A short, Luna Cognita inspired stint on the just past Full Moon

[Swoop1]

I had always opted against observing the full (or very near full) moon due to my thinking that the almost direct illumination of the whole visible surface would not provide any inspiring views.

Having recieved and commenced my copy of Robert A Garfinkles Luna Cognita however, his advice seemed to contradict my thinking.

Tonight, I decided to deploy the C6 SCT and hold him to his word. He certainly knows his onions!

The best combination with my particular C6 seems to be the stock 25mm Plossl which shows full disc with a small margin of black. Through this eyepiece, Garfinkles assertion that the ejecta rays and bright craters are good viewing was spot on. I really hadn't thought about the abundance of bright ejecta and craters there is and it was very educational having a cast about the surface, around Tycho, Copernicus, Kepler and Aristarchus. As for bright craters, there are far too many to even start mentioning.

Something else I didn't really think about was the fact that the Moon is only full for a given period and shadow detail can still be visible on the extreme limbs. The Eastern limb tonight (between 22:15 and 22:45) was quite revealing. The area around what I think was Neper and Gauss was quite stunning to look at, the western walls seeming to cast a slight shadow. In addition, as the eastern limb seems to have suffered a more aggresive bombardment historically, the limb itself was showing evidence of what looked like mountains but was probably the rims of beyond libration craters, in what I think was the vicinity of Joliot, Hubble or Al- Biruni.

Overall, a very satisfying if unexpected dash around our nearest neighbor.

[Nyctimene]

On 09/11/2022 at 00:09, Swoop1 said:

 Robert A Garfinkles Luna Cognita

Thank you for the hint!

Never heard of this up to now - a three-volume opus magnum of 1680 pages, first published 2020. Amazing look and excellent reviews.The perfect Christmas gift...

A review here:

Stephan

 

 

Edited November 11, 2022 by Nyctimene

[MartinHiggins]

I've a copy and love it!

[PeterW]

Stop it, I’d have trouble finding it shelf space! Maybe one for the Xmas list…

 

Peter

[Captain Scarlet]

15 hours ago, PeterW said:

Stop it, I’d have trouble finding it shelf space! Maybe one for the Xmas list…

 

Peter

Space wouldn’t be the only constraint: you’ll need shelf reinforcement too!

I have a set, but need to dig it out of storage.

M

[Swoop1]

3 hours ago, Captain Scarlet said:

Space wouldn’t be the only constraint: you’ll need shelf reinforcement too!

I have a set, but need to dig it out of storage.

M

Yes, it is a not insignificant collection. 

In fact, we could use it as a new SI unit divisible by three- a full LC or a 1/3 LC.

"How much does your scope weigh?"

"Oh, about one and two third LC's"

[PeterW]

Can’t see the BIPM wanting to change from the kg…. and it’s the only SI unit that has a prefix in the name…

For SI fans we are going to get some new prefixes in a few weeks for very BIG and very small things, though this chap is wrong…. https://www.johndcook.com/blog/2022/06/30/si-prefixes/

Most of my book storage is in “jam it in wherever and an whatever angle you can” mode… adding another large block is going to require some “creativity” 😉

Given the “shelf-meters” it takes up, should help fill all those cloudy/rainy nights we get for a good while!

Peter