Good Libration

[Talitha]

There wasn't much of a terminator last night (17 June), but the favorable northern libration gave me a chance to see features which don't show themselves too often. Sure wish the seeing would have been better, though. The low lunar altitude made the Moon boil and shimmer in the 8" SCT, but for a MoonGeek like me, it was fun anyway. :mrgreen:

Using Pythagoras as an anchor, I went up the limb using the 10mm ep and Moon filter. Even though the features boiled and shimmered, there were calmer moments which enabled me to get my bearings. The first crater I was able to identify was Pascal, and then Brianchon popped in for a few seconds behind it. Poncelet was forward and to the east of Pascal, and Desargues was forward and to the west of Pascal.

Further north on the limb was Sylvester, and east of it lay Hermite. I knew that Byrd and Peary were just east of Hermite and a bit forward, but they weren't casting enough of a rim shadow to supply sufficient contrast for verification.

A little further east on the limb I spotted Nansen, and that's about as far as I was able to go. The other features were too subtle, and subtle features always suffer in bad seeing because they blend together and you can't tell what's what.

I went back to Pythagoras and started to go down the limb. Behind Pythagoras I could see the forward rim of Boole, although the crater itself remained out of sight. Further down the limb from Boole were Cleostratus, Xenophanes, Volta, Repsold and Galvani. Then I encountered more of those hard to see subtle features and had to move further down the limb, this time using Aristarchus as my anchor.

West of Aristarchus were the bright outlines of Russell, Struve and Eddington. Behind Russell I could see Voskerenskiy and below it the rough area east of Bartels and Moseley, although those two creters were not seen. Behind Eddington (going south) was Balboa, Dalton, Balboa A and Vasco da Gama.

That's about as much as I could see through the eyepiece, so I sat back for a while and watched Luna floating in the sky like one of those paper lanters people release... can't ask for a more beautiful night-light.

[jgs001]

Great report Carol, I think we must have swapped weather Cloud and rain here last night. Thanks for sharing.

[Talitha]

Thanks John, I hope your sky clears up and you get some nice views soon. It was beautifully clear again last night, but the low was 4°C ( :shock: ) and I was too tired anyway.

[Sam]

That's a very nice report Carol. I always enjoy reading the descriptions of your "travels" around the moon. Thanks for posting it.

Sam

[Talitha]

Thanks Sam! Clouds are rolling in for a few nights, so I'll leave the Tour Guide badge on the table in case anyone needs it.