Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Friday, February 11th.  The sun will rise at 7:48.  It’ll be up for 10 hours and 16 minutes, setting at 6:05.   The moon, at first quarter today, will set at 3:05 tomorrow morning.

Today the moon will pass below the Pleiades or Seven Sisters star cluster.  It does this once a month, but maybe tonight the moon won’t be too bright to completely drown them out.  The Pleiades is a relatively nearby star cluster about 440 light years away.  It is easily visible to the unaided eye, but not with the bright moon nearby.  Binoculars will help bring out the cluster, which may show many more stars.  On the moon two of the great features for small telescopes are visible, the wide flat floored crater Plato and the Straight Wall.  Plato is visible at the upper part of the moon, while the Straight Wall is below center on the moon as a thin black line.  It’s hard to spot for the first time.  It is nearly a sheer fault 67 miles long and 900 feet high with a slope of 30 to 40 degrees.

* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan.  They may be different for your location.

Extra

The Moon near the Pleiades, February 11, 2011 9 p.m. EST. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts)

Lunar crater Plato and the fault Straight Wall

This is not a photograph! Image created using Virtual Moon Atlas by Christian Legrand and Patrick Chevalley.  A free program. http://www.ap-i.net/avl/en/start.

Closeup of the Straight Wall

Image also created using Virtual Moon Atlas.