The moon will star in a pair of live webcasts tonight as NASA and lunar enthusiasts around the world celebrate International Observe the Moon 2021 and you can watch it all for free.
NASA is hosting an hour-long event starting at 7:30 p.m. EDT (2330 GMT) on NASA Television and several social media channels in partnership with Slooh.com. You can watch them on this page at start time for dazzling views of the moon. You can check out our guide on how to photograph the moon with a camera if you’re hoping to observe it yourself.
“Our live hosts will guide you on a scientific and cultural expedition to the moon,” NASA said in a statement. “See greetings from people around the world, hear an ancient Incan story about the moon [and] enjoy a close-up view of the lunar surface as seen through Slooh’s telescopes in Chile and the Canary Islands.” Slooh is an online remote telescope service that allows users to control its robotic telescopes around the world.Â
The moon is currently in its waxing gibbous phase ahead of the full moon, which will occur on Oct. 20.
Photos: The moon: 10 surprising lunar facts
NASA moon livestream
NASA’s International Observe the Moon 2021 broadcast with Slooh will include flyovers of lunar features, a preview of NASA’s Artemis program that hopes to put astronauts on the moon later in the 2020s.Â
It will also feature a discussion of the VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) lunar mission expected to touch down in 2023 to search for signs of water.
Virtual Telescope Project livestream
The Virtual Telescope Project will also host a broadcast showcasing the moon above the skyline of Rome. The broadcast will start at 1:30 p.m. EDT (1730 GMT) at the project’s WebTV page, or in the YouTube stream above.
“We will enjoy the moon hanging above the celebrated monuments of the ‘Eternal City,'” the Virtual Telescope Project said in a statement. The webcast will include live commentary by astrophysicist Gianluca Masi, founder of the Virtual Telescope Project.
There are other ways to celebrate the moon this weekend, which we rounded up in this International Observe the Moon Night 2021 guide. NASA has several free activities and crafts, as well as guides and maps to help you learn about the moon, its surface and its science.Â
Space.com has an astrophotography for beginners guide if you want to capture some pictures of our lunar neighbor. You can also track the phases of the moon every month to watch how moon phases change over time.
Coincidentally, this year’s Observe the Moon Night will fall on the same day as NASA’s launch of the Lucy mission to Jupiter, which will study smaller space rocks called asteroids, including asteroids trapped in the planet’s orbit, called Trojans.Â
International Observe the Moon Night is co-sponsored by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission and the Solar System Exploration Division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. It also has support from several other NASA partners.
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