Mare Imbrium, Crater Clavius and Crater Copernicus

[Zakalwe]

A triplet of mosaics from Saturday 12th, all shot with a modified Lifecam in HD and stacked in Registax. Mosaics created in Microsoft ICE.

I was trying to create a mosaic of the full terminator, but didn't quite get the data (I cocked up a couple of the avis, which left them unusable:BangHead:).

All descriptions are ripped from Wikipedia (click on titles for full article). Each image is a clickable thumbnail.

Mare Imbrium

Mare Imbrium, Latin for "Sea of Showers" or "Sea of Rains", is a vast lunar mare filling a basin on Earth's Moon. Mare Imbrium was created when lava flooded the giant crater formed when a very large object hit the Moon long ago. The Moon's maria have fewer features than other areas of the Moon because molten lava pooled in the craters and formed a relatively smooth surface. Mare Imbrium is not as flat as it was originally because later events have altered its surface.

Crater Clavius

Clavius is one of the largest crater formations on the Moon, and it is the third largest crater on the visible near side. It is located in the rugged southern highlands of the Moon, to the south of the prominent ray crater Tycho.

Due to the location of the crater toward the southern limb, the crater appears oblong due to foreshortening. Because of its great size, Clavius can be detected with the unaided eye. It appears as a prominent notch in the terminator about 1-2 days after the Moon reaches first quarter. The crater is one of the older formations on the lunar surface and was likely formed during the Nectarian period about 4 billion years ago. Despite its age, however, the crater is relatively well-preserved. It has a relatively low outer wall in comparison to their size, and it is heavily worn and pock-marked by craterlets. The rim does not significantly overlook the surrounding terrain, making this a "walled depression". The inner surface of the rim is hilly, notched, and varies in width, with the steepest portion in the south end. Overall the rim has been observed to have a somewhat polygonal outline.

Crater Copernicus

Copernicus is a prominent lunar impact crater named after the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, located in eastern Oceanus Procellarum. It is estimated to be about 800 million years old, and typifies craters that formed during the Copernican period in that it has a prominent ray system.

Critique and criticism is welcome. Thanks for looking.