11/29/2022 – Ephemeris – Observing the Moon tonight

This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, November 29th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 6 minutes, setting at 5:04, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:58. The Moon, 1 day before first quarter, will set at 11:28 this evening.

The illuminated part of tonight’s Moon will be a fat crescent shape, 12 hours, give or take from first quarter. Besides the lunar seas visible there are some large craters on its terminator, or sunrise line On the upper right are two distinctive craters near each other. The larger is Aristoteles named after the Greek philosopher Aristotle which is 53 miles wide. The smaller is Eudoxus, named after an older Greek philosopher, 41 miles in diameter. Both of these should be visible in small telescopes or even binoculars. They stand out because there are only a few small craters around them in pretty much flat terrain. Meanwhile Artemis 1’s Orion capsule is continuing to make a large lazy loop around the Moon before heading back to the Earth in 12 days.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT –5 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Annotated Moon animation as it might appear tonight at 8 pm, November 29, 2022. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.

Earthset from Artemis I’s Orion spacecraft, as it moves around to the far side of the Moon. Click on the image to enlarge it. Credit: NASA