Home > Ephemeris Program, Observing, Uncategorized > 05/30/2023 – Ephemeris – The Terminator… No, not Arnold Swartzenegger

05/30/2023 – Ephemeris – The Terminator… No, not Arnold Swartzenegger

May 30, 2023

This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, May 30th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 17 minutes, setting at 9:19, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:01. The Moon, 3 days past first quarter, will set at 3:59 tomorrow morning.

The Moon tonight is getting to be a fatter and fatter gibbous phase, until Saturday, when it will be full. The Moon will be blindingly bright in telescopes of low magnification. As always the case with the Moon, the most detail is seen near the terminator. The terminator, in the case of the waxing moon, is the sunrise line. After full moon, the terminator becomes the sunset line. This is where the shadows are longest, showing the detail of the craters. Farther from the terminator, where the Sun is higher in the Moon’s sky, shadows are short or nonexistent. Giving the surface a flat appearance. Even lacking wind and water, there is still erosion on the Moon, coming from meteoroid and asteroid impacts and their ejecta. And the breakdown of rocks due to the extreme day-night temperature swings.

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

Moon First Quarter plus 3 days
The first quarter plus 3 day old Moon tonight at around 10 pm with labels of selected features. Gassendi is a great crater to check out with a telescope. It is only really visible when near the terminator. A hint: Mare (pronounced Mar-e) means sea. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
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