Moon Mountains In The Morning

[cloudsweeper]

I've not had a decent outing for weeks, so jumped at this opportunity this morning when, at 6.30, I saw the last quarter Moon high in the south in a fairly clear sky.  (A return to calm after last night's violent storm.)  The 102S frac was ready in the shed.

At x40 / 1.3deg, the Apennine (north of centre) and Alps Mountains (further north) stood out like two white gashes, well lit to the NW and W respectively.  They shone against a greyish background, and stretched into space at the terminator.

The Apennines curved round above Eratosthenes, with a clear central peak and shadow within the western wall.  Further west again lay Copernicus, all illuminated, and now against a silvery rather than a grey background.  And in that wide field of view, the Moon was nicely framed within a clear, bright blue sky.

I raised the mag to x75 then x100 for a little more detail from the craters mentioned, then ended the session at 6.50 as daylight rapidly swamped the view.  

A nice start to the day.  Luna never fails to please!

Doug.

[WestCoastCannuck]

Lovely description of a fine morning!  I can relate as I spent a lot of time binoviewing luna after imaging the last three mornings and views were spectacular with steady seeing and perfect transparency.   Quality time!

Clear Skies

 

Mike

Edited August 12, 2020 by WestCoastCannuck