Lunar delights and surprises

[RobertI]

Although Sirius was boiling and bubbling the views of the moon through the 150P were actually exquisite. Loads of detail and tonight I was using a moon filter which I have to say made observing more enjoyable. Also managed to takes some pics on the phone to aid my memory - the real eyepiece views were far more spectacular. Most viewing done at x240. Highlights (south to north, top to bottom):

A - Schiller, an intersting non-circular crater.

B - A tri of large prominent craters; Phocyclides,Wargentin the middle with some lovely 'veins' visible in the floor and the largest, Shickard.

C - A feature prominent in the darkness - it looked just like a seagull flying away from the moon.

D - Two twins, Billy and Hantseen, identical shape and size but one with a flat floor and one with a rippled floor.

E - Craters within craters, Damoiseau sits inside an unidentified larger crater

F - An albedo feature named Reiner Gamma

G - Aristarchus, incrediby bright even through the 9x50 finder, with the spectacular Shroter's valley nearby and a network of Rimae and Rupes!

H - Mare Imbrium and Sinus Iridium, amazing mottled shades of grey and brown on the flat surface.

The final surprise was the occultation of a 6th magnitude star which, after careful viewing for a good five minutes, winked out of sight in the darkness near the terminator. Thanks to @Stu for the heads up!

 

[Ruud]

Good photos and interesting observations. Thanks!