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MOONWATCH
BBC Sky at Night Magazine
|February 2026
February's top lunar feature to observe
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Around 470km north of 600km Mare Crisium sits the immense walled plain of Messala, a 124km-diameter lunar crater. Located adjacent to the Moon’s limb, Messala’s appearance is heavily affected by libration, the effect that causes the Moon to appear to rock and roll over time. Libration is caused by the Moon's elliptical orbit and tilt. Its ellipticity causes its speed to vary so we get to peek around the Moon's eastern and western sides, while the tilt allows us to see a little over its top and under its bottom. Taken together, libration allows us to see a total of 59 per cent of the lunar surface.
This story is from the February 2026 edition of BBC Sky at Night Magazine.
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