Star Points for February, 2003; by Curtis Roelle That Big Round Pizza Pie in the Sky During the two decades leading up to the first manned lunar landings the moon was a popular target for amateur telescopes. The moon was that mysterious world a quarter of a million miles away. Space artists rendered fascinating scenes of craggy mountains and dark abyssal chasms and craters. There were fears that an astronaut or a lander could sink into lunar quicksand or that moon dust clinging to a spacesuit might spontaneously combust when it came into contact with oxygen inside the pressurized lunar module. Speculations of possible alien life added to the intrigue. Some of the mystery and romance of the moon was lost once live television images were beamed into the living room from the moon. The surface was desolate and uninhabited, powdery but firm. This was especially obvious as astronauts cut "cookies" in the dust riding on four wheelers called lunar rovers. The mountains were rolling and gradual, not jagged and steep. Be that as it may, the moon remains the easiest object for study by any telescope regardless of size. Binoculars can reveal the largest craters and even the flimsiest of telescopes can satisfy its owner when it comes to the moon. Best of all, unlike other celestial wonders the moon is easy to find! The best place to see detail on the moon is along the terminator, the line that separates day and night. At the terminator shadows are longest and the relief of mountains, craters, valleys, and rills can be readily appreciated. From new moon until full moon the terminator marks the line where sunrise is occurring on the moon. This is the morning terminator. After full moon the terminator marks sunset. Thus it is an evening terminator. The very worst time to view the moon is when it is full and there is no terminator and hence no shadows visible. However, full moon is a good time to see the bright "rays" that extend outward from some of the fresher craters. At full moon one might see the man or woman in the moon, or even a rascally rabbit. The moon is bright and can be difficult to view. Eyepiece filters are available for dimming the glare, but one useful technique I've used in the past is wearing sunglasses while viewing the moon through a telescope. The most reliable method for identifying objects on the moon is with the use of an atlas. Lunar atlases may be purchased in book stores or from astronomy publishers such as Willman Bell (http://www.willbell.com/) or Sky Publishing (http://skyandtelescope.com/shopatsky/). There is also a rich selection of on-line web references for the lunar observer. Only a few are mentioned here. However a web search engine such as yahoo.com or google.com will be useful for finding many others. To get started you need a map or chart and an index of features. You can get both at http://www.basnet.fsnet.co.uk/lunarphase.htm. This page is maintained by the Beckington Astronomical Society in the United Kingdom. At the top of this page is a box showing the current appearance of the moon and dates for upcoming full, new, and quarter moons. The index lists 80 objects marked in the chart. Since you want to observe objects along the terminator you need to know when to look. Frequently lunar observers will refer to object positions in terms of the age of the moon. One might say that such-and-such feature is best visible when the moon is so many days old. The Saguaro Astronomy Club of Phoenix maintains a list of interesting lunar object at http://www.saguaroastro.org/content/SAC-110-Best-Lunar-Objects- List.htm. The list divides objects into several categories including naked eye, binoculars, and telescopic. Times are given for selected features. For instance the crater Copernicus is best viewed when the moon is ten days old. That is, ten days past new. So on what day in February will the moon be ten days old? For this you need a lunar phase calendar like the one at http://www.googol.com/moon/. It is obvious looking at the calendar that New Moon is around February 1. Thus, the moon will be 10 days old on the 11th. On that night the crater Copernicus will be best placed for viewing. Another interesting on-line resource is the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Moon, at http://www.shallowsky.com/moon/hitchhiker.html. Every day there is an updated feature called "What's Up on the Moon Tonight?" The page also has an interactive chart more than 80 grid sections. Clicking on any grid brings up another page with closeup views of selected features in that region. For example the Straight Wall, or Rupes Recta, may be found on grid 54. The background image under the grid changes along with the moon's current phase. This makes it easy to identify which grid sections are currently located along the terminator. One nice on-line photographic atlas is the Fournier Lunar Atlas at http://www.arksky.org/LunarAtlas.htm hosted by the Arkansas Sky Observatory. It too has an easy to use clickable interface. A mouse click on any part of the moon causes close-ups of the area to be served. All photographs in this atlas were taken by amateurs with amateur equipment. The quality is actually rather impressive. An on-line photographic lunar featuring the best professional photographic images of the moon ever made is the Consolidated Lunar Atlas by Gerald P. Kuiper et al. The web site for this atlas is http://www.lpi.usra.edu/research/cla/menu.html. The site features an index of charts that the user may select from. The moon offers the observer many opportunities for conducting projects. For instance one might wish to view all six sites visited by men during the Apollo landings. A map showing each site as well as other interesting statistical information can be found at http://www.solar-system.com/Pages/apollost.htm. It has been more than 30 years since a man has left footprints in the lunar regolith, but the equipment is still up there. Of course no telescope in the world has the resolving power to see any of the American flags, read the plaque, or view any of the other relics left behind. A good opportunity is coming up in February at which you might begin observing the moon. On Saturday, February 15 the Westminster Astronomical Society will have telescopes set up at the Bear Branch Nature Center from 08:00 p.m. until midnight. Bring your own telescope or use one of theirs. That same night there will be scheduled shows in the planetarium at 07:30 and 08:30 p.m. Reservations are required and can be made by calling the nature center at 410-876-9234 or 410-848-2517.