Crater Petavius and its rille

[Peter_D]

The last few days has been very warm. Today, the air was slightly cooler and lunar views were surprisingly sharp. Last month, at this point in the lunar cycle, I had focused on Mare Crisium. This time, I moved further south: a large crater with a very prominent rille caught my eye: I later identified the crater as the 177km wide Petavius. The rille extends from the crater wall right to the complex central peak. I was viewing the crater at, I suspect, after its optimal viewing period - it was still a very impressive sight in my C6.

Hopefully will be able to revisit this crater with more aperture at a later date. For those like me who have not examined it until now, I recommend looking out for crater Petavius and its magnificent rille.

Peter