Saturday night is the annual “International Observe the Moon Night,” where observers and lovers of the moon worldwide will be looking at the moon and sponsoring moon-watching events.
The night is sponsored by Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Solar System Exploration Division of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, with support from many partners.
As stated on NASA’s International Observe the Moon Night webpage, the goals of International Observe the Moon Night:
- Unite people across the globe in a celebration of lunar observation, science and exploration, and provide information and a platform.
- Raise awareness of NASA’s lunar science and exploration programs.
- Empower people to learn more about the moon and space science and exploration, using Earth’s moon as an accessible entry point.
- Facilitate sharing of moon-inspired stories, images, artwork and more.
- Inspire continued observation of the moon, the sky and the world around us.
- Support all people who are interested in learning more about and connecting to the moon.
In the D.C. region this year, there are 22 International Observe the Moon events.
To add to this year’s events, the moon has had quite the year so far.
First and foremost was humanity’s return to the moon in April with the Artemis II mission, a major rework of the Artemis Program and the declaration of establishing Moon Base.
Breaking moon news
The moon also made recent headlines regarding its origin and a just-discovered once-in-a-lifetime lunar impact.
Moon researchers, using novel computer simulations, determined that the moon could have formed within just five hours after the impact between our planet and a Mars-sized impactor named Theia.
NASA and the Universities Space Research Association Wednesday announced that between April 11 to May 22, 2024, after a comet or asteroid the size of a three-to six-story building hit the lunar surface, a new crater was created.
Officially named McGetchin after pioneering lunar scientist Tom McGetchin, the crater formed on the Moon’s eastern edge. It was discovered during a review of data and photographs obtained by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Julie Stopar, one of the LRO lunar scientists involved in studying the impact and co-author of the science paper on the event, provided some additional insight. She related that “the impactor size and force (involved) are currently being assessed by the team.”
“The new crater is large enough that it might have made a visible flash under favorable conditions,” Stopar stated in an email.
She said she expects that people will now be searching for that data.
Follow Greg Redfern on his daily blog to keep up with the latest news in astronomy and space exploration.