Any Moon Gazers awake?

[jongaltsr]

Anyone monitoring the moon? I have notice a brilliant spot on the moon I have NEVER seen before. It is at the (currently) 9 o'clock position. Half hour ago it was at the 8 o'clock position. Prior to that it was at the 8 o'clock position but further toward the center. It is obviously much brighter than any other surface reflection I have ever seen on the moon.

[21twelve]

Spent many nights a short walk from the drill rig in the Great Red Desert looking at the stars.

If I stepped outside tonight to gaze at the moon I would likely drown - 0.94 inches of rain and still pouring down with 20 minutes left to go for the day. (Seattle area).

I love the high deserts - luckily my work takes me out to them in Eastern Washington often!

[jongaltsr]

I sit out every night (most nights anyway) and relay and watch the stars, shooting stars, satellites and the moon.

Tonight though I notice one spot which was more intense then I had seen before.

I no longer have my tracking reflective telescope but I did see something about 8 years ago that has shown up on YouTube and other sites. Same place and same pattern of travel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg8unzXUItk

[Born to Conserve]

It’s raining.

I can only guess at what you might be seeing. The Moon is bigger than usual because it is near perigee. That would make things more interesting. It is also near full, making it brighter for two reasons, one, more of the surface is illuminated by the Sun, and two, the dust on the Moon acts like the pigment in road signs, and reflects light directly back at the source, which is the Sun, which is behind you when you look at the full Moon. Also, as you observe the Moon over the course of an evening, it will seem to rotate if you are relating it to the horizon. The Moon is otherwise a pretty static thing, no dust storms or gasses to look at.

Have fun.

[this_ol_patriot]

Over here at the Plumbers Institute we take our moons seriously.
Please report any unusual moons to our front office.

[jongaltsr]

Pull up your pants and stop mooning the moon.

[CHEE]

Old Devil Moon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS5jXMHXU84

[hoosierham]

Didn’t notice anything unusual here and spent a couple hours trying different eyepieces and filters;the Full Moon is an excellent testing opportunity since it is big,bright,and easy to find in the scopes even when out of adjustment(the scope ,not the Moon)!

[jongaltsr]

Regardless...... That spot is still there and it is still the brightest thing I have seen on the moon ever.

Maybe it is a crater that just catching the suns reflection a bit brighter than normal.

Whatever - It is a great night out here under clear sky’s in Arizona.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Just Project Horizon. Go back to sleep. http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/luna/luna_projecthorizon01.htm

1959 - Twelve Men On The Moon
http://blog.nss.org/?p=1933

NASA moon bombing violates space law & may cause conflict with lunar ET/UFO civilizations
http://www.examiner.com/article/nasa-moon-bombing-violates-space-law-may-cause-conflict-with-lunar-et-ufo-civilizations

[colinhester]

Thanks.....Just went out and shot a series of pics and merged in hdr software. Pretty moon but nothing out of the ordinary showed up. Maybe tomorrow night!!!!

[Doogle]

"*pant pant*....looks full to me...*pant pant*....you hear that?...*pant pant*...I gotta go....*pant pant*"

[FlyVet]

Southern AZ here. Had to go check. Clear night, no clouds. It doesn't look bigger than normal, but the brightness and contrast do look a lot higher than normal. I think the "supermoon" was forecast for the last full moon, but in the past, I didn't notice that "supermoon" was anything special here. They said it would look bigger than normal at moonrise, but we have a lot of spectacular moonrises here.

They're saying another supermoon tomorrow night. Since it's so bright tonight, that might be worth checking out.

"Supermoon to arise over Arizona Saturday"

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/science_tech/supermoon-to-rise-over-arizona-saturday

[ETL]

Also here from NASA:

Perigee “Super Moon” On May 5-6

May 2, 2012: The full Moon has a reputation for trouble. It raises high tides, it makes dogs howl, it wakes you up in the middle of the night with beams of moonlight stealing through drapes. If a moonbeam wakes you up on the night of May 5th, 2012, you might want to get out of bed and take a look. This May’s full Moon is a “super Moon,” as much as 14% bigger and 30% brighter than other full Moons of 2012.

The scientific term for the phenomenon is “perigee moon.” Full Moons vary in size because of the oval shape of the Moon’s orbit. The Moon follows an elliptical path around Earth with one side (”perigee”) about 50,000 km closer than the other (”apogee”). Full Moons that occur on the perigee side of the Moon’s orbit seem extra big and bright.

Such is the case on May 5th at 11:34 pm Eastern Daylight Time1 when the Moon reaches perigee. Only one minute later, the Moon will line up with Earth and the sun to become brilliantly full. The timing is almost perfect.

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/02may_supermoon/

[WhiskeyX]

It’s raining and overcast here, so cannot observe.

Someday a meteor-asteroid will collide with the Moon when an astronomer is observing the Moon. Is there anything you are observing to indicate there might have been such a strike and the bright light represents light from the melted rock and/or hot gaseous cloud of vaporized rock?

Comet Shormaker-Levy was large enough to have vaporized a major portion of the Earth’s surface, but struck Jupiter instead while under astronomical observation.

[Brad’s Gramma]

You piqued my interest! I went outside and saw that beautiful moon.

It’s the 1st night this week it’s been clear...and it’s CLEAR!

Anyway, I can’t see anything like you’re seeing...sorry.

I *did*, however, see this weird looking COW ... jumping over it...

(sorry, I couldn’t resist)

:)

[fish hawk]

checked it out 10;20 Hawaii time. looks normal but it is not full. Didn’t see anything different from any other night. right now it is almost straight up but a little to the south of Maui. Aloha ET haven’t talked in quite awhile.

[onbe]

We are about to move into a perigee moon making it look bigger and brighter. May 5-6th. Maybe that is it.

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/02may_supermoon/

[zeestephen]

Re: Brilliant Spot On The Moon

It's a giant Richard Branson ice cube.

[Safetgiver]

I think the “supermoon” was forecast for the last full moon...Tomorrow at 2335.

[Prospero]

That's Byrgius at local sunrise.

LROC QuickMap

This Moon watcher is always awake.

(Happy 40th Anniversary, Apollo 16!)