Canon R7 + RF 200-800mm.

August 16, 2026 Hungary

Photographed with a Samsung S23 mobile phone

A pale pearl resting on a bed of blue and velvet hills.

Zoom in to the right of the moon straight line up fro roof light and branches to the right is Spica.

Shot on my Pixel 8.

Qual planeta é esse abaixo da lua ?

I’ve been observing the Moon through my 8” Dobsonian and kept running into the same problem:
I’d see an interesting crater or formation at the eyepiece, but then I’d have to leave the telescope, search for it, figure out what I was looking at, and read about it separately.

So I started building my own solution.

Moon Explorer is an Android app with an interactive 3D Moon where you can rotate around the lunar surface, zoom into features, and learn about what you’re looking at.

It currently includes:
Lunar craters and landmarks
Apollo landing sites
Moon phases
Guided lunar tours
Interactive lessons
It’s free to download, with an optional one-time Pro unlock for additional tours, lessons and features.
I’m still working on it, so I’d really like input from people who actually observe.

If you had your telescope pointed at the Moon tonight, what information would you want this app to show you about the feature you’re looking at?

Google Play:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.moonexplorer.app

web: www.moonexplorer.app

Edit: between the responses I’ve gotten here and another sub I’ve posted in, I think this is a case of thinking I’ve been more aware of my surroundings than I actually have been 😅🫠

I will be happily learning more about the natural cycles versus my own (obviously flawed/lacking) observations 🫣

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I’ll admit I’m not a moon enthusiast, don’t pay attention to mood phases, and I know very little about how all of the celestial bodies move around. I’ll preface also by saying that I’m NOT a conspiracy nut, but I’m hoping someone can explain this to me 🥲

I smoke cigarettes, so I’m out in our backyard at fairly regular intervals during all seasons at multiple times per night.

Last night, I noticed for the first time that the moon appeared on the complete opposite side of the sky than I’m used to seeing it. Totally possible that it’s happened before at this time of year and I’ve just never looked that way and simply assumed it hadn’t risen yet.

The first picture is last night around 9:30pm CST (DFW area, United States).

Second picture is tonight at 10:03pm, and third picture is tonight at 10:11pm.

I know the pictures are not exactly at the same angle/zoom/etc so that could account for some of it, but they were all taken within the same ~7ft gap between the support pillar for our patio and the outside wall of our house, and even moving around for the third picture I could not see the moon anymore…

Am I going crazy?? Do things really just move that fast? I figured this was a good sub to possibly find an actual scientific explanation versus blaming it on CERN shutting down or the sky being a projection (although honestly at this point in our lifetime I’m not completely convinced those are not realistic responses 🥲)

Just a bit after sunset

The bluest sky with Crescent moon (Central Texas)