Astronauts on the moon, did they see stars? (APOD 14Dec2007)

[DomeLiving]

When the astronauts were on the moon, did they see stars?

Or were they always on the "day" side and saw only a black sky?

[craterchains]

looks like SPAM to me, , , , , , , ,

[orin stepanek]

When the astronauts were on the moon, did they see stars?

Or were they always on the "day" side and saw only a black sky?

I don't know if any of the astronauts that visited the moon read any of these posts. But I'm sure they could answer your question. http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071214.html I do believe there was too much light distraction on the surface to be able to discern any stars even though the sky was dark,
Orin

[DomeLiving]

looks like SPAM to me, , , , , , , ,

craterchains,
Get a life beyond accusing me of anything you dope!

Spam= Hormel imitation meat...

[BMAONE23]

looks like SPAM to me, , , , , , , ,

I have to agree with Crater on the SPAM charge

The links are clearly to sites intended to try and sell you something

[orin stepanek]

looks like SPAM to me, , , , , , , ,

I have to agree with Crater on the SPAM charge

The links are clearly to sites intended to try and sell you something

I didn't click on any of the links; just tried to answer the ?'s
Orin

[BMAONE23]

If you wish to try the Moon/ Star thing, it could be accomplished with some assistance. Go to a large open area. Either import large quantities of white sand (if on open ground) or if on black top, (like a parking lot) paint the entire surface white. Shine many large spot lights on the surface from the building tops. Stand in the middle and look up. See any stars????

[Chris Peterson]

If you wish to try the Moon/ Star thing, it could be accomplished with some assistance. Go to a large open area. Either import large quantities of white sand (if on open ground) or if on black top, (like a parking lot) paint the entire surface white. Shine many large spot lights on the surface from the building tops. Stand in the middle and look up. See any stars????

I believe the Apollo 11 astronauts have stated that they didn't see stars (but didn't look). I have it in my mind that I've heard other Apollo astronauts state that some stars were visible. Certainly, they had a lot of bright stuff around them, and were wearing suits that made looking up difficult, and helmets with attenuating glass. But without any atmosphere scattering sunlight, I can't see why some stars wouldn't be visible if a little care were taken in shielding the eyes.

It's not difficult to see Venus in the middle of a sunny day, and I've seen Jupiter, Mars, and Sirius against a blue sky as well. The biggest impediment isn't dazzle from the surroundings, but loss of contrast to scattered light in the sky, which is obviously absent on the Moon.

[Chris Peterson]

If you wish to try the Moon/ Star thing, it could be accomplished with some assistance. Go to a large open area. Either import large quantities of white sand (if on open ground) or if on black top, (like a parking lot) paint the entire surface white. Shine many large spot lights on the surface from the building tops. Stand in the middle and look up. See any stars????

I should also have mentioned that the surface of the Moon is a pretty close match to freshly laid asphalt in terms of reflectivity, so you can pass on the white paint part of the experiment.

[BMAONE23]

I discovered that fact myself tonight. I went to Foster's Freeze tonight and looked up from the middle of the black top parking lot that was illuminated by the white building lights. All I could see was 4 of 5 stars in the "W" of Casiopia, and Mars. The rest of the stars were washed out.

[craterchains]

, , , and that is why it is called wash out.

DL,

craterchains,
Get a life beyond accusing me of anything you dope!

Spam= Hormel imitation meat...

I should get a life?
Get out of advirtising, you dupe.
FOCLMAO

[auroradude]

Upon looking on-line for information about the Moon's albedo I found a couple conflicting numbers. There were several instances that the albedo was put at 7 percent - about the brightness of freshly laid blacktop. But then there were other references (Wacky-pedia was one) stating the albedo of the moon was 12 percent which is more like well-weathered black-top.
Both numbers seemed to be stated as averages but could the conflicting numbers be the brightness of the "seas" verses the highlands?

Either way the lunar surface is not very bright. Snow is about 90 percent and coal about 4 percent. The Earth averages about 30 percent between forests, oceans, clouds etc.

[Chandler22]

i know that it is possible that the astronauts saw some stars out there in outer space i just don't know if they saw as much stars as you can when you are on earth

[auroradude]

Given the lack of any atmospheric interference, I can imagine that if an astronaut were to have full dark adaptation, that is to let the eyes adjust to complete darkness for up to an hour, and if the view were protected from any stray light that the brightness of the stars would rival any view of the night sky from anywhere on Earth.

[BMAONE23]

Lets set up a viewing platform on the far side of the Moon and check it out

[NoelC]

I'd kind of prefer the near side, myself. It gets pretty dark too, doncha know.

-Noel

[auroradude]

An observatory located near the edge of the visible disc of the moon could block the light of the Earth pretty easily since the Earth would be low in the sky. Near the lunar equator most of the celestial sky would be visible from time to time but there would be direct sunlight for the two- week long days to deal with. An observatory near the poles could be protected from this (and a bright Earth) by the wall of a crater allowing continuous observations but it would only have about half the sky availible requiring two observatories, one towards each pole.

[BMAONE23]

Which is why I think that the far side is best. Never any earth shine, an eventual view of the entire sky, 1,270,080 continuous seconds of uninterrupted viewing time plus 14.7 days of processing time before the next viewing cycle. You could also have infrared scopes due to the long night/cold periods, And you could utilize several craters for radio telescopes like Arecibo but connected like the VLA. All run from one central location. Then all you need is a couple of GeoStationary equitorial communication satallite relay stations for transmitting back to earth.

[auroradude]

Call me a romantic but If I were ever to have the chance to be at such a place, I'd like to be able to take a short low-grav hike with my astro-date, glove in glove, to a nice overlook for a picnic of squeeze cheeze and rehydrated grapes where we could be inspired by what must be an awesome view of our home planet.

[Dr. Skeptic]

Trivia Statement:

When Apollo Mission Astronaut Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon, he not only gave his famous "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" statement but followed it by several remarks, usual com traffic between him, the other astronauts and Mission Control. Just before he re-entered the lander, however, he made the enigmatic remark "Good luck, Mr. Gorsky."
Many people at NASA thought it was a casual remark concerning some rival Soviet Cosmonaut. However, upon checking, there was no Gorsky in either the Russian or American space programs. Over the years many people questioned Armstrong as to what the "Good luck, Mr. Gorsky" statement meant, but Armstrong always just smiled.
On July 5, 1995 (in Tampa Bay, FL) while answering questions following a speech, a reporter brought up the 26 year old question to Armstrong. This time he finally responded. Mr. Gorsky had finally died and so Neil Armstrong felt he could answer the question.
When he was a kid, he was playing baseball with a friend in the backyard. His friend hit a fly ball which landed in the front of his neighbor's bedroom windows. His neighbors were Mr. & Mrs. Gorsky.
As he leaned down to pick up the ball, young Armstrong heard Mrs. Gorsky shouting at Mr. Gorsky, "Oral sex! You want oral sex?! You'll get oral sex when the kid next door walks on the moon!"

For those of you that haven't heard this.

[bystander]

Trivia Statement:

For those of you that haven't heard this.

Funny, but not true. http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/hoaxes/moon.asp

[Dr. Skeptic]

So the