We're almost at the end of 2020, while this year is already infamous for quite a few reasons, it's also noteworthy that 2020 has witnessed an overwhelming number of celestial events, much of which falls in September.
We have gathered, once again, to celebrate the annual, global moon-watching campaign, 'International Observe the Moon Night' scheduled on 26th September 2020.
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| IOMN 2020 poster. (Credit: NASA) |
What is IOMN?
International Observe the Moon Night or IOMN is a public outreach programme organized annually by Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission, the Solar System Exploration Division at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
Since it's introduction on 1st August 2009 (the 'International Year of Astronomy') when it was National Observe the Moon Night. Soon after, subsequent programmes were declared international and IOMN started on 18th September 2010.
The purpose of this programme is to encourage discussions and activities regarding lunar science and exploration among the masses. It is quite aptly termed as a 'celebration' as people from all over the world take active participation in understanding our nearest celestial neighbour.
How to participate?
Participation can be broadly classified into three modes:
Self activity
When the Moon is around the first quarter, look up at the night sky with binoculars, telescopes or even naked eye. Try to spot the different features of the Moon.
Apart from viewing, there's a whole lot of tasks that can be carried out like sketching the moon, recording the phases in a log book, making a model of rover and lander, imitate ancient lunar impacts and so on.
For the 2020 edition, NASA has issued a picture of selected sites on the Moon those need to be addressed which includes Apollo landing sites, Luna Maria ('seas of the Moon') and a few areas of particular interest.
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| Prescribed sites to observe. (Credit: NASA) |
Host an event
The possible ways to encourage people regarding International Observe the Moon Night is to spread the word and to take up the initiative of organizing a camp with Moon observation as it's central theme.
Owing to the pandemic, on September 26th, various individuals and organizations held virtual programmes, wherein facts and NASA's missions regarding the Moon were discussed.
NASA's Artemis mission aims to land the first American woman and the next man on the lunar south pole by 2024. A major topic of IOMN 2020 was this mission's proposed flight, the aim and the subsequent missions.
NASA arranged a live broadcast from Goddard Space Flight Centre, Maryland on the day of the event. Demonstrations and QnA sessions were conducted by the scientists not only on the basis of the scientific perspective, but also on the popular roles of the Moon in various cultures.
You can find the video here.
Participate in an event
This is the simplest among all, but crucial nonetheless. Get in touch with an organization, follow the instructions given by NASA for viewing the Moon, understand the significance of each site and if possible, take photographs.
Below is a close-up shot of the Moon taken by me through a refractor telescope at IOMN 2019 organized by Sky Watchers' Association, Kolkata.
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The virtual event of 2020 witnessed a steady rise in participation of people from various fields. This unity is one the primary goals of IOMN and to reward such participation, NASA is providing participation certificates.
You can download your participation certificate from here.
Mark Your Calendar
If you missed out this year's celebration, don't feel dejected because NASA has released the dates for the upcoming International Observe the Moon Night.
They are as follows:
16th October 2021
1st October 2022.
Happy viewing!
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