W Bond

[Starman]

Here's an image of the walled plain W Bond. One of the amazing things about this rectilinear feature is a rille that runs across its floor. Catch the lighting right and it's very obvious. Catch it wrong and the rille disappears completely. I'll let you work out whether the lighting was right or wrong when this image was taken!

Regards, 

Pete

[JamesF]

Assuming I've read the map correctly the rille should run to the right just above the pair of craters on the right hand side of the plain.  I thought I could see something that might be it, but I'm far from convinced that I'm not just imagining it because that's where I think it ought to be.

Do I have the position correct?

James

[Starman]

If I understand your description properly, I think you're in the right place. I have managed to find an old image of the plain I took back in 2007(!) which shows the rille...

Regards, 

Pete

[JamesF]

It's certainly far more obvious in that one

James

[Starman]

Yes indeed. It's quite an amazing feature, having the ability to disappear completely under the wrong lighting conditions. 

Pete

[JamesF]

The shadows in the first image suggest perhaps that it will be illuminated from one end which perhaps means light levels on the rille and the surrounding terrain are similar and there's insufficient contrast to pick it out unless you know exactly what you're looking for.  The light in the second image is falling a little more "sideways on" I think, and the back wall of the rille shows up brighter than its surroundings as a result.

James

[laudropb]

Very nice lunar images. I have never managed to see this rille.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Very interesting images. The rille is all but invisible in the first, and quite obvious in the 2007 image

[Starman]

I went back and had another go. There are three components to this rille all heading off at approx. 120 degrees to one another - so I thought, surely one part should be visible. A reprocess taking special care of the floor of W Bond how reveals two of the components and with a bit of imagination, the elusive hide-and-seek component!

Pete

[JamesF]

Aha!  When you know what you're looking for, it's possible to find even more of it in your first image though I'd certainly say it shows up better in this new one.  Clearly what we really need though is our own LRO

James

[Blazar]

Nice to see Mr Bond with his pioneering astro photography heritage having an object that is tricky to capture in an image . I did try an exaggerated x 5 3d view of the LROC data and even with that still is an interesting target. Will have to look back and see if I can see it in an image taken last year.

[Pete Presland]

Superb image, i think i can definitely see a liitle of it in the first image. It is amazing what imagers are producing especially when compared to the LRO image!