Utterly Beautiful Luna

[cloudsweeper]

7.00am - too late for regular stargazing, but the lovely Moon was high, east of south, and visible from just out of the back door, so I set up the 8SE and soon forgot about the cold and frost.

Waning, past 3rd quarter, so not too bright - no filter necessary.  What I also really enjoyed was that for lunar viewing, there was no need to have lights out everywhere, and no need to bother with Stellarium on the laptop - just a logbook, eyepieces, and the Moon Map.  Luxury!

Copernicus was very prominent, all in view, just west of the terminator.  At x203, vibrations were a problem, as was shimmering due to turbulence.  x169 worked better, although things were still a bit wobbly, so I went down a notch to x145 and everything was sharper and more detailed.  x113 was even better, showing that less really is more!

The shadows of Copernicus's terraced rim to the east showed up nicely, as did its central peaks, and the tiny craters and small mountains above Mare Insularum to the west were very clear.

I noticed the tracking was a bit out, so re-aligned on the Moon after levelling the 'scope properly, and that was rectified!

The whole crescent became visible when the big Meade 5000 UWA 20/82 (giving x102),  was inserted.  Moving SW from Copernicus, I concentrated on crater Kepler, with its very interesting sunburst pattern of several long, pale ejecta rays, particularly to the west.  (They are more compact and noticeable than the rays from Copernicus.)

By 8.00am, the sky was lightening and the best viewing time was fading, so I decided to finish using the (even bigger!) ES 30/82 (x68) to pleasingly frame the whole spectacle, and what a spectacle: the battered south; Copernicus dominating the east/centre, with the range Montes Carpatus stretching E-W above it; the smooth crater-peppered seas to the west and north; the rays emanating from Kepler in the centre of the whole show; and the conspicuous Sinus Iridum bay in the north, emphasised by the shadows of the Montes Jura range curving around it to its west.

Great conditions and detail (changing subtly every time).  And so to breakfast, refreshed and satisfied.  Didn't even notice the cold!

Doug.

 

[Peter Drew]

Good report, I did a similar session in Tenerife recently with a C8se, great telescope for lunar observation. Nice to see someone writing Sinus Iridum instead of Sinus Iridium.   

[Astro Imp]

Thanks for great report, the moon really is a joy to observe, so much to take in and always changing. 

[Stu]

A lovely read Doug, you are getting some fab scope time in at the moment, great stuff.

I was up with the larks at 5.30am this morning and had a lovely view of the Moon, with Jupiter and Spica also visible naked eye before the sky got too bright.

[Alan White]

Sounds a good and perhaps unexpected observation session.

Being without all the electricals is great, I have gone full Luddite, manual mount, scope, maps, pencil, paper.

The only battery or power is a AA inside the red torch.

Lunar observation is something I love to do and hits a big smile switch to the on position for me.