X marks the spot, and in this case, the spot is the moon.
This isn’t an ill-conceived SpaceX advert or anything manmade, instead, it’s a natural illusion formed when the shadows of four lunar craters meet.
This special event is caused by the ‘clair-obscur’ effect and will be delighting stargazers across the UK and US tonight, Thursday, March 6.
Will you be looking out for this strange and glowing phenomenon on the moon?
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The cross on the moon
If you were to look at the moon at around 11pm Greenwich Mean Time – about 6pm Eastern Standard time – the highly anticipated lunar X should start to become slowly more visible.
It’ll take around 2.3 hours to form before shining brightly for an hour, then beginning to fade.
This space phenomenon is nothing more than smoke and mirrors, but like every great magician’s trick, it should be just as magical.
It’s actually caused by the ‘clair-obscur‘ effect.
Which is another name for the trick of the light thrown by the shadows of four lunar craters meeting.
And the craters all have very catchy names, natch. They’re Purbach, La Caille, Blanchinus, and Regiomontanus. Like we said, catchy.
It’s not just the X you have to look out for
Yup, there’s also a lunar V, which is formed by the shadows of only one crater – Ukert.
In theory, with the right equipment, you should be able to clearly see both effects tonight.
They’ll technically visible with the naked eye if you look really closely, but the phenomena are best experienced using binoculars or a telescope.
The best way to see the glowing effect is to view the moon at the lowest possible magnification.
If you don’t see it today, don’t worry – there’ll be more chances later this year, on April 5th, and July 3rd.
So grab your binoculars and have a look at the moon to see where X marks the spot!
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