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Lobate Scarp?


cap603

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On the evening of August 19, I was viewing the moon with my 8" reflector at a magnification of 144x. I happened to notice what appeared to be a straight line segment between two craters. The line segment was situated northwest to southeast.

It appeared to be a thread or hair in the eyepiece. Of course, it wasn't. I had never seen or heard of anything like this before. Coincidentally that evening, Fox News Online carried a story about lobate scarps caused by the contraction of the moon. A

I've attached a photo of the scarp with an arrow pointing to the "line segment." The image is much clearer when magnified, which I hope is possible through this site.

Can anyone confirm this feature is a lobate scarp? Has it been noted previously? Needless to say, I was quite surprised to see what appeared to be a straight line drawn in black ink on the surface of the moon.

Many thanks.:D

post-19052-133877473011_thumb.jpg

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Hello Jim, you've found 'Rupes Recta' a long gentle slope appearing as a sharp straight line and its very striking close in but you are quite far away there you must have very good eyesight so well done for spotting a fascinating feature.

Rupes Recta - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If you download Virtual Moon Atlas - a big file it will show you the moon aspects and close in map and apollo images of all these strange lunar features so you can find these things for yourself including librations. VMA will show you what the moon looks like now and any time in the past or future so you can plan your viewing.

Virtual Moon Atlas | Download Virtual Moon Atlas software for free at SourceForge.net

Happy lunar viewing, John.

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The Straight Wall, as it is popularly called, is a great lunar feature.

As Johns link to the Info. about it will no doubt explain, at high magnification, it looks like very much like a sword, and with a handle too.

Depending whether the sun is rising or setting on the moon, the wall will be either in shadow and Black, or a White line as the sun hits it.

Just one of many spectacular lunar specials.

Ron.:D

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