Look Up

Shadows are longest along the lunar terminator on a waxing moon. That means any features along this line will really standout.

Of course, a telescope isn’t needed to observe the moon. If you go to https://moon.nasa.gov and look for “OBSERVE THE MOON NIGHT” at the upper left, it will take you to the event’s website where you’ll find all different kinds of resources for participating. You can search for events taking place near you or online.

There’s a link to NASA’s broadcast channel where the show begins at 4 p.m. There are also moon maps. These maps were specifically made for Saturday’s event, so it shows the moon in its waxing crescent phase as it will be seen from our coast at 7 p.m.

In addition, NASA gives a few suggestions for the event. Besides making or admiring moon related artwork, they suggest listening to moon-inspired music. There’ll be a few podcasts about the moon.

The last suggestion they give is to continue moon observations throughout the year. They provide great resources for this too; besides documents in the form of a calendar for putting down observations, they also have a set of questions to help you think about what was noticed in the moon.

Besides wanting to unite people all over the world in a celebration of lunar observation, some other goals of this event are to empower people to learn more about the moon, space science and exploration and inspire continued observation of the moon, the sky and the world around us.

Naturally, another goal is to raise awareness of NASA’s lunar science and exploration programs. This worldwide event has been held annually since 2010. Future International Observe the Moon Night dates are Oct. 21 2023, and Sept. 14, 2024.

Look Up appears in the weekend edition. If you have any astronomical questions or facts you’d like to share email news@smdailyjournal.com with the subject line “Look Up.”