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Yet more craters - 12th April


jgs001

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I got out again tonight, after a day of mixed not good to bad weather, the clouds all went away as the evening wore on. I got out quite late and made this a short session as I have to get up early tomorrow. I leveled the mount, and tried out a new function I'd read about and ignored in the manual. Solar System Align. Seems very easy. Pick an object in the solar system, align the scope on it and away you go. Seems to work very well to. Excellent. I used the 5mm Hyperion and 2x Barlow to give me 160x as usual. Firstly I noticed that the moon wasn't quite so sharp and crisp tonight as it has been on other nights. Poor seeing I guess.

Anyway, I target Mare Serenitatis as the stepping off point and went to find Posidinius. This was a bit harder to find as the terminator has moved quite some way in only two days. As I was there anyway, and the Hyperion gives me such a wide view, I grabbed Le Monnier. Then onto find Plinius and it's neighbour Dawes. Nearby I alo found, the Montes Haemas and Menelau nestled in the foothils, with Ross and Maclear heading out into the Mare Tranquilitatis. As I was in the sea anyway I went and had a look at Arago. From Arago, it was a short hop to Ritter and Sabine, although they weren't particularly clear compared to others, I guess they must be quite shallow, possibly filled in somewhat with lava. In the area I also found Delamba, Theon Senior and Theon Junior. Now I'm a little puzzled with these two. I definitely spotted the holes in the surface and marked them on my poor sketch, yet according to VMA I need a 100mm refractor to see these craters and yet mine is only 80mm. I guess this means that you need a 100mm to see details within the crater.

Nearby my eye was drawn to a particular bright looking crater, which according to VMA is Dionysius. This is quite near Cayley, and these two appear to bracket a mountain of some sort, but VMA isn't telling me anything about it. Then I went and had a look at Theophilius, Cyrillu and Catherina. It's a shame I didn't get to have a look at these craters yesterday. The terminator had moved on sufficiently to remove a lot of the contrast from this trio. From here I went onto Hipparchus and Albategnius. There's a lot in this area, and another poor sketch and VMA search later has turned up, Horrocks within the Hipparchus crater, Halley stuck between them, this leading into an arc with Hind and Hipparchus C. On the other side of Albategnius there's Vogel, and then away from the terminator, Albulfeda, Almanon, Geber and many many others. I didn't sketch them, so I'm not going to claim them. A little further down, or is that North, I get confused... I came to Apianus, Aliacensis, Goodacre and Gemma Frisius, Nonius,and then onto Maurolycus and Stofler which has Faraday cutting the wall towards Maurolycus.

Having completed the journey North ?? I think, I returned to the Mare and had a look at Montes Alpes and the Vallis Alpes, still partly in the terminator but just visible. Then I had a look for Eudoxus and Aristoteles. After another poor sketch I indetfied, Eudocus A, Mitchell, Galle, Egede. Calipus in the Montes Caucusus, Theaeteteus nearby next to Cassini. Then I shifted to right up South, or should that be down South, I think I'm beginning to get my directions sorted out even through a mirrior. Anyway, when I got to wherever it was I was going, I spotted W Bond which to my eyes looked almost diamond in shape. I had a good look around here and sketched again. This was tougher due to the curvature, but worth it, as I got to see, W Bond D, Archytas and D, Protagoras, Sheepshanks and what looked like a mountain in between them and C. Mayer. I then recentered again and had a look at the Monte Apenninus, the Hyginus rille was hiding in the terminator, but I could see the bumpy bit, low hills would be my guess, nearby.

I finished off with a look at Saturn as marvelous as ever.

Shortly after the clouds rolled in anyway, so I didn't miss out on much observing time. I don't believe I picked up any more of the Lunar 100.

And just for Carol (Talitha), the Crown Cluster, my NexStar reports as being at RA 10h 50m 10.6s Dec +56° 11' 55", as Ib been observing the moon with all the light on, I didn't see much after I'd slewed the mount

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:thumbup: Thanks again, John, and thanks for the co-ordinates of the 'crown cluster'. I'll check it out asap. :(

It was mostly clear here last night, but my viewing area was still under the recent 8" of new snow. Got it cleaned up this morning and will hopefully get some scope time before the sky starts to cloud up again.

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I've managed to get out for the last two nights. Saturday was very cloudy with occasional clear spots so I just used the ETX 90 as a grab and go scope. I spotted what I think is the alpine valley as an elongated "V" in shadow.

Of course there was a lot more but unlike yourself I dont know a sausage about the moon.

A bit too windy on Sunday but that elongated "V" was still there.

Thanks for the report John. Because of you I'm begining to enjoy our nearest neighbour's different phases.

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Thanks CB, I must confess that I don't know a lot about the moon yet, but I'm working on it, I have some good reference material and some bad sketches :( . That sounds about right for the alpine valley.

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Top picture Carol. On both previous nights it was in shadow although beyond the terminator. Last night (Monday night) I struggled a little to find it because it was in sunlight and no dark "V" against the sunlit surrounding terrain.

I managed an hour last night before the clouds spoiled an excellent viewing night. I'm constantly drawn to the terminator, probably due to the high contrasts. Everything there seems to leap out at you. I tried to get some afocal pictures by holding my camera to the E.P but no joy this time. However its my birthday next month and the Mrs was asking what I wanted. I'm thinking about a camera mount for the etx.

http://www.astro-engineering.com/ About halfway down the page is the mount I'm on about.

I've managed 3 nights in a row* at lunar observing and I'm now beginning to understand the way things work up there. And I'm really enjoying it. The ETX 90 has had a new lease of life with the flexi focusing knob installed. Coupled with the Pentax 13mm eyepiece I'm getting some beautiful sights.

I had a quick look at Saturn some faint banding. I tried upping the mag but the moon was just too close for this so no Cassini division. And as the cloud rolled in I had a quick shufti of M13. Its nice but suffering a bit from the lunar glow.

*3 clear nights in a row constitutes drastic climate change for Scottish weather :(

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Nice images Carol, I was thinking that the Valles Alppes looks like a V shaped valley as opposed to a valley in the shape of a V (If that makes sense)

It makes perfect sense, John. :thumbup: Btw, I've been following the SPM threads and it's wonderful to finally be able to put a face to your user name... nice to meet you! :(

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Ok, gotcha now. :( I'm in the upper-central area of the US and there's a 6 hour time difference between us. The lunar terminator crawls along at 1/2° per hour, which means it may have moved as much as 3° from the time you viewed it till the time I did. That's why Rima Hyginus came to mind.

Looking forward to seeing your lunar pics, too.. a camera mount makes all the difference in the world. :D

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