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Meade Lightbridge Observing report as of 6.11.2009

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Doc

Doc

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6.11.2009

Meade Lightbridge 16" F4.5 FL1829mm

Limiting magnituse 4.0

Moon low in the east

19.6 day moon 80.6% illuminated

A little cloud and firework smoke.

Started observing around 20.30 and the first object was the open cluster Ngc 188 in Cephus. A very large but rather sparse cluster that consisted of about 20 bright stars that were aboutmag 5 in brightness. Could fit the whole cluster in the 1.26° FOV of the 28 Uwan. Pretty but nothing special.

Onto another cluster, this time the Ngc 559 in Cassiopeia, this cluster is pretty hard to spot as it's embedded within the milky Way and is pretty dim at mag 9, but with the 28 Uwan in the focuser giving a magnification of x65 and Stellarium as a reference I managed to track it down. It appeared rectangular in shape and consisted of 20 stars. No nebulosity was detected.

I then went hunting for Abell 4 which is a compact planetary that lies only 40 arcminutes east-southeast of open cluster M34 in western Perseus. With my 7 Uwan at x261 and a Baader O111 fillter in place I swept the area where it was meant to be, but could not see nothing, I tried for a good 15 minutes but found nothing.

Frustrated I moved on but then as I swung my scope around the whhel castor on the base fell of and the scope leaned to one side. It was to dark and cold to attempt any repairs so I placed a piece of wood under the baseboard and with the moon increasing in altitude in the east I decided to concentrate on this so not to move the scope alot.

First object I looked at was Fracastorius which is a walled crater just on the south side of Mare Nectaris. Through the 16 Uwan at x114 I could detect four mountain peaks emerging from the lava filled basin floor. The 7 Uwan detected extremely steep sides to the crater and showed Fracastorius N cutting into the wall. A very impressive shadow was observed on Fracastorius N.

Next target was a crater form the Nectarian period of 3.9 Billion years ago was Plana. This turned out to be a very interesting little crater, it measures just 27 miles in diameter. Through the 7 Uwan at x261, which makes a fantastic lunar eyepiece I could detect a few steep slopes and another crater which cuts into Plana which is called Mason. Plana itself contains a central peak and one of it's outer walls is cut through by Plana C which has a diameter of just 8 miles. Running just above Plana C is a wrinkle fault and above this Plana D.

Next object was going to be really tough as according to Virtual Moon Atlas you need a 20" scope to see this. It was the infamous Rima Sheepshanks, named after Anne Sheepshanks a 19 th century english benefactor born in England in 1789 and died 1876. This object is a Rille of the Imbrian period and is roughly 121 miles long. It's position was extremely low almost touching the limb and a little away from the terminator. Very hard to spot even in the 4 Uwan at x 457. Using the 7mm at x261 I could detect a darkening like a dark grey crayon mark against the normal light grey of the moon. It was just between Gallle and Kane craters. Very hard to be sure I saw it but there was definitely something there.

Up to Mare Nectaris again and had a peek at the Eratosthenian crater Madler. What a sight this was with Madler just emerging from the terminator. A very interesting circular formation situated on the east slope of Theophilus. Pretty steep slopes supporting a lengthened bright spot to the East. High walls damaged to the north. This crater really appealed to me through the 7 Uwan, I'm really getting to love this eyepiece on the moon, it really shows so much detail.

Isidorus was now emerging from the terminator and looked just like a volcanoe. It comes from the Imbrian period of the moons history so is dated about 4.2 Billion years old. It is 25 miles in diameter and stands an imppressive 4800 feet high. Through the 7 Uwan you can really see how large these steep sides really are, they look huge.

Piccolomini was next to be observed an isolated circullar formation from the Imbrian period, it is about 53 miles in daimeter and stands 13600 feet high, through the 7 Uwan I was amazed at the very imposing steep slopes riddled with little craters and terraces. I could see numerous little craters to the south these being Piccolomini M and C. I could also detect a central peak standing out from a very flat basin floor.

Lastly was Rabbi Levi named after Levi ben Gerson a 14 th century jewish Philosopher and scientist born in Jerusalem in 1288 and died at Perpignan in 1344, this is a Pre-Nectarian circular crater of 49 miles in diameter and of unknown height. A lot of little craters pepper the outside and three larger ones namely Rabbi Levi A, D and M are inside the main crater.

It was now about 23.30 and started to cloud over so I called it a night, as I was packking away it started to rain so my timing was spot on.

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Doc

Doc

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Cheers Mark.

I'm not selling just yet as they are cracking eyepieces, not used much now but if I want to see detail in Jupiter these are the ones to use.

never used them for galaxies though :icon_eek:

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Doc

Doc

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Excellent report Mick, and congratulations on Rima Sheepshanks! :icon_eek:

Cheers Carol. So do you think I saw this Rima Sheepshanks? Being a rille I thought I would be able to detect a formation of some sort.

But there was definitely a darker streak.

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dobserver

dobserver

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Another great read, Mick. I always get inspiration from your reports :icon_eek:

You have got me wanting a higher mag EP so I can become more familiar with the detail in the features of the moon. I'll have to borrow one of Carl's for now... :)

Steph

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Talitha

Talitha

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No.....its Polluxed

:icon_eek:Excellent!!! :)

Mick if you saw a darker streak, i'd say yes, you saw the rille. Sheepshanks is notoriously difficult to see because it's narrow and runs E/W.. not much of a contrasting shadowline to look for. Also, at 58 degrees north latitude, it's appearance is affected by libration.

Too much favorable southern libration causes the rille to 'roll' northwards (away from us) and appear very thin, making it even harder to see.

Too much favorable northern libration causes the rille to roll southward (towards us) which you would think would help us to see it better. But instead, it opens up to more sunlight and the (already light) shadowline gets sunbleached.

However.. the night you saw the rille, the Moon was facing us almost straight on with very negligible libration in latitude or longitude. You were seeng the rille when it was 'just' wide enough, and with 'just enough' of a shadowline. ;)

Congratulations again. :)

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pvaz

pvaz

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Thanks for the time you put in to your reports.

They make a pleasant and informative reading and give ideas on more challenging targets to search. I followed the text with Stellarium/Virtual Moon Atlas and it almost seamed like a private guided tour. :icon_eek:

Paulo

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