Yeah, the moonlight can be a pain for you deep-sky junkies, and I know that the talk is mostly tongue-in-cheek, but consider: With no moon, there would be no tides and a huge portion of the food chain would probably collapse. With no moon, would the manned space program have reached the heights it did? No Tranquility Base, no "Eagle has landed". No national goal speech by President Kennedy- "before this decade is out..." Engineers have speculated on using tidal energy in the future to generate electrical power. That's a huge potential resource and virtually unlimited for the lifespan of humanity. And completely "green" (no pollution). Moonlight has been instrumental in allowing extended daily harvests in pre-industrial times. Had there not been a big, bright moon, many of us might not be here, and present times would certainly be much different. The moon's albedo is already fairly low. I have heard it said that the moon's surface reflects about as much light as an asphalt parking lot. The brightness is mostly a contrast effect against the blackness of space and blinding glare of daylight. Notice how dim the moon appears when seen against a blue daytime sky. Many species depend on moonlight for various aspects of survival. Again, change the moon and risk a loss of a portion of environmental diversity and possibly the food chain. Practicalities of deep-sky and auroral observing aside, I find the moon a terrific astronomical object. It's a world unto itself, practically at arm's length, easily observed. There is enough detail to last a lifetime of searching-out. An alien landscape that many of us take for granted. I was recently called "jaded" for my lack of enthusiasm for less-than-spectacular aurorae, but how many of us scoff at the thought of setting-up the telescope "just" to look at the moon? Most of you only look at the moon when waiting for it to set, or as a "public" star-party object. Pity, it's a terrific object and one of the few extra-terrestrial targets that display a continuously changing aspect. Set up your main instrument and look at it in earnest this weekend. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com