A CONCENTRIC CRATER ON THE MOON - Marth

[Mark at Beaufort]

https://spaceweather.com/   - Reading this website this morning I saw this information about the crater Marth. I was not aware of this and I thought I would make a diary enter to view it on 23rd February or there abouts.

Lunar observers maybe interested.

[RobertI]

An interesting one, I’ll keep an eye out for it. 👍

[MartinHiggins]

Cheers Mark, I'll keep a  look out for that. Hope we have a clear night!

[Nyctimene]

I've observed Marth for the first time in May 2020. A rather small, slightly oblong crater; with the Heritage 130 P I just could spot the outer crater rim, but not the inner concentricity. I guess, you will need at least 6", better 8" of aperture and good seeing conditions to spot it (that evening, with only moderate seeing, even the 18" could not reveal the inner ring). Hesiodus A, a few degrees to the east, is much easier (14 km vs 7 km outer diameter). Here's a link to the observation of both:

https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/celestial-objects-to-watch/crazy-about-concentric-craters02252015/

Good luck with the hunt!

Stephan

[Mark at Beaufort]

Thanks Stephan that is a very useful article. Clearly there are 3 concentric craters that I can try and observe at different times of the Moon phase - 4, 9 and 10 days.

Since I added this post I have found that I observed Hesiodus A (no. 81 - Lunar 100 list) on 14th January 2011 - that's 10 years!!. Best I carry out a revisit. So best dates in February - Crozier H (15th) and Hesiodus A (21st)

 

[Merlin]

I was just able to see the inner ring of HesiodusA with a four-inch refractor. The little crater looked like it had a central caldera, surrounded with an ash ring. Now it’s known that the ring was a consequence of the impact that produced the crater.

[Nyctimene]

In addition to my post above:

The link in the "Sky and Telescope" article ("gold mine") doesn't work any more; just found an excellent substitute (for the enthusiasts):

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Concentric_craters_on_the_Moon

Stephan

Edited January 30, 2021 by Nyctimene