Monday 25th September to Sunday 1st October 2023
The evening of Monday 25th is an ideal time to spot the impact crater on the lunar surface known as Vitello. If you venture outside around 10pm, a Gibbous Moon will be located to the south, with Saturn a little above it and to the left.
Imagine the face of the Moon as a clock, Vitello will be located towards 7 o'clock, on the southern shore of Mare Humorum.
The crater has a diameter of 41Km and is around 4 billion years old. A telescope will reveal that it has a mountain complex in the centre and a very well-defined outer edge or rim. The craters neighbouring it are not so clear because they filled with lava, but Vitello has an elevated position, so its rim and floor were left intact and not destroyed by the ancient lava flow.
After all the excitement of that Blue Supermoon at the end of August, Friday 29th September sees the next Full Moon. I mentioned the autumn equinox last week and this Full Moon is known as the 2023 "Harvest Moon" because it is the closest one to that September equinox.
There are several opportunities to spot the International Space Station in the early evening next week, the best chances being Monday 25th at 7.49pm and Wednesday 27th at 7.50pm. In both cases, the ISS will appear towards the west and spend about six minutes passing almost directly overhead before disappearing to the east.
Vitello location map courtesy of IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature
Vitello image courtesy of Bruce Rohrlach
Screenshots courtesy of Stellarium
Copyright Adrian Dening and Radio Ninesprings 2023
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