Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Friday, October 22nd.  The sun will rise at 8:06.  It’ll be up for 10 hours and 39 minutes, setting at 6:46.   The moon, is the full Hunter’s Moon, and will rise at 6:12 this evening.

The full moon is blinding in telescopes and binoculars.  Well it is daylight there, and the moon is essentially the same distance from the sun as the earth.  The face of the man in the moon is at its best visibility now.  In binoculars or low power in telescopes the best feature to view is the ray system radiating out of the bright southern crater Tycho which is relatively fresh.  Fresh on the moon is less than a billion years old,  how much less is not known.  Maybe the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter can help pinpoint the age or a visit by astronauts in the future.  My general feeling is that the only good full moon is an eclipsed one.  On the second full moon from now, on the morning of December 21st we will be able to witness  total lunar eclipse, if it’s clear.