Nice lunar session

[John]

I've not had an observing session on the Moon for quite a while so I took advantage of the clear skies and got my 12" dobsonian out and cooled.

The Moon was 93% illuminated tonight so there was still a nice terminator to study. Areas of note included:

- Schroter's Valley: From the "Cobra Head" between the craters Aristarchus and Herodotus, the flat bottomed 6-9km wide valley winds across the surface for around 97km.

- Plato: More or less fully illuminated but the bright spots of the 4 largest Plato craterlets (A, B, C and D) were clear and bright against the darker floor of the 109km diameter crater. C and D form a close pair.

- Copernicus: Magnificent and framed by it's exensive and bright ray system. One "Copernicus diameter" to the SE is the fascinating little crater Copernicus H with it's bright centre surrounded by an intriguing dark halo. This was originally thought to be a volacanic feature but Lunar Orbiter 5 proved it was of impact origin by imaging it in detail in 1967 when blocks of ejecta could be seen.

- Gassendi: Well defined walls around this 110km diameter crater with the smaller Gassendi A embedded in one part of the ramparts. Nice central peaks surrounded by a very fine and rather complex rille system, the Rimae Gassendi.

- The Liebig Scarp: A sharply defined scarp slope cutting through the small crater Leibig F on the W side of the Mare Humorium.

- Vieta: An 87km diameter crater to the W of the Mare Humorium which has a floor peppered with craterlets the larger of which form a chain across the main crater. On Vieta's NW rim is a peak which has been measured by it's shadow as rising at least 15,800 feet above the crater floor. Pretty much the same height as Mont Blanc

While viewing the above I was using eyepieces from 14mm (114x) to 3.5mm (454x) with the steadiest high power views being around 300x. I didn't use a filter of any sort.

I enjoyed these lunar views very much and towards the end of my session I winked twice at the bright, cheerful face of the Moon, once in memory of Neil Armstrong and once in memory of Sir Patrick Moore, two men who were primarily responsible for getting me into this wonderful hobby

[DRT]

Nice review, John.

I have been out too but spent all of my time comparing my Starwave 102 F11 and ED100 and neglected to take note of what I was looking at

I really should spend more time learning about the features of the Moon. Perhaps I'll dig out that Lunar 100 book and give it a go

[John]

I really should spend more time learning about the features of the Moon. Perhaps I'll dig out that Lunar 100 book and give it a go

The Virtual Moon Atlas is useful and freeware

[Mike73]

The Virtual Moon Atlas is useful and freeware

I downloaded Atlun the other day and it was really buggy, really played havoc with my laptop which is strange because it used to be very handy.

Plato has always been my 'tester' crater for each of the scopes I've owned, I've missed the best of it this month but looking forward to seeing what the VX12L can pull out of it next month.

[John]

I downloaded Atlun the other day and it was really buggy, really played havoc with my laptop which is strange because it used to be very handy.

Plato has always been my 'tester' crater for each of the scopes I've owned, I've missed the best of it this month but looking forward to seeing what the VX12L can pull out of it next month.

Atlun seems to run OK on my laptop but it's still on Win XP so that might make a difference ?

The lighting was not quite right to make the best of Plato last night. The best I've done on it with the 12" F/5.3 was 10 craterlets (the big four, the little four and a couple of the tiny nine) on a superb night when I powermated my 6mm Ethos for 530x and I could have used a little more

[Mike73]

Atlun seems to run OK on my laptop but it's still on Win XP so that might make a difference ?

The lighting was not quite right to make the best of Plato last night. The best I've done on it with the 12" F/5.3 was 10 craterlets (the big four, the little four and a couple of the tiny nine) on a superb night when I powermated my 6mm Ethos for 530x and I could have used a little more

The frustrating thing for me is that I've used Apple since the early days and never had any compatibility problems, that was until I discovered Atlun (which doesn't seem to like OS X) and Winjupos (which isn't available on OS X)! Both superb programs for Lunar and the planets. 

John I'm pretty sure your local seeing conditions are better than mine judging by reading your reports. Plymouth is just a few miles to the east of me so excellent seeing conditions are very rare for me from home, I think the most craterlets in Plato I have spotted are eight.

When Mars and Jupiter really start their show I'II be heading out of town to try and get the best out of this scope.

[Highburymark]

Nice report John. From London the seeing was pretty turbulent yesterday, so glad you had better conditions

[Pig]

Great review John, 

I too have been out tonight and the Moon sure is looking good, it has that wonderful purple-ish tinge to it and its almost as if it is wearing its Sunday best :grin:There are a few more clouds about tonight compared to last night  but I think they can enhance the overall naked eye experience as they float calmly across

If I can stay awake I will venture out again later.