Skip to content
Vatican Observatory
  • About
    • Overview
    • Team
    • FAQ
  • Telescopes
    • Overview
    • Telescope Images
  • Latest
    • Overview
    • Resources
    • Press
    • Audio
    • Video
    • Research
    • Authors
      • FAQs
    • Newsletter
    • Tucson Meteor Cameras
  • Podcast
  • Education
    • Overview
    • Resource Center
    • Image Gallery
    • Summer School
    • Books
    • Software
    • Additional Resources
    • ACME
    • Ambassadors
  • Shop
  • Calendar
  • Support
    • Overview
    • Donate Now
    • Sacred Space Astronomy
      • View Content
    • Fr. Coyne Fundraiser
    • Bequests / Trusts
    • The Foundation
      • Newsletters
      • Annual Reports
  • Press
  • Specola Vaticana
  • Contact
    • Contact
  • About
    • Overview
    • Team
    • FAQ
  • Telescopes
    • Overview
    • Telescope Images
  • Latest
    • Overview
    • Resources
    • Press
    • Audio
    • Video
    • Research
    • Authors
      • FAQs
    • Newsletter
    • Tucson Meteor Cameras
  • Podcast
  • Education
    • Overview
    • Resource Center
    • Image Gallery
    • Summer School
    • Books
    • Software
    • Additional Resources
    • ACME
    • Ambassadors
  • Shop
  • Calendar
  • Support
    • Overview
    • Donate Now
    • Sacred Space Astronomy
      • View Content
    • Fr. Coyne Fundraiser
    • Bequests / Trusts
    • The Foundation
      • Newsletters
      • Annual Reports
  • Press
  • Specola Vaticana
  • Contact
    • Contact

Go Observe The Terminator

By Deirdre Kelleghan  |  14 Apr 2021  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Share:
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share via Email

When  “The Terminator” is mentioned, it may conjure up ominous dark tones lurking within its meaning. A science-fiction term where a cybernetic organism can ask for ‘your clothes, your boots, and your motorcycle’ then ride off to alter humanity’s course. Or the visually rich line that demarks daytime from night-time on the moon. 

Drawing the Terminator

The terminator is far from a straight line. It is ragged and uniquely fluid. Sunlight illuminates unevenly as it fills craters. Shadows form and transform during their progression across the lunar topography. Craters that penetrate the terminator and show their rims as glints of light in the blackness bring a tactile quality to a sketch. Lunar sketching in the area of the terminator often brings up a dilemma. When a drawing takes several hours, sometimes the terminator vista alters to offer a new and brightly lit feature. This crater or mountain only revealed as you finish. Do you put it in or not? In general, if it adds to the sketch, yes. If it is a mediocre addition, no.

Write your data on the drawing

Recently I came across the moon drawing below in one of my portfolios. The sketch includes a very well-defined terminator and a touch of earthshine. The picture was devoid of information. No day, date or time was written on the sheet. A bit of a hunt provided the basics, but not all data was available. Sometimes I might publish a sketch in a forum or group. All the information relating to the drawing can be online but not necessarily on the actual illustration. Note to self and others, always write the sketch details on the work.

Rich views

Along the terminator, visual richness pulsates with abundance. Take a terminator tour with your telescope; it doesn’t matter if it’s a small or large instrument. It doesn’t matter if you do not know the features that you are seeing. Just enjoy the moon for itself; the identity of elements can come later. Contrast is sublime; blacks are pure, whites are sharp and exciting. 

Watch sunlight gain lunar ground on a waxing moon. Feast your eyes as mountains reveal themselves in complex craters. Shadows will alter before your eyes, giving or taking away from the appearance of craters.

Sometimes even a 98% moon terminator can bring joy and results. A previous blog about drawing along the terminator tells that story from Dunsink Observatory Dublin.  Eddington crater on the moon

Lunar Software

NASA’s Moon Phase and Libration, 2021 Site

Virtual Moon Atlas 

Google Moon

Inconstant Moon

This article was first published in May 2018. Slightly updated here.

This is a drawing of the waxing crescent moon on Feb 11th 2008. It features the terminator in great detail. Pastel on paper, using a dob telescope
Waxing crescent moon with a well-defined terminator and a little Earthshine. Pastel sketch February 11th, 2008 200mm dob, 4.83 days.

Share:
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share via Email

Sacred Space Astronomy

The Vatican Observatory’s official digital community and online magazine.

Become a Member

Recent Posts

ⓜ Full Moon-th Meetup: 5 February, 2023

By Robert Trembley  |  30 Jan 2023  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Astronomy in Art & Architecture: A “Laudato Si” Mural on the Highway to Climate (and Light Pollution) Hell

By Mr. Christopher Graney  |  28 Jan 2023

The Astronomer Who Questioned Everything: The Story of Maria Mitchell

By Faith and Science  |  24 Jan 2023  |  Resources

Matteo Ricci and Astronomy

By Mr. Christopher Graney  |  21 Jan 2023

Archives

      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • August
      • June
      • March
      • January
      • November
      • October
      • December
      • November
      • April
      • May
      • January
      • December
      • September
      • May
      • March
      • December
      • November
      • February

More Posts by
Deirdre Kelleghan

The Lunar Occultation of Mars 2022

By Deirdre Kelleghan  |  8 Dec 2022  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Let’s Draw our Moon

By Deirdre Kelleghan  |  6 Dec 2022  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Deadly Moons aka Смертоносні Місяці

By Deirdre Kelleghan  |  22 Nov 2022  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Europa

By Deirdre Kelleghan  |  25 Oct 2022  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Wizard Prominence

By Deirdre Kelleghan  |  7 Sep 2022  |  Education

Einstein drawing

By Deirdre Kelleghan  |  7 Aug 2022  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

View More

Newsletter

Upcoming astronomical events, scientific breakthroughs, philosophical reflections… just a few reasons to subscribe to our newsletter!

  • *
Vatican Observatory
  • About
  • Telescopes
  • Latest
  • Podcast
  • Education
  • Shop
  • Calendar
  • Support
  • Press
  • Specola Vaticana
  • Contact
Privacy Policy  |   Cookie Policy  |   Disclosure Statement

Podcast:

  • Apple Podcasts Listen onApple Podcasts
  • Spotify Listen onSpotify
  • Google Podcasts Listen onGoogle Podcasts
  • Stitcher Listen onStitcher
  • Amazon Alexa Listen onAmazon Alexa
  • TuneIn Listen onTuneIn
Made by Longbeard