We had a second night of observing the moon for the general public. Tonight's observing was at Old Westbury Gardens, where we have been doing these programs for several years now. Five of us showed up with out telescopes and we ended up having over fifty attendees. It was fun, because the ages ran from young kids, to older folks and everyone in between. This one of our members and his refractor set up on the lawn. The moon was spectacular as seen through our telescopes, and many of the visitors had never seen the moon up close. It is a rich experience to show people the Moon for the first time.
3 comments:
Another chance to educate, Ken. I know nothing of astronomy but I've always thought the moon was best seen at night. The picture you took of people was in daylight. Can you see features of the moon when the sun is still up? Does it look different than the moon we see at night? I've never thought about watching the moon during the day. Should I?
Great Question! The answer is complicated. When I took this picture, it was almost too dark to see! This is a testament to the low light performance of my Canon 6D. So the picture was really dark - almost too dark to see the people, and so I lightened up the image so you could see everyone. But now it looks like daylight. Life gets complicated! But the main question you wanted to know was could you observe the moon when it was still light out. The answer is "yes." The difference is, that if the sky is still bright, you can see the moon, but instead of the black shadows that you would see in the dark, the shadows are blue. You can still see details of craters, but they are a bit less dramatic. Try using your binoculars late in the day when the moon is up.
Thanks, Ken! So smart and helpful!
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