Chapter Four - The Moon

The moon was shining sulkily,
Because she thought the Sun
Had got no business to be there
After the day was done ----
"It's very rude of him", she said,
"To come and spoil the fun!"

The Walrus and the Carpenter - Lewis Carroll

While the Moon is the brightest object in the sky except for the Sun, and the only celestial body whose details can be seen with the naked eye, many skygazers do no particularly bother to look at it. Once days I was leafing through an issue of Sky and Telescope, the popular magazine dedicated to skygazing, and I noticed that except for a half column of technical data, there was no information related to the Moon at all. This issue had articles on the stars, planets, comets and meteors, but not the Moon. Why ignore Earth's only natural satellite?

Perhaps some stargazers feel that the Moon does not provide a sufficient challenge for their talents. Part of the thrill of skygazing is finding a dim object in a nondescript area of the sky. A search for a far-off galaxy or a distant planet such as Neptune requires a thorough knowledge of the sky and much patience. Anyone can find the Moon. The main objection to the Moon is its brightness. A full Moon delivers to our eyes 200 times the quantity of light coming from all the stars and planets combined. A night with a full Moon precludes observing almost anything else but the Moon itself. City dwellers have grown so accustomed to bright street lighting that it is easy to forget just how much light the Moon can provide. A Lunar Society formed in England during the eighteenth century held its meetings on the night of a full Moon so that its members could return home under its natural light. By learning the path and phases of the Moon, at least we can know when it will be out of the way so that we can observe other celestial objects.

Despite the problems that the Moon presents, it would be a shame to ignore it. The Moon is a magnificent object to view, even through a pair of small binoculars. The surface of the Moon is no less varied than the surface of the Earth. You can see towering peaks, great mountain ranges and wide valleys. Each area of the Moon has a distinctive character, all united by an eye-piercing sharpness. Although the features of the airless Moon are virtually unchanging, the continually fluctuating lighting by the Sun provides an ever-changing image.

The Moon is a wonderfully easy object to observe. You don’t have to wait for your eyes to adjust to the darkness. It provides such an enormous amount of light compared to other objects in the sky that it is refreshing to look at the Moon after a few night of observing the faint stars. I frequently look at the Moon through an open window when it is close to the horizon and don't even bother to turn off the lights. I find a comfortable place to roll out my map of the Moon and enjoy the show outside.

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