Hesiodus crater ray phenomenon

[dweller25]

Here are my drawings of Hesiodus an hour apart showing the increasing ray phenomenon.

It was great to get out with the scope again after weeks of bad weather.

Big thanks to @Nyctimene for flagging this up 🙂👍

 

[John]

Nice sketches David 👍

I wonder what the view would be like from the surface at that time, looking across the crater floor towards the "gap" ? 🙂 

Hesiodus A is worth a look when it's floor is illuminated - it's one of the best "double walled" craters to observe:

 

Edited April 18 by John

[Stu]

2 hours ago, dweller25 said:

Here are my drawings of Hesiodus an hour apart showing the increasing ray phenomenon.

It was great to get out with the scope again after weeks of bad weather.

Big thanks to @Nyctimene for flagging this up 🙂👍

 

Very nice! I caught it looking similar to your 20.40 sketch.

[Nyctimene]

Glad, that so many members were lucky enough weather-wise to spot the ray! Was out with the 5.1" Heritage early enough to confirm, that the phenomenon had not started at 20.45 CEST. Fifteen minutes later, the clouds had left the moon invisible, and rain was starting. Ok.; I have seen the ray three times up to now, and will wait patiently for the June 15th occasion.

I didn't manage the reverse phenomenon, the Pitatus ray, up to now. The times for observing are less convenient, during the morning hours (waning moon!), but it seems worthwhile to get up early; have a look:

(c) Frank Mc Cabe; https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/554510-craters-pitatus-and-hesodius-during-lunar-sunset/

http://www.lunar-occultations.com/rlo/rays/animation/Pitatus.gif

 

Next occasion will be May, 2nd, 03h 26min; the moon will be very low, so you'll need a free horizon to the SE. More data here:

http://www.lunar-occultations.com/rlo/rays/pitatusp.htm

Stephan

Edited April 18 by Nyctimene
data corrected

[Nyctimene]

Another occasion to spot the Hesiodus crater ray will be Saturday  (June 15th, 19.12 UT), during the evening hours. A good chance to reawake your astronomical equipment from the deep midsummer night's sleep....

For details, have a look at the previous entries in this thread.

Next favourable occasion will be Dec 9th, 17.36 UT.

Good luck with the weather (not so promising here in SW Germany).

Stephan

Edited June 13 by Nyctimene

[Nyctimene]

Spotted the Hesiodus ray just now, during the last 20 minutes. Not yet fully evolved, the triangle of light extending across 60-70% of the crater diameter. An isolated tiny dot of light showed in the still dark region, giving the light phenomenon the look of an W-E oriented exclamation mark. An hour before, I had put away the 8" f/4 and associated gear, frustrated by the seemingly endless columns of clouds. But the mighty 130 P Flextube proved again as an excellent grab-and-go scope, and was set up in three minutes. Seeing not good, so maximum magnifications of 100-140x with the 8-24 zoom/2.25 Barlow combo.

Hope, that others are likewise lucky!

Thanks for reading

Stephan