Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

This is Ephemeris for Fat Tuesday, February 13th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 21 minutes, setting at 6:07, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:45. The Moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 11:12 this evening.

The moon tonight appears to be a beautiful crescent, a four-day-old moon, or three days before first quarter. On it are two dark seas visible, the small sea Mare Crisium, or Sea of Crises, is easily spotted surrounded by bright highlands near the moon’s limb, or edge. The larger Mare Fecunditatis (Fertility) is left of it. At the edge of the Sea of Fertility at the Terminator, one can see in binoculars, or a small telescope, a tiny keyhole-shaped crater which stands out. It really does look like a tiny keyhole, but it’s two craters slightly overlapping each other. Both are named after Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the movable-type printing press. The big crater is Gutenberg. The second is Gutenberg C.

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