Last Quarter Sunday, Nov. 8, Shows Apollo 14’s Mare Cognitum

Summary: The lunar last quarter Sunday, Nov. 8, shows Apollo 14’s Mare Cognitum as the right side of the Man in the Moon’s mouth for Northern Hemisphere viewers.

Oblique, north-looking view, photographed January 1971 from Apollo 16 Command Service Module Caspter, shows Apollo 14 landing site (white arrow; upper center), Fra Mauro Crater (center), Bonpland Crater (bottom center) and Parry Crater (lower right); American astronomers Guy Consolmagno and Dan M. Davis describe the Mauro-Bonpland-Parry configuration as somewhat resembling Mickey Mouse’s face and ears “with the ears too close” (page 35) in their 2013 night sky guide, Turn Left at Orion; NASA image AS16-1420; H. Masursky et al., Apollo Over the Moon (1978), Chapter 3, figure 44, page 56: Public Domain, via NASA

The moon’s last quarter Sunday, Nov. 8, shows Apollo 14’s Mare Cognitum as the right side of the Man in Moon’s mouth for Northern Hemisphere moonwatchers.

The month’s last quarter phase begins Sunday, Nov. 8, at 13:46 Greenwich Mean Time/Coordinated Universal Time (8:46 a.m. Eastern Standard Time), according to retired NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak’s AstroPixels website. The last quarter succeeds the waning gibbous phase, which offers greater surface illumination of the moon’s near side as the intermediate phase between the full phase’s 100 percent illumination and the last quarter’s 50 percent illumination.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Apollo 14 mission safely landed Commander Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. (Nov. 18, 1923-July 21, 1998) and Lunar Module Pilot Edgar Mitchell as the fifth and sixth persons to set foot on the moon. Apollo Lunar Module Antares touched down Friday, Feb. 5, 1971, at 09:18:11 Universal Time (4:18 a.m. EST), northeast of Mare Cognitum.

Mare Cognitum occupies the southwestern quadrant of the moon’s near side. It is centered at minus 10.53 degrees south latitude, minus 22.31 degrees west longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. As a southern hemisphere lava plain, Mare Cognitum’s northernmost and southernmost latitudes reach minus 5.9 degrees south and minus 13.92 degrees south, respectively. As a western hemisphere mare, the dark plain’s easternmost and westernmost longitudes extend to minus 16.45 degrees west and minus 28.1 degrees west, respectively. Mare Cognitum’s diameter measures 350.01 kilometers.

British lunar astronomer Ewen Adair Whitaker (June 22, 1922-Oct. 11, 2016) described Mare Cognitum as a “comparatively small, unnamed dark area . . . largely surrounded by bright hills” (page 51) in his 1985 history of the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. Whitaker credited Dutch-American planetary scientist and selenographer Gerard Peter Kuiper (Dec. 7, 1905-Dec. 23, 1973) with suggested names of Mare Cognitum (Sea That Has Become Known; Sea of Knowledge) or Mare Exploratum (Explored Sea) for the dark oval on Friday, Aug. 28, 1964, at the IAU’s XII General Assembly. Held in Hamburg, Germany, from Wednesday, Aug. 26, to Wednesday, Sept. 2, the Hamburg Congress approved Mare Cognitum.

Lunar Module Antares settled in the Fra Mauro Formation. Also known as the Fra Mauro Highlands, the formation comprises ejecta from the impact that formed the lunar northwestern quadrant’s Imbrium Basin. The Universities Space Research Association’s (USRA) Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) describes the landing site as “located in a broad, shallow valley between radial ridges of the Fra Mauro Formation and approximately 500 kilometers from the edge of the Imbrium Basin. The formation takes its name from the valley’s bowl-shaped Fra Mauro Crater.

Antares touched down about 30 miles (49.3 kilometers) north of the Fra Mauro Crater, according to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s website.

The Fra Mauro site had originally been targeted for the Apollo 14 mission’s predecessor, Apollo 13. Launched Saturday, April 11, 1970, from Florida’s John F. Kennedy Space Center, Apollo 13 suffered an oxygen tank explosion Tuesday, April 14, in the mission’s Command Service Module, Odyssey, halfway to the moon. The aborted mission ended with the safe return of the mission’s three astronauts, Commander James Arthur Lovell Jr. (born March 25, 1928), Command Module Pilot John “Jack” Leonard Swigert Jr. (Aug. 30, 1931-Dec. 27, 1982) and Lunar Module Pilot Fred Wallace Haise Jr. (born Nov. 14, 1933), to Earth on Friday, April 17.

Fra Mauro Crater is centered at minus 6.06 degrees south latitude, minus 16.97 degrees west longitude. The southern hemisphere crater’s northernmost and southernmost latitudes are recorded at minus 4.47 degrees south and minus 7.66 degrees south, respectively. As a western hemisphere crater, its easternmost and westernmost longitudes extend to minus 15.37 degrees west and minus 18.58 degrees west, respectively. Described by USRA LPI as “subdued and partially filled,” Fra Mauro Crater records a diameter of 96.76 kilometers.

Fra Mauro Crater’s namesake was 15th-century Venetian cartographer and monk Fra Mauro. The International Astronomical Union approved the name in 1935.

The takeaway for the last quarter’s Nov. 8 showing of Apollo 14’s Mare Cognitum is that the fifth and sixth humans to set foot on the moon landed northeast of the dark, oval lava plain that forms the right side of the Man in the Moon’s mouth for Northern Hemisphere moonwatchers.

LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) image of Apoll0 14 landing site shows Lunar Module Antares descent stage and, to the west, the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP); paths between the two sites were left by astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell during the mission’s two extravehicular activities; LROC NAC M168319885LR; via NASA

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Oblique, north-looking view, photographed January 1971 from Apollo 16 Command Service Module Caspter, shows Apollo 14 landing site (white arrow; upper center), Fra Mauro Crater (center), Bonpland Crater (bottom center) and Parry Crater (lower right); American astronomers Guy Consolmagno and Dan M. Davis describe the Mauro-Bonpland-Parry configuration as somewhat resembling Mickey Mouse’s face and ears “with the ears too close” (page 35) in their 2013 night sky guide, Turn Left at Orion; NASA image AS16-1420; H. Masursky et al., Apollo Over the Moon (1978), Chapter 3, figure 44, page 56: Public Domain, via NASA @ https://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-362/ch3.2.htm

LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) image of Apoll0 14 landing site shows Lunar Module Antares descent stage and, to the west, the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP); paths between the two sites were left by astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell during the mission’s two extravehicular activities; LROC NAC M168319885LR; via NASA @ https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/lro-briefing-20110906.html

For further information:

Calendar-12.com. “Moon Phases November 2020.” Calendar-12.com > 2020 Moon Calendar.
Available @ https://www.calendar-12.com/moon_calendar/2020/november

Consolmagno, Guy; and Dan M. Davis. Turn Left at Orion. Fourth edition. Cambridge UK; New York NY: Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Espenak, Fred. “Phases of the Moon: 2001 to 2020 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).” AstroPixels > Ephemeris > Moon > Phases of the Moon From 2001 to 2100.
Available @ http://www.astropixels.com/ephemeris/moon/phases2001gmt.html

International Astronomical Union. “XII IAU Hamburg 1964.” Daily News Bulletin, Wednesday, Aug. 26, to Wednesday, Sept. 2, 1964. Hamburg, Germany: Lütcke & Wulff, 1964.
Available via IAU publications @ https://www.iau.org/static/publications/ga_newspapers/19640826.pdf

International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Fra Mauro.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/2007

International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Mare Cognitum.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/3670

International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). “Mare Imbrium.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/3678

King, Bob. “How to See All Six Apollo Moon Landing Sites.” Sky & Telescope > Observing. April 22, 2015.
Available @ https://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/how-to-see-all-six-apollo-moon-landing-sites/

King, Bob. “How to See Lunar Craters With the Naked Eye.” Sky & Telescope > Observing. Oct. 28, 2015.
Available @ https://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/how-to-see-lunar-craters-with-the-naked-eye102820152810/

King, Bob. Night Sky With the Naked Eye. Salem MA: Page Street Publishing Co., 2016.

Lawrence, Samuel. “Trail of Discovery at Fra Mauro.” NASA ASU (Arizona State University) LROC (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera). Aug, 19, 2009.
Available @ http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/105

Lawver, Jordan. “Precise 3D Measurements of Objects at Apollo 14 Landing Site From LROC NAC Stereo Images.” NASA ASU (Arizona State University) LROC (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera). Jan. 29, 2010.
Available @ http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/29
Available via NASA LRO @ https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/lroc-20100129-apollo14.html

Levy, David H. Skywatching. Revised and updated. San Francisco CA: Fog City Press, 1994.

Lovell, Jim; and Jeffrey Kluger. Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13. Boston MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1994.

Lunar Planetary Institute. “Apollo 14 Mission: Landing Site Overview.” USRA (Universities Space Research Association) Lunar Planetary Institute (LPI) > The Moon > Lunar Mission Summaries > Apollo Missions.
Available @ https://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/apollo/apollo_14/landing_site/

Marriner, Derdriu. “Apollo 13 Saturn IVB Third Stage Crashed North of Mare Cognitum.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, April 29, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/04/apollo-13-saturn-ivb-third-stage.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Apollo 13’s Lost Lunar Landing Aimed for April 15 at Fra Mauro Crater.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, April 1, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/04/apollo-13s-lost-lunar-landing-aimed-for.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “First October 2020 Full Moon Shows Apollo 11’s Mare Tranquillitatis.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/09/first-october-2020-full-moon-shows.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “First Quarter Friday, Oct. 23, Shows Apollo 16’s Descartes Highlands.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/10/first-quarter-friday-oct-23-shows.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Last Quarter Saturday, Oct. 10, Shows Apollo 12’s Oceanus Procellarum.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/10/last-quarter-saturday-oct-10-shows.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “October’s Blue Moon Saturday, Oct. 31, Shows Apollo 15’s Mare Imbrium.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/09/first-space-spiders-arabella-and-anita.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Six Lunar Maria Shape the Man in the Moon for Northern Hemisphere Viewers.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 3, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/05/six-lunar-maria-shape-man-in-moon-for.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Waxing Crescent Wednesday, Oct. 21, Shows Apollo 17’s Mare Serenitatis.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/10/waxing-crescent-wednesday-oct-21-shows.html

Masek, Jeffrey G.; and Laura Rocchio, cur. “Fra Mauro’s Mappamundi.” NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Landsat Science > Education > Feature. Last updated July 1, 2019.
Available @ https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/fra-mauros-mappamundi/

Masursky, Harold; G.W. Colton; and Farouk El-Baz. “Chapter 2: Regional Views.” Apollo Over the Moon: A View From the Orbit: 30-43. NASA SP-362. Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Scientific and Technical Information Office, 1978.
Available @ https://history.nasa.gov/SP-362/contents.htm

NASA Johnson Space Center / Arizona State University. “Featured Image  04/07/2009 The Fra Mauro Formation.” NASA JSC (Johnson Space Center) ASU (Arizona State University) Apollo Image Archive.
Available @ http://apollo.sese.asu.edu/LIW/20090407.html

Neal-Jones, Nancy. “LRO Briefing: Latest Images of Apollo Landing Sites.” NASA > Missions > LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) > News. Sept. 6, 2011.
Available @ https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/lro-briefing-20110906.html

Neal-Jones, Nancy; Elizabeth Zubritsky; and Steve Cole. “NASA Spacecraft Images Offer Sharper Views of Apollo Landing Sites.” NASA > Missions > LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) > News. Sept. 5, 2011. Last updated Aug. 7, 2017.
Available @ https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/apollo-sites.html

Ridpath, Ian; and Wil Tirion. Stars & Planets: The Complete Guide to the Stars, Constellations, and the Solar System. Updated and expanded edition. Princeton NJ; Oxford UK: Princeton University Press, 2017.

Shepard, Alan; Deke Slayton; Jay Barbree; and Howard Benedict. Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America's Race to the Moon. Atlanta GA: Turner Publishing Inc., 1994.

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. “Apollo 14: Facts.” Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum > Missions > Apollo 14.
Available @ https://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/apollo/apollo-program/landing-missions/apollo14-facts.cfm

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. “Apollo 14 Landing Site.” Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum > Missions > Apollo 14.
Available @ https://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/apollo/apollo-program/landing-missions/apollo15-landing-site.cfm

Sutton, R.L. (Robert Leeds); M.H. (Mortimer Hall "Tim") Hait; and G.A. (Gordon Alfred) Swann. “Geology of the Apollo 14 Landing Site.” Proceedings of the Lunar Science Conference (Supplement 3, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta), vol. 1: 27-38. M.I.T. Press, 1972.
Available via Harvard ADSABS (NASA Astrophysics Data System Abstracts) @ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1972LPSC....3...27S

Time and Date. “The Third Quarter / Half Moon.” Time and Date > Sun & Moon > Moon.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/third-quarter.html

Time and Date. “The Phases of the Moon.” Time and Date > Sun & Moon > Moon.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/aboutmoonphases.html

U.S. Geological Survey. Color-Coded Topography and Shaded Relief Map of the Lunar Near Side and Far Side Hemispheres. U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Investigations Series I-2769. Page last modified Nov. 30, 2016. Flagstaff AZ: U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Center, 2003.
Available via USGS Publications Warehouse @ https://pubs.usgs.gov/imap/i2769/

U.S.N.O. Astronomical Applications Department. “Fraction of the Moon Illuminated, 2020 at Midnight.” U.S. Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department > Astronomical Information Center > Phenomena of the Sun and Moon > Phases of the Moon and Percent of the Moon Illuminated.
Available @ https://aa.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/aa_moonill2.pl?form=1&year=2020

U.S.N.O. Astronomical Applications Department. “Phases of the Moon and Percent of the Moon Illuminated.” U.S. Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department > Astronomical Information Center > Phenomena of the Sun and Moon.
Available @ https://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/moon_phases.php

Whitaker, Ewen A. (Adair). Mapping and Naming the Moon: A History of Lunar Cartography and Nomenclature. Cambridge UK; New York NY: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Whitaker, Ewen A. “Other Nasa Missions.” The University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory: Its Founding and Early Years: 51. Tucson AZ: University of Arizona Printing-Reproductions Department, 1985.
Available @ https://www.lpl.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/history/L PL_Founding_Whitaker_OCR.pdf

Williams, David R.; and E. (Edwin) Bell II, cur. “Apollo 14 Lunar Module / ALSEP.” NASA Goddard Space Flight Center > Solar System Exploration > The Moon > Lunar Exploration > Precise Positions of LM’s and Science Experiments on the Moon. Last updated March 6, 2017.
Available @ https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1971-008C