Concretedan Posted April 11, 2020 Share Posted April 11, 2020 Hi All, Just a quickie and a daft question possibly. If the moon is full and bright but doesn't rise above the horizon until say 2am does it still make the sky bright before it rises? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Size9Hex Posted April 12, 2020 Share Posted April 12, 2020 Not daft at all. For a visual observer, there are good dark skies after sun down but before the moon rises. When the sun has dropped 18 degrees below the horizon, it’s properly dark. Before that, various shades of dusk, but in mid summer at 1am, I still find it to be usefully dark for DSOs with the sun at only around minus 14 degrees. Double stars and especially planets are worthwhile even in surprisingly blue skies! Similar effect with the moon, but much much much less pronounced. A very full moon will light the sky near the eastern horizon shortly before it rises, but the skies elsewhere are still usefully dark until it rises properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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