Quick Early Moon - Schroter's Valley

[cloudsweeper]

6.00am - Moon waning crescent, just past last quarter, looking bright and lovely against a pale blue sky.  I got the ED80/GoTo out - already cool from being in the Dobhouse.

The view was sharp and clear, but not excessively bright.  Copernicus near the terminator was a fine sight as usual, but to the west the grouping of Aristarchus, Herodotus, and Schroter's Valley grabbed my attention.  The equally sized craters were in sharp contrast - Aristarchus very bright, Herodotus much greyer.  Above them, the Valley snaked away before splitting into the characteristic Y, and a nice line of three craterlets trailed away eastwards.

Nearly on that same line lay the Cobra's Head - a volcanic depression at the start of the Valley.

Mag ranged between x24 and x160.

By 6.30am, detail was diminishing, so time for breakfast.  A great start to the day!

Doug.

[Stu]

Respect to you sir for your dedication to the cause! I was still very much in the land of nod while you were up and at it.

I rarely observe the Moon in the later phases, must do it more. Schröter's Valley is a firm favourite of mine, very interesting area. Nice report!

[Mark at Beaufort]

I went out about 10.30am with the aim of observing the Sun in Ha. The Moon looked fantastic so I took out the Heritage 130P instead. Starting with Grimaldi and moving up to Cruger and Sirsalis and then Byrgius the views were sharp and brilliant. Looking toward the edge you could pick mountain ranges. 

If you fancy viewing the Moon have a quick observing session now - well worth it.