The four week plan for the astronomy page

 

1.Let’s start with the moon.

2.The lineup—planets

3.What’s up? The constellations

4.Charles Messier

The Moon

Are you looking for an alien planet? There’s one hanging outside over your head. The Romans called it Luna and swore the orb with its various phases affected people in an evil way. People so affected were called Lunatics.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Luna most often refers to:

• The Latin name for the Moon, Earth's only natural satellite
• Luna, the Roman incarnation of Selene, a goddess and the personified Moon in Greek mythology
• Luna (name), a given name and surname (includes a list of people and characters with the name Luna)

The Moon ideal to observe. Since it revolves and rotates at the same rate, only one side faces us. Seeing the backside of the Moon is possible through space travel, but for the backyard astronomer, only one face of the Moon is familiar. Call it the Man in the Moon, the great Maria (seas) created it. To get the names of these dry oceans you'll need a map of the moon. Good maps name not only the Maria, but also the individual craters, mountain chains, canyons and valleys. Much  like Earth's, they have been given earthy names. Mountains called Montes Apenninus cross the Mare Imbrium at whose edge rests the 58 km crater named Eratosthenes. The crater Plato nestled in the Alpes at the top edge of the Moon is a favorite because it is dark and large enough to see without binoculars. Yet binoculars will show details you won’t want to miss.

http://www.lunarrepublic.com/atlas/

You will find Plato in Sector A-2 of this map; the cleft of the “alpine valley” is also visible.

Want to walk on the moon? Go to http://www.google.com/moon/

This google map will get you hiking around places the astronauts visited. But don't get stuck at your computer. Go out and really look.

With or without binoculars, the best place to start your first observing experience is the moon. It’s big, it’s bright, and it has many nooks and crannies to visit. Take note—the full moon can disappoint if you want to see details, like how deep a crater is, or how rugged the mountain ranges are. For that, you must look along the terminator.

OK, so what’s a terminator? No, we aren’t talking about Arnold Schwarzenegger. The terminator is the shadow line between dark and light. As the earth’s shadow moves across the moon you can see each crater in stark relief from night to night, and even watch them fill up with the shadow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRZUCUkz8H0

PS don't forget sunglasses. That moon will fry your eyes if you are looking through a telescope.