Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Thursday, November 3rd.  The sun will rise at 8:22.  It’ll be up for 10 hours and 6 minutes, setting at 6:28.   The moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 2:21 tomorrow morning.

In a telescope the moon will present some interesting features and craters.  They will be seen near the terminator, the sunrise edge of the moon, where the shadows are longest.  The moon is gray on gray, so the best way to see detail is by shadow.  At the top or north end of the moon is a mountainous arc called the Alps.  Mountain ranges on the moon are names after earthly mountain ranges.  Cutting through the range is a fault called the Alpine Valley.  Along the Alps at the terminator a crater will be coming into view this evening.  It is the crater Plato. It is sometimes called a walled plain, since its floor is flat, or rather is slightly convex conforming to the shape of the lunar sphere.  It’s cool watching the shadows of the walls recede as the sun rises.

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

Addendum

Moon 1 day after first quarter. Created using Virtual Moon Atlas