Ephemeris: 05/13/2024 – Viewing the Moon tonight

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Monday, May 13th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 46 minutes, setting at 9:02, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:15. The Moon, 2 days before first quarter, will set at 2:44 tomorrow morning.

The crescent Moon tonight has what looks like a chain of three large craters near the terminator, visible in a low power telescope. The terminator is the line between day and night. Before the full moon, it’s the sunrise line. On closer inspection, these craters are of different ages. The north crater Theophilus, 63 miles in diameter and one of my favorite craters with a prominent central peak, looks relatively fresh. It’s not, it’s somewhat older than a billion years. The crater just south or below-left of it is Cyrillus, about the same size, which is almost 4 billion years old. Theophilus slightly overlaps Cyrillus. A bit farther south is Catharina, which again is about the same size and age range as Cyrillus, but seems more broken down than the other.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT–4 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

The Moon two days before first quarter seen tonight at 10 PM, May 13th 2024. The green ellipse highlights the craters Theophilus, Cyrillus and Catharina which should be easily spotted perhaps even in binoculars. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.

The craters Theophilus, Cyrillus and Catharina close up from the Virtual Moon Atlas, rotated to match the image above.