Skip to content
Vatican Observatory
  • About
    • Overview
    • Team
  • Telescopes
    • Overview
    • Telescope Images
  • Latest
    • Overview
    • Resources
    • Press
    • Audio
    • Video
    • Research
    • Authors
    • Newsletter
    • Tucson Meteor Cameras
  • Podcast
  • Education
    • Overview
    • Resource Center
    • Image Gallery
    • Summer School
    • Books
    • FAQs
    • 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
    • FAQs
  • About
    • Overview
    • Team
  • Telescopes
    • Overview
    • Telescope Images
  • Latest
    • Overview
    • Resources
    • Press
    • Audio
    • Video
    • Research
    • Authors
    • Newsletter
    • Tucson Meteor Cameras
  • Podcast
  • Education
    • Overview
    • Resource Center
    • Image Gallery
    • Summer School
    • Books
    • FAQs
    • 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
    • FAQs

Go Observe – The Terminator

By Deirdre Kelleghan  |  4 May 2018

Share:
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share via Email
Waxing crescent moon with a well-defined terminator and a little Earthshine. Pastel sketch February 11th, 2008 200mm dob. Deirdre Kelleghan Waxing crescent moon with a well-defined terminator and a little Earthshine. Pastel sketch February 11th, 2008 200mm dob, 4.83 days. Deirdre Kelleghan

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

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 its 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 sketch 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.

Recently I came across the  moon drawing above in one of my portfolios . The sketch includes a very well-defined terminator and a touch of earthshine.   The drawing  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 information was available and my memory yielded very little. 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 drawing. Note to self and others, always write the sketch details on the work.

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, identity of features 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

Virtual Moon Atlas 

Google Moon

Inconstant Moon

 

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

Agnes Mary Clerke, M31 and Thomas Aquinas

By Mr. Christopher Graney  |  25 Jun 2022  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

A Tiny Particle of the Creator

By Br. Guy Consolmagno  |  25 Jun 2022

2023 Vatican Observatory Summer School

By Robert Trembley  |  22 Jun 2022  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

In the Sky this Week – June 21, 2022

By Robert Trembley  |  21 Jun 2022  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Archives

      • 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

James Webb Space Telescope Inspiration

By Deirdre Kelleghan  |  17 May 2022  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Draiocht ar on Ghrian – Magic on the Sun

By Deirdre Kelleghan  |  30 Mar 2022  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Copper Inspiration

By Deirdre Kelleghan  |  19 Mar 2022  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

M44 – Beehive Earth Conjunction

By Deirdre Kelleghan  |  12 Jan 2022  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Drawing C/2021 A1 (Leonard)

By Deirdre Kelleghan, Robert Trembley  |  8 Dec 2021  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Science Festival Drawing – Hydroponics

By Deirdre Kelleghan  |  21 Nov 2021  |  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