Mare Orientale

[Mike JW]

Last night was very transparent so I sneaked along the edge of the nearly full moon, trying to have a "look over the edge" when some jagged mountains caught my attention. Totally unexpected, there was Mare Orientale. I had long wanted to see it.  I was wowed by the sight. I did a rough sketch at the eyepiece and then just absorbed the details for 30 mins or more, checking against an image of the area.

In real life the sketch is A4 in size.  The details of orientale are reasonably correct as are the two obvious craters. The rest is artistic impression. Mike

 

[MimasDeathStar]

I've read a lot about mare orientale. Apparently a British astronomer (Wilkins?) claimed to have discovered it in the 1950s but there was a suspicion that he was already aware it was a German discovery from the 1920s or 1930s when he found it (very naughty!) I think even Patrick Moore tried to claim he's discovered it at one point!

[Paul M]

Great observation and sketch. I didn't realise so much could be discerned from Earth even with favorable libration.