One of the lovelier sights I get to observe in the night sky is the emergence of the waxing Moon. The days from a Full Moon to a New Moon inevitably involve moonrise occurring later and later into the evening. With the Sandia Mountains to the east, it is often too late for me to stay up and watch during the weekdays.
After the cusp of the New Moon is overcome, the waxing crescent is beautiful during its appearance. First as a “fingernail” and growing as it works its way toward a quarter moon, it is an amazing sight that cannot be viewed in one sitting. It must be built up over time (but thankfully, not a long time).
Last night (20 Oct 2020) I took a series of photographs of the moon with a new adapter I recently purchased. Instead of attaching the camera to the telescope tube rear (and creating a camera with a SUPER large lens), I was able to attach the camera to the eyepiece. This gave the added advantage of allowing me to use color filters during the shots.
As you can see in the gallery above, the filters give the Moon a bit of character. I personally like the yellow filter because of the contrast does not overpower the image. The sinister red image brings to mind a “blood Moon” or sights seen during lunar eclipses. And the green filter makes Luna look like it actually *is* made of green cheese!
For those of you interested, the circular area located two-thirds of the way down is Mare Crisium (“Sea of Crises”), named by Italian astronomer Giovanni Riccioli. The dark material within the mare is basalt, formed by ancient volcanic eruptions. Within this small crescent moon, Mare Crisium is prominently featured, but as the rest of the Moon reveals herself, the Sea of Crises will slowly be enveloped by the rest of the surface features.
Tonight I will see what other features are slowly revealed by the growing light on the lunar surface.
Joseph T. Page II 