Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Purbach Cross

Click on image to enlarge


I must admit that even though I own property on the Moon I had never heard of the Purbach Cross, (sometimes called Werner X named after a nearby crater) until I read about it on page 45 of the April edition of Astronomy Magazine. I took one look at this strikingly elusive phenomena and said to myself, "I have got to get me one of those." Striking because it stands out from the rest of the Lunar landscape, like it doesn't belong, elusive because it only occurs during the Moon's 1st. quarter phase, (the first half Moon after the new Moon), and then only for a few hours, and on top of that, because the Moon's phases repeat every 29.53 days, you can't view this phenomena every month from the same location, you will be 12 hours early day 29, or 12 hours late day 30.

As I was reading this article I thought hey I've taken literally 100's of lunar images, maybe I've unwittingly, because that's how I usually do things, captured an image of the cross, after going through my collection of Lunar images, no luck. The article gave the exact date and time the cross would be available for viewing, April 12th. 8 pm EDT. So April 12th. comes around and I have clear skies, hopefully it will be our location's turn for the feature to show itself.

So I'm getting excited, go out to my POD, fire up the scope attach my Canon directly to said scope, point it at the Moon, push the shutter button, look at the camera's monitor, there it was,.................people, I had a moment, actually I'm having a moment right now thinking about the moment I had back then.


Click on image to enlarge



The phenomena is created when Sunlight reflects off the higher crater walls of 3 back to back craters, Purbach, Blanchinus and LaCaille. If you would like your own personal X moment a list of the dates in Universal Time for the rest of the year when the Sun will be at the proper angle to create the X are below. You will need binoculars or a telescope to view the phenomena, look at the terminator just south of the Lunar equator.

May 12, 1530 UT; June 11, 0234 UT; July 10, 1255 UT; August 8, 2306 UT;

September 7, 0945 UT; October 6, 2126 UT; November 5, 1029 UT; December 5, 0050 UT.



Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has released new Earthrise and Earthset videos taken by their Lunar satellite Kaguya, and they are nothing short of amazing. Also released are newly created topographic maps of the Moon, created with the data collected by the orbiter, 10 times more accurate then previous maps done of the Lunar surface, they also show locations of valuable minerals such as uranium, thorium and potassium. Below is a YouTube video of the New Earthrise/Earthset released by Jaxa.


37 comments:

Marvin said...

That is VERY cool, Bob! Good going! Someday I may aspire to be an astrophotographer like you. But I guarantee that my darling wife will NOT let me put a dome in the yard. A lighthouse, yes. A dome, no.

Bob Johnson said...

A lighthouse, they are generally way big, more big then a pod,lol, my wife didn't want the POd at first,especially when I told her it would be in the middle of the yard, but when it came and it was up and it looked cool, not as cool as a lighthouse, but still cool, she was okay with it.

Swubird said...

Bob:

Nice capture of the Purbach Cross. You must have been thrilled to death to see that image. I mean, you had to catch it at just the right time, and the lighting had to be perfect. Not too shabby, Bob. Another winner for you.

Happy stargazing.

Anonymous said...

Excellent capture Bob. I knew exactly what you meant by the < ..... >. Well done.
Really, the things you find out when reading this site. Truly excellent. The video of the earth rise is phenomenal. Puts you into a stark realization of how precious Earth is when you see in in the void of space.
Take care my friend.
~JD

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks swubird, it's nice to accomplish what you set out to do, getting this image was doing just that for me. \m/

Bob Johnson said...

.....Thanks JD, the cool thing is I'm learning lots too.

Sherer said...

Bob, you are the man, what can I say that havent already said... You should start charging a membership fee, I would be the first fan

gt281 said...

I believe its traditional for ‘X’ to mark the spot…we had better hurry and dig up that man-in –the moon treasure….

You had better calm down a little Bob…
Or your going to burn out like a comet…
The last time I was as excited as you sound,, Betty-Lou and I were…….lol….

Nature Nut /JJ Loch said...

What a phenomenon, Bob! I love the thought of the Purbach Cross glowing in the night. Jeff is talking about buying a telescope again after seeing your amazing photos. WHAT A MOMENT!!! You are blessed to capture what you do in the skies. It's your playground. God has blessed you.

Hugs, JJ

Lynda Lehmann said...

Wow, I can't believe it was there for you! I call that astro-serendipity! Amazing...

The universe just keeps getting "curiouser and curiouser!"

And now, to watch the video.... :)

Bob Johnson said...

Lol, thanks sherer, your too kind.
\m/\m/\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Lol, gt281, you stopped, who's Betty-Lou and what did yous do?

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks JJ, God certainly has given me a love for this stuff.

Good going, hope you guys decide to get a scope, you will never look back.

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Lynda and cool new word

"astro- serendipity" love it.

Anonymous said...

Amazing that you got it like that, Bob. Good shot. I watched that video and I just kept thinking it must not be real, it was so beautiful. Thanks for posting it!

Mike said...

:casper:
Hello Bob! Very nice stuff. I would love to go to the Moon and look back here. That must be something. I hope NASA goes back there one day. I was not born in the 60s when they landed.

Peter said...

Hi! I thought the "X" marked the spot of your plot but having read more I learnt there was more to this than meets the eye. Thank you for another entertaining educational tour. By the way, does your pod have a tot?

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Will, the newly released videos are really quite remarkable, would love to see them in the original high definition.

\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Hey Mike, it was a different and exciting time back then, will never forget the day I watched them land on the Moon, hopefully we will be heading back again.
;greenalien:
\m/\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Peter, does my POD have a tot? lol, well I don't know, what is a tot? :confused:

Ruth said...

I FEEEEL your excitement, Bob!! That must have been ............... stellar! I totally thought you were going to say it didn't happen. Big happy congratulations on a fun moment. Life is good.

Don said...

That is truly amazing that you read about it and then captured it yourself. I get so spacey when I read your blog!

RW said...

Awesome texture on the moon Bob! I wish I could get me some good equipment!! Well done my friend!!

Max Coutinho said...

Hey Bob,

AMAZING! I confess that I loved seeing the cross (what an amazing phenomenon), I can understand why you were so excited!!

But what I really really loved was seeing the earthrise and earthset: now that was awesome; I even felt the butterflies in my stomach (don't know why)! Can you imagine if we already lived in the moon and we looked at earth rising and setting? I bet we would be nostalgic everytime we would look at it...

Great post, Bob!!!
Have a great weekend! Cheers

kml said...

Way too cool, Bob! I am so glad you were able to view it and capture it so well!!

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Ruth, life is good for sure.

Bob Johnson said...

Lol Don, I was very fortunate and lucky to be able to read about the cross and then go out and actually image it, any number of things could have gone wrong.

Bob Johnson said...

Hey Roger thanks alot, had pretty good seeing for the image.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Max, the Earthrise/set videos are amazing, the Earth looks so small, to think we all live on that tiny blue planet is really something. All the Apollo astronauts looking back at the Earth from the Moon all had a moment of their own,lol.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Kathy, this is one of my all time favs. :greenalien::proud:

PA said...

That's very cool, I love the sort of thing. I was watching I think it was called "around the world in 80 treasures" on the BBC and one of the last places on it was a church. It had a brass point fixed in the ground and corresponded to a hole in a window.

I'm not sure if the beam of light struck that point each day or once a year, but it was pretty cool.

Never heard of the Purbach Cross before and it looks like an amazing natural phenomena.

Bob Johnson said...

Hey Rand thanks, it is a neat thing, just found out about it myself, all kinds of things in this and out of this world that we just don't know about yet.

Livingsword said...

Hi Bob;

Sorry I’m so late, its been difficult just keeping up over at my two places if late….

Isn’t Purbach Cross one of the Tube stations in London, where you go for a Guinness?

Interesting what a small cross section of time for you to get this image….

“Unwittingly” you wit you…. LOL

X marks the spot…..!!

What an amazing image, what an amazing natural phenomenon, one may be tempted as a good CSI (Creation Scene Investigator) to think there are some “finger prints” on that one….

It seems strange to see the Earth “rise”, a lot of interesting stuff surgically put together Bob, very nice!

Bob Johnson said...

Hey livingsword, always good to hear from you!

No that is Purbach Crossing, lol.

Only you would have the wit to see that as Gods fingerprint so to speak left behind purposely,lol, hey he let me take a pic of it, too cool.

The Earthrise has God written all over it, no wonder it has changed the lifes of the Astronauts who have seen it live.

Peter said...

Hi! What is a tot? Here in Australia that would be a dunny aka toilet. Sorry to be so blunt!

Take Care,
Peter

Anonymous said...

Wow, I love your blog!!!

Anonymous said...

top [url=http://www.c-online-casino.co.uk/]www.c-online-casino.co.uk[/url] hinder the latest [url=http://www.casinolasvegass.com/]casino bonus[/url] manumitted no deposit bonus at the leading [url=http://www.baywatchcasino.com/]free casino
[/url].