Lunar 100 targets for tonight

[Stu]

Just for reference, these are the recommended lunar 100 targets for a 10 day old moon. Illumination should be most favourable for them tonight.

[GavStar]

That’s great info Stu. Can you publish or link to the reference for each day of the lunar cycle so that we can refer to it in future? Maybe a sticky in the observing lunar sub forum so that it’s easy to find?

[Stu]

Will do, I'll dig out the document I found and post it up

[domstar]

Hi @stu. What are Imbrium lava flows? Are they ripples on on the mare? It's number 98 so am I wasting my time looking (in the middle of a cracking lunar session)

[Fozzie]

Marth is an interesting feature.. a concentric crater... 

Bit beyond my resolving power but still worth a look..

[Red Dwarfer]

Will need to google those targets to find them . However , I had a good long look at the Copernicus ray system in the Dob at dusk ... also the terraces and mountainous region in middle ??

[Size9Hex]

Seeing conditions are astonishingly good here at the mo. It’s taking 250x easily. Worth braving the cold for!

[Stu]

My apologies, I think this is duff information! I tried a couple out, Flamsteed P and Hippalus Rilles and the location of both seemed to be beyond the terminator i.e. still in full shadow. Seems to be out by a day?

Cloudy here now.

[Stu]

On 25/02/2018 at 19:58, GavStar said:

That’s great info Stu. Can you publish or link to the reference for each day of the lunar cycle so that we can refer to it in future? Maybe a sticky in the observing lunar sub forum so that it’s easy to find?

Here...

 

[Stu]

On 25/02/2018 at 19:48, Stu said:

Just for reference, these are the recommended lunar 100 targets for a 10 day old moon. Illumination should be most favourable for them tonight.

Well I had another good session this evening. Fast moving patchy cloud that cleared after a while. The seeing was not as good as previous nights, quite wobbly but still good enough for some wonderful detail.

The seven targets above seemed well placed.

Gassendi looked wonderful, with the three main peaks in the middle clear, plus the lower walls running internally.

Schiller was very sharply illuminated, a very elongated oval given the oblique angle we see it at. Nice detail in the two small peaks towards one end.

Gruithuisen Delta & Gamma are two mound like structure on the edge of Mare Imbrium, very clear and well illuminated at the current phase.

I saw one rille running down from Hippalus then parallel with Rupes Kelvin. I believe there are others but I only looked for the one. Try again next time.

Schiller-Zuchius basin was not immediately obvious what I should be looking for. I believe I saw it, tracing a large and much eroded crater rim around below Schiller, around to Weigel then down to Segner and continuing in the direction of Phocylides. I believe that was correct.

Flamsteed P is a large crater with a broken and incomplete rim and was, I believe filled with lava. There is a faint inner wall paralleling the crater rim. The crater Flamsteed is inside this rim, along with two others. Nice one.

Imbrium Lava Flows. I need to revisit this one as I'm really not certain what to look for. I found, in what I believe is the right place, a three pronged lighter feature, plus a few other similar patches. They were near the end of the rays tracing out from Copernicus but going in a different direction, so were definitely different. So, far from certain and will go back to this one.

A great session, also caught 4/5 Plato craterlets and parts of the central Rille in the Alpine Valley, a good night. 

Using the ever faithful Tak with binoviewers at somewhere a little over x300. Nice  

[Size9Hex]

Nice one Stu. That sound like a belter of a session. The Tak with bino viewers sounds a winning combo. With great seeing conditions in the 10" dob at 360x I was able to get 9 craterlets in Plato but the alpine rille was only suspected rather than a definite despite much scrutiny. Stocking views though. I have been using a lunar 100 best-day-to-view list a found on t’internet and also find it to very often be off by about a day.

[Stu]

29 minutes ago, Size9Hex said:

Nice one Stu. That sound like a belter of a session. The Tak with bino viewers sounds a winning combo. With great seeing conditions in the 10" dob at 360x I was able to get 9 craterlets in Plato but the alpine rille was only suspected rather than a definite despite much scrutiny. Stocking views though. I have been using a lunar 100 best-day-to-view list a found on t’internet and also find it to very often be off by about a day.

Thanks Paul. Yes, it was a cracker. It actually worked very well having a list of 7 objects, some trivially easy and some really tough. I need to research the Imbrium Lava flows more to see what they look like. I saw quite a few darker flowing lines which might have been them, but then these unusual light patterns in a three pronged arrangement. Gives me something to look into

The binoviewers certainly reduce my floaters to a manageable level, even at what is effectively 0.33mm exit pupil.

I'm reassured that you have also found info to be incorrect on the web (perish the thought ). I'll keep a note of what I find then perhaps produce as updated list. 

How does the Alpine Rille appear? I saw sections of a brighter line running down the middle, brightest near the widest part of the valley and then detectable in the section furthest from Mare Imbrium. Did it appear dark or light to you last night? I've not seen it before so am not totally sure how it will appear in the scope.

Great to be having some clear skies!

[domstar]

It's nice to hear of people looking at the same things at the same time. I was looking at Gruithuisen delta and gamma and spent long and happy time fruitlessly looking for the rilles in Gassendi before I checked and found I needed to double my aperture. The Rimae Hippalus were clear on Sunday for me but I couldn't see anything last night. It was interesting to see the change in Copernicus from monster to mediocre in 24 hours. Two very cold days in a row and I'm ready to stay inside tonight.

[Stu]

10 minutes ago, domstar said:

It's nice to hear of people looking at the same things at the same time. I was looking at Gruithuisen delta and gamma and spent long and happy time fruitlessly looking for the rilles in Gassendi before I checked and found I needed to double my aperture. The Rimae Hippalus were clear on Sunday for me but I couldn't see anything last night. It was interesting to see the change in Copernicus from monster to mediocre in 24 hours. Two very cold days in a row and I'm ready to stay inside tonight.

I noted a wide 'smile' inside Gassendi but didn't specifically look for rilles, will check again next time. So much to see!!!

[Size9Hex]

10 hours ago, Stu said:

Thanks Paul. Yes, it was a cracker. It actually worked very well having a list of 7 objects, some trivially easy and some really tough. I need to research the Imbrium Lava flows more to see what they look like. I saw quite a few darker flowing lines which might have been them, but then these unusual light patterns in a three pronged arrangement. Gives me something to look into

The binoviewers certainly reduce my floaters to a manageable level, even at what is effectively 0.33mm exit pupil.

I'm reassured that you have also found info to be incorrect on the web (perish the thought ). I'll keep a note of what I find then perhaps produce as updated list. 

How does the Alpine Rille appear? I saw sections of a brighter line running down the middle, brightest near the widest part of the valley and then detectable in the section furthest from Mare Imbrium. Did it appear dark or light to you last night? I've not seen it before so am not totally sure how it will appear in the scope.

Great to be having some clear skies!

Definitely agree about the clear skies. Best lunar views I’ve seen in the few years I’ve been at this. Almost enough to forgive the moon for the annoyance it normally causes us...!

The resource I was using recommended to check for Mare Frigoris on day 5 which was maybe a week off. I wonder if it’s just a simple longitude based calculation rather than a genuine best day to view.

The Alpine Rille was the slenderest of slender white threads. Only ever hinted at, and even then only 10% of the time and only in one or two places. Good to hear your description. I’ve also never seen it (and still not sure I saw it last night!).

Let us know how you get on with the lava flows. I’ve also hunted, but not sure what I’m looking for!

I thought I had a loss of detail going from 360x to 500x even though the view was stable. Wondered if the small exit pupil was responsible. Maybe binovewing is the way to go!

 

[Red Dwarfer]

Seen Gassendi and Schiller for the first time last night . The first looks like an overweight snowman and the second like a peanut . It actually helps to make these associations for memorisation , ie overweight " gassy " snowman = Gassendi crater ... and Schiller peanut / crater 

[Stu]

44 minutes ago, Size9Hex said:

The Alpine Rille was the slenderest of slender white threads. Only ever hinted at, and even then only 10% of the time and only in one or two places. Good to hear your description. I’ve also never seen it (and still not sure I saw it last night!).

Thanks Paul. Your description actually gives me more confidence that I did see it. I too was only seeing it it a couple of places, at the widest part of the valley, then again at the thinner tapering end, as a fine white line or thread as you describe. It was there a fair amount of the time, more than 50% I would say from memory.

EDIT I was actually looking for a dark line for some reason.

The binoviewers really do help at high mags I think. Now I've got my head around them I'm enjoying lunar observing much more.

I'll do some more research into the lava flows and see what it turns up.