Lunar 100 observing report 26.4.2010

[Doc]

26.4.2010

Meade lightbridge 16" F4.5 FL1829mm

Phase 22.6°

Lunation 12.28 days

Illumination 96.2%

Copernicus Number 5

I was looking straight down on to this wonderful crater Copernicus and with my trusty 9mm ortho at x203 I could detect two central peaks but by inserting the 4mm ortho to give me a magnification of x457 I could just split one of the peaks into two thus making three peaks but this was very hard to do and needed moments of good seeing. The basin floor surrounding the three mountains is otherwise flat and the crater has steep terraced walls, with the rims bathed in sunlight, ejacta formations on every side going out some distance I estimate at least 80 miles. Copernicus is situated on the Mare Insularum and is 56 miles in diameter and stands an impressive 11400 feet high. I could even detect a black circular formation embedded into the terraced sides of Copernincus this turns out I think to be Coperninus A a 2 mile diameter crater of unknown height.

Copernincus H Number 74

Dating from the Copernician (From -1.1 billions years to present days) period of the Moons history this is a very small round crater at only 3 miles in diameter and 2600 feet highh. Through my 6mm ortho I can detect very little as the crater is pretty deep for it's size so is completely drowned in shadow.

Sinus Iridum Number 14

Situated on the Mare Imbrium is a very large crater called Sinus Iridum at 242 miles in diameter, whats striking about this crater is it is missing it's southern rim, making it appear like a cove, It's bordered to the north by the Jura Mountains. Scanning along the coastline through my 6mm ortho I could detect very steep terraced cliffs which were bathed in sunlight, the basin floor is lava filled but I could make out a couple of small craters such as Laplace A and Heraclides F the latter just 2 miles in diameter and only visible in the 4mm Uwan at x457. If I Iooked over the Jura Mountains my eyes come accross the crater Pythagoras, sitting on the terminator only it's upper rim and the central peak is illuminated, what a lovely magical sight.

Gruithuisen Delta & Gamma Number 49

Head west from the Sinus Iridum along the Jura Mountains you come to a point where the mountains reach the sea. At this point I can see through the 7 Uwan at x261 little mountains or volcanic domes amoung the Mare Imbrium floor. Maybe all those years ago this was one of the volcano's that flooded the Mare Inbrium. The domes are approximately 12 miles in diameter and of unknown height and come from the Imbrian (From -3.85 billions years to -3.2 billions years) period in the moons history.

Rümker Number 62

Heading over the Jura Mountains towards the terminator I came across Mons Rumker a circular volcanic dome that is a mighty impressive 42 miles in diameter and of unknown height. With the 7 Uwan I could actually see the exact shape and could even see the sides of the dome and could imagine climbing up it. This is one very impressive geological feature and one I will continue to observe at later dates.

Aristarchus and Aristarchus Plateau Number 11 & 22

This is very interesting region to examine, Aristarchus floor looked like it was made of chalk, it glistened so white that it looked false compared to rest of the moon. I could easily make out the steep sides that appeared to take on a terraced formation, with averted vision I could detect a very small central peak, but this was extrememly hard to see. The crater is quite large at 24 miles in diameter and 9100 feet high. I'm not entirely sure where the Aristarchus Plateau is meant to be situated the only feature that looks possible is to the north of Aristarachus, it appears as a flat plain that stretches to the Schröter's Valley. To the East of Aristarchus I could just make out the formation known as the Rima Aristarchus a series of scratch marks in the surface of the moon, these were really hard to establish as they might be 97 miles long but are only 1 mile wide and the light needed to be just right to see them, so I only got a very rare glimpse of them.

Schröter's Valley Number 17

The Schröter's Valley Is a giant rille 97 miles long and 6 miles wide that snakes it's way near to crater Herodotus. In the 9mm Ortho I could trace the entire length. I could even detect sunlight bouncing off the top of the rille. I could even make out the tip of the rille as it breaks into two near it's end, I think this is known as "The head of the cobra".

Gassendi Number 13

Wow what a crater situated on the northern shores of Mare Humorum is a magnificent crater called Gassendi it is a mighty 67 miles in diameter and I could detect the mountain range within the crater and counted 7 montain peaks with the 6mm ortho. I could also see two more peaks towards the south terraced walls. The crater has very steep terraced sides that were illuminated by the sunlight. Gassendi A was easily seen cut into the northern wall of Gassendi. This is one very disturbed crater with so many geological features within it's basin you spend a whole night just observing the crater alone. The little craterlets of the Mare Homorum caught my eye next so I decided to count how many I could see through the 6mm ortho, eventually I settled on a figure of 22, pretty impressive I thought.

Flamsteed P Number 68

The crater Flamsteed makes the top point of an equilateral triangle with the other points denoted by Flamsteed K and Flamsteed D. At first I thought Flamsteed K was the crater I was looking for but it is not, I now know that Flamsteed P is 61 miles in diameter and is a lava filled crater, with only a few outer walls remaining, I could now see it with the 12.5 mm ortho. The craters Flamsteed, Flamsteed K and Flamsteed D are all within the walls that make up Flamsteed P. I counted six breaks in the wall, I really enjoyed observing this one. Also Surveyor 1 landed not far from Flamsteed K. Surveyor 1 was the first lunar lander in the American Surveyor program that explored the Moon. The program was managed by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, utilizing spacecraft designed and built by Hughes Aircraft. It was launched May 30, 1966 and landed on June 2, 1966 It took a total of 11,237 images that were transmitted to Earth. The successful soft landing in the Ocean of Storms was the first ever by the U.S. on an extraterrestrial body, and came just four months after the landing of the Soviet Luna 9 mission. With the help of VMA I could see the actual area that this fantastic event occured, to say I was humbled was an understatement.

Mersenius Number 44

A stunning crater and due to angle it looked like I was mountain climbing up the side of the crater. Whole of the top of the ridges was illuminated as was the floor, I could detect no central peak but through the 4mm Ortho I could see two craters embedded into the South terraced walls, the largest being the 9 miles diameter Mersnius H the latter has no name or designation. This crater is very old and comes from the Nectarian (From -3.92 billions years to -3.85 billions years) period of the moons history, it is 51 miles in diameter and 7000 feet high.

De Gasparis Rilles number 91

South of Mersenius you come across the crater De Gasparis and just above these I could detect two large mountain ranges that make up the De Gasparis rilles. With prolonged seeing and with the 6mm ortho inserted I could detect one more rille in the vicinity. The angle I was observing this object from, let me view the height of the object and it looked pretty tall but VMA says these rilles are of unknown height. Just below the crater is a feature known as Rima De Gasparis which I wanted to see but unfortunately the feature was not illuminated and I couldn't see it.

Schickard Number 39

This one was at the perfect angle just on the southern limb of the moon near the terminator. It's a large crater and I could see the extent of the very steep sides. Best viewed in the 9 mm ortho I could detect a gathering of about 5 craters on the basin floor towards the southern rim of the crater and two towards the northern rim. Schickard is huge at 137 miles in diameter and has a immense flat basin floor. It's height is unknown but VMA sys that a few of it's cliffs do reach 2700m in height.

Thats 13 more objects of my Lunar 100 list.

[Dave Smith]

These are brilliant reports. I wish I had the self discipline to do the same. Maybe one day.

Dave

[Doc]

Cheers Dave.

I just like logging down what I see, after a year or so I come back to them and they make an interesting read. I write reports on everything i see, similar to imagers making library of photo's I suppose.

[step_hen]

Mick- Great reading. i'd love to try this list, can you recommend any good resources or maps on the lunar 100?

Stephen

[Doc]

I use this site in conjunction with Virtual Moon Atlas.

Lunar 100

[mdstuart]

Amazing report..Love the detail. So much effort has clearly gone in to your observing..

I was looking at the moon again last nigth with all my eyepieces comparing the view. I love the 18mm Ortho which just picks up the whole disk. I coudl stare at it for hours...

Mark

[Talitha]

Well documented, Mick.

The thing to look for regarding Copernicus H isn't the crater itself but the small, dark ash halo which surrounds it. It looks like the Alphonsus dark spots (L47). And yes, Vallis Schroter is on the Aristarchus Plateau, but it only runs for half the length of it. The entire plateau is an uplifted block extending towards Montes Agricola. It's easy to see on the VMA.. look for the large rough area between Mons Rumker and crater Marius.

[Tantalus]

I'm enjoying reading your Lunar 100 reports Doc, there very descriptive and the geological and background details you include are educational. If these were concatenated into a single post they would make a great sticky for either the Lunar Observing section or the Primers and Tutorial sections.

The only caveat is, having made a start on the Lunar 100 myself last night, I'm reluctant to post a report because I couldn't hope to make them as interesting as yours...

[Doc]

Well documented, Mick.

The thing to look for regarding Copernicus H isn't the crater itself but the small, dark ash halo which surrounds it. It looks like the Alphonsus dark spots (L47). And yes, Vallis Schroter is on the Aristarchus Plateau, but it only runs for half the length of it. The entire plateau is an uplifted block extending towards Montes Agricola. It's easy to see on the VMA.. look for the large rough area between Mons Rumker and crater Marius.

Thanks Carol I'll revisit this area and have another look at this Aristarchus Plateau by the sound of it I was very near to the right area. As for Copernicus H I'm sure I detected a dark halo around the crater, not dead sure but once again I'll revisit this as well, want to get it right.

[Doc]

I'm enjoying reading your Lunar 100 reports Doc, there very descriptive and the geological and background details you include are educational. If these were concatenated into a single post they would make a great sticky for either the Lunar Observing section or the Primers and Tutorial sections.

The only caveat is, having made a start on the Lunar 100 myself last night, I'm reluctant to post a report because I couldn't hope to make them as interesting as yours...

Please post them, the more that do the more we will get interested in observing the moon, it is often overlooked and moaned about a bit but when it is up in the sky it is a marvel to look at.

[Helen]

I agree about posting.... These posts have got me thinking of starting the 100 too! I went for a wander around the moon last night and really enjoyed it, so adding a bit of structure to my wanderings seems a really good idea.

Helen

[Doc]

I agree about posting.... These posts have got me thinking of starting the 100 too! I went for a wander around the moon last night and really enjoyed it, so adding a bit of structure to my wanderings seems a really good idea.

Helen

What I do Helen is when there's no moon I concentrate on DSO's when the moons out concentrate on the Lunar 100, this way I never run out of things to observe and don't get bored, best of both worlds really.

[AztecastroMcJ]

great report again Doc,

like urself

i have made reports on most objects i have viewed aswell as moon,

and find writing down and making reports helps u to learn and remember points

about various objects

as well as being fascinating to look back on

as does imaging if u take the time to revise ur imaged subject b4 or after imaging

think the more u know the more u enjoy viewing 2,

[PeterW]

44/100... you'll be finished pretty soon I guess?! That big scope seems to hoover them up. We ought to see if we can find/make a 'Herschel 400' for lunar observing...

PEterW