06/11/2019 – Ephemeris – The crater Copernicus on the Moon

Ephemeris for Tuesday, June 11th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 31 minutes, setting at 9:28, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:56. The Moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 3:26 tomorrow morning.

Tonight, visible on the waxing gibbous Moon in binoculars or a small telescope the terminator, the sunrise line crosses the prominent crater Copernicus. This crater is nearly half way from the top to the bottom of the Moon. It is 56 miles (93 km) in diameter and 2 miles (3.5 k m) deep. The low Sun angle accentuates the depth of the crater. As large craters goes, Copernicus is rather new, being somewhat younger than 1.1 billion years old, a quarter of the Moon’s age. A dramatic image taken by the Lunar Orbiter spacecraft in 1966, in preparation for the Apollo lunar landings of an oblique view of the crater peeking over a crater wall was, at that time, dubbed the Picture of the Century”.

The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

The Moon tonight, June 11, 2019 showing the crater Copernicus. Created using Virtual Moon Atlas.

Closeup of Copernicus with the small double crater Fauth south of it. Created using Virtual Moon Atlas.

Picture of the Century taken by the lunar Orbiter 2. Copernicus in an oblique photo from the south. Not the double crater Fauth at the bottom of the Image. Credit: NASA/Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project (LOIRP).