Third time's the charm!

[The Warthog]

As I dont have to go in to work early, I stayed up to watch the moon last night again. I had to move the scope almost up to the house to get it clear of the tree, and then move my scope back a bit to get in the shadow of the streetlight across the street, and gain some altitude above my neighbour's house, thereby wrecking my carefully set up polar alignment.

I took some time, in these miserable skies, to try and come up with Neptune. I decided to set off from Altair, find M15, and drop down to M2 and then Neptune. I used the setting circles, which I can barely see, and I had to get under the mount to see the declination scale. Couldn't even find M15, so I tried offsetting from Altair to Neptune, with just as much luck. Where are power failures when you need them? I managed to pick up the Ring, but dimly. I have seen it much better, even here. I had planned to go west from Vega to see M13, but the tree still standing by my back shed made that impossible.

I went inside to make a pot of tea, and pick a Bances out of the cigar box, and eventually went outside with the cuppa and the smoke. The night was slightly warmer than the last two, and more humid, as I had trouble with dewing, a little.

Anyway, all this took a little time, and when I got to the Moon, I was immediately treated to a visual thrill, as the mountains surrounding the west side of Mare Imbrium were brightly lit up, making a brilliant semi-circular border. The mountains from south to north are the Carpathians (Montes Carpatus), Appenines (Montes Appeninus), Caucasus and Alps (Montes Alpes.) I have seen the Alps lit from the other direction, often enough. If the scale were smaller, they would resemble a forest. The Carpathians and Appenines look for all the world as if they are snow-capped. I have never seen them like this before. I love the way the lunar cartographers so imaginatively named all the mountains after earth's.

Archimedes is the big crater in Imbrium. An area called Palus Putredinus lies between the Appenines and Archimedes. I'll have to find out what's putrid about it. South of Archimedes is the imaginatively named Spitzberg Mountains. There is a solitary peak near the Alps, which was casting a very long triangular shadow last night.

Moving southwards, I won't bore you with the names of all the craters on the way up, except to say that I am still trying to learn the names of as many as possible, and as fast as I learn them, the names fall out of my brain and litter the grass around my tripod. Tycho is accessible by following the two lane highway created by one of its rays, and this is visible for quite a large portion of any lunation.

Rupes Recta is quite easy and bright now. I found that I couldn't resolve Birt A in the scope, even at over 330x. This may be because the seeing was even worse than the previous night, but I think the 4" refractor is a better moon scope.

Anyway, this ends my lunar viewing until the next waxing crescent. There isn't much else to see from my yard. I'll have to get away. Thanks for reading.

[James]

You know, I spend at least two weeks a month cursing the moon - now I'm not so sure.... maybe I'll have a peek after all. Its been good reading your reports WH.

James

[blinky]

Sounds like you had a good night. I always enjoy reading your observing reports.

[Talitha]

Thanks for sharing your eyepiece with us again WH... your relaxed writing style is very enjoyable.

"..still trying to learn the names.."

Have you considered getting a Field Map of the Moon from S&T? It's packed with more names than I thought possible and is a great scopeside reference.

[The Warthog]

You know, I spend at least two weeks a month cursing the moon - now I'm not so sure.... maybe I'll have a peek after all. Its been good reading your reports WH.

James

The skies in my back yard are so LP and haze polluted that I am stuck with being primarily a lunar and planetary observer. Add to that the fact that the condition of my ancient eyes makes galaxies very difficult even in a dark sky site, and the Moon and planets are a good choice. You know what they say about life and lemons, though, so if God sticks the moon in your face, look at it.

[The Warthog]

Thanks for sharing your eyepiece with us again WH... your relaxed writing style is very enjoyable.

Thank you! :colors:

"..still trying to learn the names.."

Have you considered getting a Field Map of the Moon from S&T? It's packed with more names than I thought possible and is a great scopeside reference.

I have a "Pocket Guide to Astronomy" which is a paperback sized edition with some very good lunar maps, about 10 or twelve covering the whole surface with some overlap, and naming most of the features you can see with a small scope. I like it for its size and clarity. I have a copy that I made from the wall-sized atlas that came out in Sky at Night last year, but I can't find it atm, of course. Rather than carry the folded copy, I did it in many photocopied pages. It is still a little difficult to manipulate.

I will certainly have a look at the S&T publication, though. Thanks! The problem isn't that I don't have a way of finding the names, but that I have trouble naming things. If you asked me to point out Bullialdus, I could probably do it, but if you pointed to Bullialdus and asked me the name, I'd draw a blank. It's just the way my mind words. It is a recognized psychological syndrome, and there is a name for it, but I can't remember what it's called.

[jonifive]

and pick a Bances out of the cigar box

You are my kind of observer WH. Great report my friend.

JV

[Cloudwatcher]

Excellent stuff. Gave a sense of being there.

Thanks

CW

[The Warthog]

Thank you, CW and JV! I think it's definitely the refractor on the moon from now on. I'll have to get busy building a taller tripod, though.

And Carol, I ordered the Field Guide to the Moon, as it is only $15 inc. postage. It should be here in time for the next lunation.

I sorted through my collection of eps last night, and picked out 7 to sell, plus a diagonal, leaving me with 5 eps. That should be enough, eh? May raise enough to get those motors for my mount. Or a grey suit.