Dec 4 - Moon Lander Found

December 4 Moon Lander Found by:

This image from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter shows the Vikram lander impact point on the moon. Green dots indicate debris (confirmed or likely) from the lander's crash. Blue dots show disturbed soil, likely where small bits of the spacecraft churned up the regolith. "S" indicates debris identified by citizen scientist Shanmuga Subramanian of Chennai, India. He was the first to find Vikram's crash landing site on the moon. Read more. Image via NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University.

Chennai engineer helped find India's Vikram lander Here's a great twist to the heartbreaking story of the loss of India's Vikram moon lander, which had been scheduled to soft-land on September 6 (September 7 in the U.S.). Only minutes before touchdown, communications with the lander were lost, and the lander was not heard from again. It remained lost - crashed somewhere on the moon's surface - until being found again by a Chennai-based engineer and citizen scientist, Shanmuga Subramanian. He helped guide others to the spot where the lander had crashed, enabling NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to acquire images. See before-and-after images and read more.  All you need to know: Geminid meteor shower in 2019 We just can't catch a break. The Geminid meteor shower will peak around the mornings of December 13 and 14, under the light of a bright waning gibbous moon. Read more. Active 2019 Atlantic hurricane season comes to an end The 2019 Atlantic hurricane season, which ended on November 30, produced 18 named storms, including 6 hurricanes, 3 of which were major (Category 3, 4 or 5). Read more and watch a video.

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Last night's far 1st quarter moon  View at EarthSky Community Photos. | This month's 1st quarter moon comes today at 6:58 UTC. From the Americas, the terminator line - or line between light and dark on the moon - appeared just the slightest bit concave last night. It'll appear very slightly convex tonight. This 1st quarter moon aligns more closely with lunar apogee - the moon's farthest point from Earth in its monthly orbit - than any other in 2019. Thus it's 2019's farthest 1st quarter moon. Read more. This photo - from last night - comes from John Washco in Springfield, Pennsylvania. Thank you, John!

Sunrise at the moon's Bhabha crater View larger. | Sunrise at Bhabha crater on the moon. Sunlight hasn't yet reached the crater floor after the moon's 2-week night. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this image on August 28. Bhabha, on the far side of the moon, is about 50 miles (80 km) wide. Image via NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University/LROC. Read more.  Submit your photo to EarthSky here! Did a friend forward EarthSkyNews to you? Click here to get your own subscription!

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