What's this feature on the moon?

[MikeD]

Hi all.

Hope someone who knows the moon well can tell me what this feature I noticed while processing the avi's for a moon mosaic is?

it's to the right and above Tycho (which I have included as a reference point).

Anyone know it's name and any ideas how it was formed?

Thanks Mike.

[Dave Smith]

I almost certainly will not be able to help, but it isn't clear to me which feature you are refering to. The large ruined crater N and slightly E of Tycho is Sasserides and the crater touching that and to the ESE is a crater with two obvious craterlets and a very obvious small crater just outside its wall at 2o'clock is labelled A in my Rukl Moon atlas but there is no reference to it in the text. You probably knew all this anyway.

Dave

[kniclander]

I think Mike means the feature inside the red lines just NE of the one that you describe as "A" - it looks a little draker grey to me and almost clover shaped. But I don't know what it is. Sorry.

[Dave Smith]

Ah, thanks Kniclander. I hadn't spotted the red lines. Sorry I can't help either - there's nothing in Rukl.

Dave

[jgs001]

Mike, I think it's Orontius region... I think the left hand side of it is Orontius C... VMA doens't go into enough detail beyond that.

[peeceeTal2M]

The base of the feature is Orontius E with Orontius C being at top right, VMA gives no other details to the feature. It could be just down to shadowing and not a real feature.

[MikeD]

Thanks guys.

It could be just down to shadowing and not a real feature.

I think you might be right, I had a dig around the net and found this on LPOD for feb 2008

" All the tones looks right, being bright or shadowed just where expected, except for one half-dark patch at the top of the flat-floored crater Orontius F in the upper-left quadrant of Stefan's wonderful image. Apparently this piece of the crater floor is tilted just barely away from the Sun so that discontinuous patches of shadow form."

Mike.

[CaptPaul]

How big would some of these features on the moon be in conparisson to something on earth?

[jgs001]

Orontius C is about 9 miles across. Orontius E is 4 miles across... peeceeTal2M has indicated which crater is which.

[CaptPaul]

Are these main features of the moon or relativly small ones? (sorry about all the questions havent yet started looking at the moon its the wrong side of the house :S)

nine miles is quite a big distance. Thanks

[jgs001]

quite small as we see them... Tycho... bottom left is 85Km across... not sure in miles...

Tycho (crater) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[CaptPaul]

ok thanks!

[MikeD]

Beat me to it.

Orontius C( sorry forgot to add the c to the lable) in this image is 15Km (9 miles) across.

mike

[Catanonia]

either way amazing piccies of the moon surface..