The "Cats Paw" on the Moon - has anybody seen it ?

[John]

I've been reading about this indistinct feature on the lunar surface and I wonder if anyone has spotted it visually ?.

Apparently it is a relatively shallow 1.6 km crater close to the Apollo 11 landing site in the Sea of Tranquility. It's not far from the craters Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins.

It's significance seems to be that is one of the few (only ?) lunar features that appears in the panorama photos taken on the lunar surface by the Apollo 11 moon walkers that can also be detected visually in amateur telescopes.

While normally the feature might be of little interest, the above adds a fascination for me so I'll be looking out for it when the Moon is next favorably on show. It can be seen apparently with 8" and up aperture scopes under the right lighting conditions and good seeing conditions.

Anyone got any experience of spotting this crater and any tips to share for the rest of us ?

[Steve Ward]

New one on me John , but rest assured I'll be hunting it out with the Mak next time out.

Looks pretty shallow so I'll guess the illumination will be critical.