Software to observe the phases of the Moon in 2016 – Sputnik France

International

12/13/2015 4:21 p.m. (updated 12/13/2015 4:32 p.m.) Short URL

Information and video are provided on the website of the US space agency. The video can see libration caused particularly by the rotation of the Moon around the Earth on its elliptical orbit. These movements of the satellite of our planet prevent us from seeing more than 60% of the lunar surface.

The program developed by NASA allows to observe the satellite of the Earth as seen from a position located in the southern hemisphere every month, day and time of next year. Simply fill in the respective spaces on the site.

Thanks to this innovative software, it is possible to practically observe in real time the visible part of the moon and calculate the distance separating Earth. Received images are available for download in high precision release directly from the agency’s website.

This program has been created using data gathered by the lunar satellite LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter), which is in the orbit of the Moon since summer 2009.