Watching the Sky
When the Moon and Sun rise and set, and how to watch the sky and keep a log of what you see.
- When the Moon RisesThe Moon rises about 50 minutes later each day, so over one cycle of phases moonrise slides around the whole clock.
- When the Moon SetsA Moon sets roughly half a day after it rises, and each day it sets about 50 minutes later.
- The Moon in DaytimeThe Moon spends nearly as many hours above the horizon in daylight as at night.
- EarthshineOn a crescent Moon the unlit part can glow faintly.
- TwilightTwilight is the glow before sunrise and after sunset.
- Sunrise and SunsetAlmanacs define sunrise and sunset by the upper edge of the Sun, not its center.
- Moonlight and Dark SkiesMoonlight and city lights both wash out faint stars.
- The Moon with BinocularsBinoculars give the Moon craters and ridges.
- Keeping a Sky LogNASA and JPL journals ask for little: the date, the time and a drawing, kept for a month.