Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

This is Ephemeris for Monday, February 7th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 5 minutes, setting at 6:00, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:53. The Moon, 1 day before first quarter, will set at 1:29 tomorrow morning.

Tonight, let’s take a look at the nearly first quarter Moon. The small, nearly circular gray spot is the sea of Crises. A diagonal chain of larger seas run from the terminator, the sunrise line, to below the Sea of Crises. They are, from the terminator, the seas of Serenity, Tranquility and Fertility. NASA is hoping to launch its uncrewed mission to the Moon, Artemis-1, next month with a large block of launch dates. The launch window begins on March 12th and ends on the 27th, with two blackout dates. Two lengths of missions are possible, a long 38 to 42 day mission is possible in the first part of the launch window, and a shorter 26 to 28 day mission is possible in the latter part of the window.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

The Moon as it might appear tonight in binoculars or a small telescope at 7 pm tonight, February 7, 2022. I labeled the lunar seas with their English names, translated from the Latin. Also labeled is the Sea of Nectar, which wasn’t mentioned in the program. Moon image created using Stellarium.