Home > Ephemeris Program, The Moon > 05/23/2023 – Ephemeris – Let’s observe the four-day-old Moon

05/23/2023 – Ephemeris – Let’s observe the four-day-old Moon

May 23, 2023

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Tuesday, May 23rd. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 5 minutes, setting at 9:12, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:06. The Moon, halfway from new to first quarter, will set at 1:25 tomorrow morning.

The four-day-old Moon has uncovered a sea below Mare Crisium or Sea of Crises. It’s Mare Fecunditatis, or the Sea of Fertility. It appears to have been created in the first period of the Moon’s history from 4.55 billion years to 3.92 billion years ago, called the pre- Nectarian geological period, while Mare Crisium is a bit younger, from 3.92 to 3.85 billion years ago, the Nectarian period. Both periods were named for Mare Nectaris, or Sea of Nectar, a small sea next to the Sea of Fertility just coming into sunlight. There are two small, but remarkable craters in the Sea of Fertility called Messier and Messier A which appear to be the result of a double asteroid impact, where it looks like the Moon was struck at a low angle, sending debris out in one direction.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT –4 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

4 day old Moon annotated

4 day old Moon with selected features labeled for May 23, 2023, at 10 pm. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw and GIMP.

Messier craters finder

Mare Fecunditatis, 4 day old Moon with the 2 Messier craters labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw and GIMP.

Messier craters from the Apollo astronauts

Messier craters from the Apollo astronauts. Credit NASA.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, The Moon Tags: