Observations of the Sun, the Moon, and Planets 2024

Observation Overview | Special Events | References

It was not until 2018 that I began to observe the moon a little more in detail and to document my "more important" observations. On this page, I collect, somewhat unsystematically, my observations of the moon, the sun, and the planets from 2024, which might be of interest to other beginners and are therefore described here.

Note: Older observations are listed on the "Astronomy" overview page. The same applies to deep sky observations ("incidental" DSO observations are mentioned here).

Observation Overview

Date 2024	Objects Observed	Location	Devices Used	Eyepieces, Cameras, and More Used	Remarks	Further Remarks
Jan 18	Jupiter, Moon	MH		Sony RX10 M4	Took photos of Jupiter and the Moon	Half Moon
Mar 22	Mercury	MH			Astrid found Mercury in the West low at the horizon	after 7 p.m.?
Mar 25	Mercury	MH	SM-127 on AZ Pronto	32 mm, 16 mm	Looked not quite round (was half)	after 7:30 p.m.?
Mar 28	Mercury	MH			Gerd found Mercury, lower this time...	after 7:30 p.m.
Apr 10	12P/Pons-Brooks, Jupiter, Crescent of the Moon (M 42/3, M 44, M 45)	MH	SM-127 on AZ Pronto, TS, LT binoculars	32 mm	Gerd found the comet in his SM-127; not visible in our binos; Astrid found comet thereafter also in our binos. Jupiter with two stripes and 4 moons; visually observed M 42/43 (also in the SM-127 -> Trapezium), M 45, and M 44 with the binoculars	after 8:30/9:15 p.m.; two days after New Moon
Apr 11	Jupiter, Crescent of the Moon	MH	C5 on AZ Pronto, TS, LT binoculars	24mm, 16 mm, f/6.3 reducer/corrector	Comet not found; observed Jupiter (4 moons, 2 side-by-side) and Crescent of the Moon in the C5	after 8:30 p.m.; three days after New Moon
May 9	Sun	MH	Vespera Pro	Solar filter	Took photos of the Sun (sun spots)	Compared my sun spots with a photo from the Internet (The Live Sky)
Aug 10	Sun	MH	Vespera Pro	Solar filter	Took photos of the Sun (sun spots)	Compared my sun spots with a photo from Scott Bass (Facebook)
Oct 17	Moon	Erk	Sony RX10 M4	Sony RX10 M4	Supermoon, fills nearly 900 pixels, that is, it is large	Poor image quality, clouds, ...

All observations done in Mühlhausen/Kraichgau (MH), except for where noted otherwise; SM/F = Sumène/France, Erk = Erkerode/Germany.

Special Events

January 18, 2024: Jupiter close to the Half Moon

Photo of the Half Moon with Jupiter; according to SkySafari they are a little more than 2° distant from each other (full size)

May 9, 2024: Sun with Sun Spots (Vespera Pro)


Sun covered by tree...	Sun with sun spots, section	Comparison photo from the Internet (The Sky Live)

Sun with sun spots, section, second series	Ditto	Ditto

August 10, 2024: Sun with Sun Spots (Vespera Pro)


Sun spots, photo from series 1 (section)		Sun spots, photo from series 2 (section)

Sun spots, same photo from series 2, slightly sharpened		Sun spots, same photo from series 2, sharpened more strongly

Comparison photo from the Internet (The Sky Live)

October 17, 2024: Supermoon (Sony RX10 M4)


Supermoon		Supermoon, underexposed, cloud stripes...

Poor image quality...

References

Books (in German)

Lambert Spix (2013, 3. Auflage). moonscout - Mondmeere, Krater und Gebirge einfach finden und beobachten. Oculum-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938469-58-3
Lambert Spix & Frank Gasparini (2011, 1. Auflage). Der Moonhopper. Oculum-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938469-54-5
Ronald Stoyan, Hans-Georg Purucker (2013, 1. Auflage). Reiseatlas Mond. Oculum-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938469-64-4
Robin Scagell (2016). 101 Himmelsobjekte, die man gesehen haben muss. Kosmos Verlag (out of print).