Spot moving on the moons surface
After many nights of using a fairly high power lense on my reflection telescope I focused on the moons surface. After learning to track the moon as it moved rapidly across my field I started focusing on the surface. I used the craters as the reference as where to focus. After looking at the area on the periphery of the lighted portion of the moon (I used this because it seemed easier to actually see terrain distinctly and in focus).
Almost immediately I noticed an object traveling North by North East (upper right direction as my vision would orientate. It traveled in a precisely straight line for close to one minute. During this time I tried to determine if this was a just a surface phenomenon or something on my lens. I quickly determined that it had to be on the surface as it did not appear until I had complete focus on the surface craters and features.
After I had established that fact, and continued following the object it stopped for a few seconds (I mention this only because it was a distinct period however short). It then turned left (almost) 90 degrees to the left and traveled for another 5-10 seconds before stopping. It remained at that position for well over a minute or so. I followed it until the moon disappeared behind the trees and the house I lived in - Mountains of Colorado.
I tried again in the back of the house (to bypass the blockage that the house and trees had presented) but was unable to establish exactly what or where the spot was.
My observation was that the shadow did not elongate as a shadow would if it were to rise and fall on the landscape (because it was on the rising or setting light source). It remained in clear focus during the entire time and also remained as a spot and did not become an elongated feature or blurred image.
After many nights of using a fairly high power lense on my reflection telescope I focused on the moons surface. After learning to track the moon as it moved rapidly across my field I started focusing on the surface. I used the craters as the reference as where to focus. After looking at the area on the periphery of the lighted portion of the moon (I used this because it seemed easier to actually see terrain distinctly and in focus).
Almost immediately I noticed an object traveling North by North East (upper right direction as my vision would orientate. It traveled in a precisely straight line for close to one minute. During this time I tried to determine if this was a just a surface phenomenon or something on my lens. I quickly determined that it had to be on the surface as it did not appear until I had complete focus on the surface craters and features.
After I had established that fact, and continued following the object it stopped for a few seconds (I mention this only because it was a distinct period however short). It then turned left (almost) 90 degrees to the left and traveled for another 5-10 seconds before stopping. It remained at that position for well over a minute or so. I followed it until the moon disappeared behind the trees and the house I lived in - Mountains of Colorado.
I tried again in the back of the house (to bypass the blockage that the house and trees had presented) but was unable to establish exactly what or where the spot was.
My observation was that the shadow did not elongate as a shadow would if it were to rise and fall on the landscape (because it was on the rising or setting light source). It remained in clear focus during the entire time and also remained as a spot and did not become an elongated feature or blurred image.
No
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No
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No
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No
Off
No
Yes
No
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No
No
No
Golden
USA
2 min
2 min
39.76
-105.22
oval
CO
Occurred : 7/15/1997 (Entered as : 7/15/1997 10PM) Reported: 6/4/2009 10:17:22 PM 22:17 Posted: 6/9/2009 Location: Golden, CO Shape: Oval Duration: 2 min Characteristics: The object landed
Spot moving on the moons surface