A month with THE MOON
What’s the first thing you look for in the sky each night? Most of us head straight for the Moon, and with good reason, as many of us got started in astronomy by watching our nearest neighbour. It’s an easy target and even beginners can get joy from observing the Moon and learning its phases. All these years later, I still feel that same excitement I felt when I was a child, as I watched its shape change from one night to the next.
While the Moon is certainly wonderful on its own, it can also be our guide to the night sky: a jumping-off point to places all around the Galaxy. Try and make a habit of keeping an eye on it and you’ll get a feel for its cycle. From night to night you’ll see it move about 13° eastward relative to the much more distant background stars. That’s a little more than the width of your fist at arm’s length. Watch closely and you might even be able to see the Moon creep along, slowly and silently, over a single night. As it goes, it meets up with new stars,
