I saw the Lunar X! My first time catching it, and it was an incidental finding. The moon is just shy of First Quarter this afternoon, and distinct against a bright blue sky. I was scrolling down the terminator, and suddenly exclaimed, Thats the X! I ran indoors and checked the timing of its visibility, and sure enough, it was in the window of its visibility. I told the neighbors cat of my observation, but he seemed less impressed than I. What is the Lunar X? According to the website eyesonthesky, The Lunar X is a transient optical feature of the Moon that occurs for about 4 hours near First Quarter phase of the Moon. Because the Earth is not always in the same place when the Moon is in this ideal sunlight location, not everywhere on Earth will always see the Lunar X phenomenon every month. However, it occurs frequently enough for most areas that it can be seen, on average, every few months. And its a bright enough feature that it can even be seen in daylight - if you know when and where to look. Additionally, Visible due to sunlight striking the tops of three craters – Purbach, LaCaille and Blanchinus – the “X” occurs when the sun is rising and striking the very top of each of them.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 22:53:03 +0000
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