The week of April 20-26 takes us from Day 4 to Day 10. This week we will highlight the moon craters Hercules & Atlas, visible on Tuesday night close to the terminator.
Hercules and Atlas: These two moon craters are paired because of the legend which entwined them both. Atlas was one of the Titans of Greek mythology whose punishment for siding in a war against Zeus was to hold the celestial sphere on his shoulders (some versions say it was the Earth). To propitiate for having killed his wife and children in a fit of temporary insanity induced by Hera, Hercules was assigned twelve labors that were so difficult they seemed impossible. One of these labors was to steal three golden apples that Hera had given to Zeus as a wedding present. Hercules learned that the secret to getting the apples was to send Atlas to do the job. Atlas agreed to do so, providing Hercules took over the task of holding up the celestial sphere while he was gone. Atlas recovered the apples and fully intended to leave Hercules holding his burden forever, but Hercules tricked him into holding the sphere “just for a moment” while he got some padding for his shoulders. In what was possibly the first reported stereotype of “all brawn and no brain,” Atlas agreed and Hercules fled the scene with the apples.
OF ADDITIONAL INTEREST IN SPACE
On Wednesday, Jupiter is 4° south of the Moon, and the Lyrid meteor shower peaks.
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It is highly recommended that you get a copy of Sky and Telescope’s Field Map of the Moon, the very finest Moon map available for use at the telescope. It is available for $10.95 at www.skyandtelescope.com and on Amazon. All features mentioned in this blog will be keyed to the grid on the Field Map and will look like this: Plato: [NW/D9]
Credits:
Courtesy of Gray Photography of Corpus Christi, Texas
Lunar photos: NASA / USGS / BMDO / LROC / ASU / DLR / LOLA / Moon Globe. Used by permission
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- Endymion – Moon Crater - April 27, 2026