It’s a shame that so many cool things happen in the night sky, but we can’t see them because of clouds or light pollution. If you missed seeing the comet NEOWISE or this summer’s Perseid meteor showers, there’s not a lot to be done but look at other people’s pictures. But if it’s the Moon and its phases you keep missing out on, that information can be acquired and visualized fairly easily.
This project includes a bunch of firsts for [Jacob Tarr], like designing a custom PCB and utilizing a three-color E-ink screen to show the Moon in its current phase along with the date and time.
[Jacob]’s moon phase viewer runs on an ItsyBitsy M4 Express, which holds data pulled from NASA ahead of time to save battery. Every morning, the board dishes out the daily info on a schedule kept by a real-time clock module.
We particularly like the minimalist case design, especially the little shelf that holds the lithium-ion cell. This is just the beginning, and [Jacob] plans to add more detail for anyone who wants one for themselves.
If you want something more Moon-shaped, here’s a printed version that gets brighter in time with the real thing. Or you could just make a giant light-up full moon like Hackaday super alumnus [Caleb Kraft].
It does what?!
Incurs opposite of waning, so waxes?
Waning? There isn’t a cloud in the sky! (Now THAT’S a Dad joke!)
“Waning? Thewe isn’t a cwoud in the sky!” (Now THAT’S an Elmer Fudd joke)
Neat, I’d buy one. (Moon phase viewer, not the Moon, I don’t have any place to put it.)
Once I got a phone call with a question if I could see the moon because it is missing for at least two days. And I could not explain that person that moon is not missing – it just has not risen yet. Anyway that person was seriously concerned about missing moon and got calm 2 hours later when saw it appearing on the horizon rising at surprisingly well predicted by calendar and any googled site right time. Like vanishing of the moon is something that could get unnoticed for two days and world would still be the same.
I see this gadget as a great gift to that person.