Ring Of Fire Tamed, Good Terminator Views

[cloudsweeper]

8.25 - 9.00pm - sky clear and light - Moon just after first quarter - got the ES ED80 out for a change, with its very wide views.

I used the 30mm ES 82 deg and the big UWA Meade 20mm, giving respectively 5.13 and 3.42 deg of field.  Compared with recent lunar views using the 8SE with these EPs, the RoF was now far less noticeable, being way off to the edge of the wide views, and the central views were less washed out (not white/clean) than before.

Indeed, in the wide view, the Moon looked lovely.  Concentrating on the terminator (most detail in that light):

x80 - Ptolemaeus, with craterlet Ammonius in its floor.  Under that, Alphonsus, with its central peak.  Next below - Arzachel, with magnificent terraced walls, central mountain, and craterlet.

Up to x160 - a further tiny crater showed up west of Ammonius; ridges and  craterlet to south in Alphonsus; and a couple of extra craterlets in Arzachel.  The (presumably deeper) crater Alpetragius between Alphonsus and Arzachel was largely in shadow, with just a tiny white spot revealing its central peak.

Different 'scope, different views, different opinions/performances of EPs.  All good.  And I shall return soon when it gets darker!

Doug.