Aristarchus on a silver plateau

[The Warthog]

Sorry, my subject line's a bit of a stretch. At the moment, the moon is eclipsed by my chimney so I've come inside, as it will probably take 15 minutes for it to emerge. I have been looking real hard at Aristarchus, looking for the dark bands that are said to line the rim. I can't really see them, but when the seeing settles, however briefly, I can sometimes convince myself that i have seen them. I have been failing to see them at 125, 133, 233, 250, and 266x. (I'm testing my 8mm X-Cel head to head against the 7.5mm Speers.)

I have been seeing the Rima whatchamacallit that curves behind Aristarchus. I can also clearly see Schiaparelli, and the ridge or scarp to the west of it, not marked on my map. I am wondering where is the Aristarchus plateau. Is it the area bounded by the Vallis Schroter (phew! remembered the name) or the area over towards Schiaparelli, which has a solitary white peak on it, and looks rectangular and flat? Is Schiaparelli named after the guy who designed my silk scarf? What is the capital of Montana?

Ah, I just checked VMA. I may have misidentified Wollaston R as Schiaparelli, or maybe not, but I think so. The ridge I was seeing is Montes Agricola, a mountain chain of unknown height. VMA doesn't identify the Aristarchus plateau. I am guessing that it is the area over towards the Montes Agricola.

Now back in from outside. I spent time again looking closely at Aristarchus, and aggreed with myself that yes, there are dark markings in the inside rim. I can also see the tiny central peak of Aristarchus.

I had decided to track down the Lunar 100 objects by looking for objects within 5 degrees longitude of the terminator, and that worked very well, as I am up to 26 objects already.

I went south to Schickard,which has lots of craterlets on its floor, and is huge. Next to it Phoclydes (assumed name of Jan Fokker, can you blame him?) and Nasmyth, but Wargentin is still in shadow. North of these, and just off the coast of Mare Humorum, is a whole bunch of craters. In there, just south of Mersenius, just over from Gassendi, is a faint crater named De Gasparis, which has a nice rille running through it.

I did see quite a lot of other stuff, for instance, Billy and Hansteen. Both about the same age, but Billy has a flat, dark floor, but Hansteen has a central peak. But I'm getting tired of typing this, and I'm sure you are getting tired of reading it.

I had a look at the Lunar 110. You can get an award for that, but it requires the kind of bookkeeping that, if I get a job like that at work I give it to an intern. Maybe I'll do it. I could just tick off the items, and keep it to myself, but I'd like to have something to show for it that my wife can dismiss.

[barkis]

Thanks for the walk on the moon WH I enjoyed it, a real descriptive tour. I don't know what the moons altitude is like from your place, but here it barely clears the rooftops at souths.

By the way, I had a look and I come up with Helena for the capital of Montana.

Ron.

[lunator]

WH

I enjoy your luna descriptions

I managed to glimpse the Moon between the trees on Saturday night

through the ST120.

Some fantastic light and shadow at the terminator

Cheers

Ian

[Astroman]

Hi WH. Nice report, as usual.

If you go for the SAC 110 Lunar list, the award is a very nice, multi-colored metal plaque, suitable for mounting on your telescope. So far, only 3 people have completed it, the fellow that referees it, myself, and another friend whom I guided through his first Messier Marathon last year. Personally, I think it would be an inspiration to have the fourth award go out of the country, if not the continent.

Documentation of your observations will require no more of you than reports such as you file here. Many of my observations included words such as, "Oooh! Lookitthat!" Some great stuff on that list. I encourage you to go after it. 8)

[The Warthog]

Ive decided that my instrument for the last naked-eye observation will have to be a fifth of Glenfiddich.

[The Warthog]

Thanks for the walk on the moon WH I enjoyed it, a real descriptive tour. I don't know what the moons altitude is like from your place, but here it barely clears the rooftops at souths.

By the way, I had a look and I come up with Helena for the capital of Montana.

Ron.

At my latitude, the moon is about 10 degrees higher than in the UK.

I'm so glad it isn't Missoula.

[Talitha]

Nice report WH, thanks!

The Aristarchus Plateau is the entire uplifted block which runs from Montes Agricola down to Herodotus/Aristarchus and is best seen under full sunlight (see attached image).

Some say it has a mustard-colored tone and athough I've never seen that color, it's definitely not the same as Oceanus Procellarum.

Keep us posted on your Lunar 100 progress ok? It's a lot of fun.

[The Warthog]

Nice report WH, thanks!

The Aristarchus Plateau is the entire uplifted block which runs from Montes Agricola down to Herodotus/Aristarchus and is best seen under full sunlight (see attached image).

Some say it has a mustard-colored tone and athough I've never seen that color, it's definitely not the same as Oceanus Procellarum.

Keep us posted on your Lunar 100 progress ok? It's a lot of fun.

That photo shows the area very well, and also confirms for me the dark bands that I thought I saw in Aristarchus yesterday.

The Lunar 100 and 110 are probably more appropriate to my scopes, eyesight, and back yard, than the Messier list.