to find Exomoons?
How would we be able to detect Exomoons? We detect exoplanets by seeing if the light gets faint from a star, but could we really use the same method for determining if there is an exomoon around that ...
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When will the next summer solstice and a full moon coincide? What day?
What day will the summer solstice and full moon coincide? As far as I know the next time will be in 2016. I would like to know what day.
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What was the orbit of the meteor that impacted the Moon on 2013 September 11?
On 2013 September 11th, a meteor impacted the Moon leaving a 34-meter crater. So far the only info I've found was from youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCFDkj2JtyA) and this site: http://lroc....
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Moon's orbit around the Sun
The Earth revolves around the Sun and the Moon revolves around the Earth.
Out of curiosity I started thinking about the orbit of the Moon around the Sun and expected (assumed) it to be as follows:
...
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What would be the practical consequences (on earth) if the Moon was not tidally locked?
I was thinking about the fact that all the largest Solar System moons are tidally locked to its primary and this question arose.
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How to calculate geocentric conjunction time and moon altitude at a given time
Umm al-Qura calendar of Saudi Arabia determine the new moon if these criteria meet at 29th day:
The geocentric conjunction occurs before sunset.
The moon sets after the sun.
I've got the formula to ...
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Why doesn't the sun pull the moon away from earth?
If the suns gravitational pull is strong enough to hold much larger masses in place (all the planets) and at much greater distances (all planets further away from the sun then earth) why does it not ...
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Why can we see stars but not astronaut on the moon
A question came up today in astronomy class and it got me wondering all night.
How is it that if stars are so far away, we can see them so clearly but we cannot see astronauts on the moon.
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How strong does a light source on the Moon have to be to be visible from Earth? [duplicate]
Flashes from some meteoroid impacts on the Moon can be seen with the naked eye. How much light must a future lunar base emit in order to be visible as a dot in the lunar night (like the flag of ...
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Circular formation around the moon
I have seen a large circular formation of cloud around the full moon sometimes.
Have anyone seen the same? What is the reason behind this formation?
Due to lunar attraction?
Most of the sky is empty ...
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How much do the mascons on the moon affect surface gravity?
The gravity anomalies on the moon (generally accepted to be caused by mascons) are powerful enough to affect the orbit of satellites. I'm trying to determine how much effect they would have on a ...
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Around what apparent magnitude can the naked eye observe an object during full moon
For a very rough guideline using healthy/corrected eyes adjusted to the dark, around how bright should an object be to expect it to be visible?
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Is there a threshold on distance/size for a tidal locking?
I know that some systems tend to tidal locking (such as earth-moon), which occurs basically because the difference in the gravitational pull on one side is significantly different from the pull on the ...
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Is there a simple, analytical formula for the lunar phase brightness curve?
Brightness of the lunar disk varies as a function of phase angle. This phenomenon is very well established, as is the increase in brightness at low phase angles.
Is there a simple analytical formula ...
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What were the challenges for the ancients to observe the orbit of the Moon (instead of Mars)?
Astrophysics can be said to have been founded by Johannes Kepler around the year 1600. He based his break-through science on data of the position of Mars in the sky and disproved the ancient ideas ...
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Total solar eclipse, supermoon, and spring equinox all happening at the same time: anything special about this?
Today (March 20, 2015) is seeing a rare combination of the spring equinox, a total solar eclipse, and a supermoon. I am wondering if there is anything special astronomically about all three of these ...
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Why do dark objects look white from a distance? (Moon, Ceres, but not Earth!)
What makes the Moon shine white in the sky, although it seems to be as dark as asphalt?
Earth's average albedo is 3 and 4 times that of the Moon and Ceres respectively (0.37 vs 0.12 and 0.09). But ...
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What mechanism could have formed the Moon's Oceanus Procellarum rift-like gravity anomalies?
According to the NASA JPL web-report, Gravity Gradients Frame Oceanus Procellarum, a rift-like ring structure surrounding the Moon's Oceanus Procellarum has been detected as a gravity anomaly by the ...
user2449
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Is there any man-made satellite orbiting our moon?
I am just wondering whether any man-made satellites are currently orbiting our Moon. If there is one, would I be able to see it using my telescope?
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What's the relationship between Moon phase and the Milky Way visibility?
I've been using an IOS app to predict visibility of the Milky Way.
I'm planning a trip to capture the Milky Way on 9th March 2015, but the app shows the visibility will be very weak on that date.
...
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Shouldn't all moon orbits be inherently unstable?
A hypothetical simulation starts with a planet called Earth in a perfectly circular orbit around a star called Sol. There is also a moon called Luna in a perfectly circular orbit around Earth.
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What are the Gamma rays and Cosmic rays effects on humans and equipments? [closed]
First of all not to consider me a conspiracy theorist, but isn't landing on the moon a questionable issue? I am really not an expert in astronomy but let's assume that a moon landing has happened.
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How do I deduce my latitude and longitude from N obervations of occultations from the same place?
I think it would be an interesting exercise to measure the latiude and longitude of my house using N occultation timings. I would like to see how precisely I can measure it using that technique, and ...
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Do we have knowledge of the geology of the moon?
With reference to the Ebb and Flow lunar satellites, was there any data about its geology? Is there a central core, or is it homogenous?
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Is it safe to view moon at daytime through telescope
I have a little 76mm Newtonian Reflector. I want to see the moon at daytime. Is it safe to look at sky at daytime when sun is shinning or there is any risk of sun.
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Meteorites bring water
The latest information suggests that Earth's water came from Meteorites . The Moon was also bombarded by Meteorites and yet it has no water. Is this because it lacks an atmosphere and its water was ...
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Tide on the Moon
If the Earth's Moon had a water ocean of depth 2-4 Km, how high would the tides rise due to the Earth's gravity? (Just a hypothetical question.)
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Questions about a fictional binary system, and habitability [closed]
Note: Questions are at the bottom. The rest had simply been written in a format to better organize my thoughts. The formulas used to construct this fictional solar system, had been borrowed from ...
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How do you find the altitude of the Sun if you are on the Moon?
The question is:
If you stand on the equator of the Moon, at midday your position occurs when the Moon is located at the line of the node. What is the altitude of the sun at that moment?
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Does the Earth have another moon?
I was just wondering what are the chances that there is a small object (say less than 1 km but more than few meters) that orbits the Earth but has remained undetected by us? Are we actually ...
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Look up current positions and velocities of solar system objects
I am working on an orbital dynamics code and, for fun, I would like to model the Sun-Earth-Moon system with my code. I can look up the masses of each object just fine, as well as average distances ...
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where is the boundary between dark night and grey night
Is there a clear cut between them?
How long and how bright will the moon be for a dark night?
I googled but could not find a definition for them. People just talk about them empirically?
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