Curtiss Cross 19/08/14

[stevend]

I got up this morning and while booting up the laptop noticed some squiggle on my calender; Curtiss Cross at 0806. The Curtiss Cross has always eluded me, I look outside and the moon is high in a clear blue sky. I race down stairs and setup the scope all in about 2 mins.

As many will know looking at the moon in the daytime is both wonderous and frustrating; feeling the sun to your left rising and warming causing the shadows along the terminator and large craters to be there and move is wonderous, but it is frustrating to know just how spectacular the view would look in dark skies.

I use 60x and instantly I see the Curtiss Cross, I also tried 100x and got good views some of the time, but I preferred 60x.

But there is more to see than the Curtiss Cross. One feature that stood out the whole time was lower down the terminator, there was a 'search style magnifying glass' ie the sun highlighting the top of a crater and adjacent ridge. I think this may have been Gruemberger.

Another highlight was Schiller where the shadow had left a 'straight line' on the lunar surface clear to see, it looked like a last quarter straight wall.

Elsewhere the larger craters, like Copernicus, Bullialdus and Clavius, had shadows cast across half of their crater floors.

A lovely way to start the day and the Curtiss Cross bagged at last.

[Floater]

Sounds a great way to start the day, indeed.

Only cloud at the start of mine ...

[Pig]

I am in Wales at the moment and haven't managed a clear night or day so far this week, hopefully it will get better soon