A Publication of the Lunar Section of ALPO Edited by David Teske: [email protected] 2162 Enon Road, Louisville, Mississippi, USA Back issues: http://www.alpo-astronomy.org/
Online readers, July 2021 click on images In This Issue for hyperlinks
Observations Received 2 By the Numbers 3 Abulfeda F & M, R.H. Hays Jr. 4 From Aristoteles to Atlas, R. Hill 5 A Set of Wonders In and Around Taruntius, F. A. Cardinalli and A. Anunziato 6 Another Clavius Sunrise, R. Hill 10 An Unusual View of Fracastorius, S. Babino and A. Anunziato 11 Focus On: The Lunar 100: Features 71-80, J. Hubbell 12 Lunar 71-80 “A Personal View”, A. Anunziato 15 Mare Orientale, R.H. Hays, Jr. 86 Recent Lunar Topographic Studies 89 Lunar Geologic Change Detection Program, T. Cook 95 ALPO 2021 Conference News 105 Lunar Calendar June 2021 107 An Invitation to Join ALPO 107 Submission Through the ALPO Image Achieve 107 When Submitting Observations to the ALPO Lunar Section 108 Call For Observations Focus-On 109 Focus-On Announcement 110 Key to Images in this Issue 111
To our northern hemisphere readers, happy summer! Of coarse to our southern hemisphere readers, happy winter! I hope that this finds you and your loved ones well. I hope that the weather allows you to get out and do some gazing at our nearest natural neighbor in the universe.
This issue contains great lunar articles by Rik Hill, Alberto Anunziato and Robert H. Hays, Jr., as well as numerous excellent images and drawings. The main part of this issue is the Focus –On the Lunar 100, targets 71-80. This in- cludes targets such as volcanic areas in Atlas, saucer craters in Ptolemaeus and near limb basins Mares Smythii and Orientale. Also, there are some nice images of the recent lunar eclipse (pages 93-94). Tony Cook has again pre- pared another thorough report of Lunar Geologic Change and Detection. Thanks to all who contributed to these ef- forts.
I have been busy this past month on all things lunar. I have been preparing a paper for the ALPO Virtual Confer- ence of August 13 and 14. Please plan on joining this meeting! See pages 105-106 for details. Also, I have been scanning cards from Winnie Cameron for use by Tony Cook. I am now into the early Apollo days in my scanning project. It has been interesting to see the enthusiasm of lunar observers in thoe exciting times!
Clear and steady skies!
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LunarObservations Topographic Received Studies
Coordinator – David Teske - [email protected]
Assistant Coordinator– Alberto Anunziato [email protected] Assistant CoordinatorMany thanks – William for all Dembowskithese observations, - zone images,[email protected] and drawings. Assistant Coordinator – Jerry Hubbell – [email protected] Assistant Coordinator-Wayne Bailey– wayne.bailey@alpo -astronomy.org Website: http://www.alpo-astronomy.org/
Name Location and Organization Image/Article Alberto Anunziato Paraná, Argentina Images of Atlas, Copernicus, Ptolemaeus, Sinus Aestuum, Byrgius, drawing of Lambert R, article and images A Set of Wonders In and Around Ta- runtius and An Unusual View of Fracastorius. Sergio Babino Montevideo, Uruguay Images of Sulpicius Gallus, Atlas, Mare Smythii, Ptolemaeus, W. Bond, Rimae Sirsalis, article and image An Unusual View of Fracastorius. Juan Manuel Biagi Paraná, Argentina Images of Atlas (2).
Francisco Alsina Cardinalli Oro Verde, Argentina Images of Sulpicius Gallus (2), Atlas (3), Coper- nicus (4), Ptolemaeus (2), W. Bond (4), Sinus Aestuum (2), article and images A Set of Won- ders In and Around Taruntius. Desiré Godoy Oro Verde, Argentina Image of Atlas and Mare Smythii. Robert H. Hays, Jr. Worth, Illinois, USA Articles and drawings of Abulfeda F & M and Mare Orientale. Rik Hill Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, Articles and images From Aristoteles to Atlas, USA Another Clavius Sunrise, images of Sulpicius Gallus, Atlas (16), Mare Smythii (4), Copernicus (16), Ptolemaeus (16), W. Bond (4), Rimae Sirsalis (5), Lambert, Eratosthenes (4) and Mare Orientale (3). Marcelo Mojica Gundlach Cochabamba, Bolivia Images of Ptolemaeus and Sinus Aestuum (2). Felix León Santo Domingo, República Dominicana Images of the Rimae Sirsalis (2). Luigi Morrone Agerola, Italy Images of Rupes Recta, Atlas and Hercules, Ar- zachel, Aristoteles and Eudoxus, Archimedes, Albategnius and Vallis Alpes. Rafael Lara Muñoz Guatemala, Guatemala, SLA Image of Sinus Aestuum.
Jesús Piñeiro San Antonio de los Altos, Venezuela Images of Sulpicius Gallus, Sinus Aestuum, Ptol- emaeus and Tycho. Pedro Romano San Juan, Argentina Images of Mare Smythii, Lunar Eclipse (4), Co- pernicus (2), Timocharis and Mare Imbrium. Fernando Surà San Nicolás de los Arroyos, Argentina Image of Mare Crisium. David Teske Louisville, Mississippi, USA Image of Atlas (3), Mare Smythii, Copernicus (3), Ptolemaeus (3), Sirsalis, Lambert, and Mare Orientale. Román García Verdier Paraná, Argentina Image of Ptolemaeus. Ignacio Villarraza San Nicolás de los Arroyos, Argentina Images of Atlas,
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July 2021 The Lunar Observer By the Numbers
This month there were 149 observations by 16 contributors in 8 countries.
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Abulfeda F & M Robert H. Hays, Jr.
I drew this area on the evening of March 20/21, 2021 after the Moon hid 121 Tauri. These craters are south- west of Abulfeda itself. Abulfeda F is the double crater and Abulfeda M is the crisp round crater to its west. The south lobe of Abulfeda F appears to be slightly larger, and the Lunar Quadrant map indicates that this lobe has the official letter designation. However, the map shows the north lobe to be slightly larger, though I did not see it as such. I did not notice any wall remnant between the lobes, and they appeared equally crisp and deep. The map depicts a fault on both sides of Abulfeda F, but I noted some round hills there. The map also shows two short faults south of Abulfeda M, but they appeared as ordinary ridges. A narrow one with dark shadow extends southwest from Abulfeda M and ends at a small crater. Another one with lighter shad- owing has a swollen southwest end. Several mounds are north of Abulfeda F. A modest peak is just west of Abulfeda M, and a curved ridge is north of this crater. This ridge does not appear to be part of an old ring, but there is gray shading immediately to its west followed by a large darker area.
I checked this area later nearer to full, and the north lobe of Abulfeda F looked very slightly larger. Howev- er, I checked again at the following waxing phase, and it appeared as I had drawn it. A variety of images that I found were inconclusive.
Abulfeda F & M, Robert H. Hays, Jr., Worth, Illinois, USA. 21 March 2021 02:13-02:43 UT. 15 cm reflector telescope, 170 x. Seeing 8-7/10, transparency 6/6.
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From Aristoteles to Atlas Rik Hill
Such a magnificent expanse when the Moon is just past six days old. Starting from the upper left and going down we have the small crater Galle (22 km) at the top edge with the monster Aristoteles (90 km) just com- ing into the sunlight with little Mitchell (31 km) on its sunward side (east). Going further south we come to Eudoxus (70 km). Now below Eudoxus is an area with ragged boundaries. This is the crater Alexander (85 km), a very old, very eroded non-round crater dating back possibly over 4 billion years! Just right of center of this image is the crater Bürg (41 km) sitting in the middle of the hexagonal mare Lacus Mortis (Lake of Death). Notice the 4 or 5 rimae roughly radiating from Bürg to the outer wall of the Lacus. They are not all the same morphology and the better resolution you apply, the more interesting they get. The twin craters south of Bürg are Plana (46 km) to the left and Mason (44 km) to the right. South of them in the flat area that is Lacus Somniorum is a little bump that is Mason 1 dome. Further to the south is a relatively young crater Grove (29 km) and in the corner of the image is Danielle (31 km).
At the top of this image in the upper right corner are twin large craters, Hercules (71 km) with the smaller Hercules A (13 km) on its floor and next to it is Atlas with its system of rimae on its floor. So much is go- ing on inside this crater that can be studied at better libration. One last crater is Keldysh (34 km) above these two bigger craters. This whole region offers so much early in every lunation.
Aristoteles to Atlas, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 18 May 2021, 02:03 UT, colongitude 347.1o. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, 610 nm filter, SKYRIS 132M camera. Seeing 7/10.
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A Set of Wonders in and Around Taruntius Luis Francisco Alsina Cardinalli and Alberto Anunziato
Revisiting the images of lunar observers from the Sociedad Lunar Argentina for the Focus-On Section of this issue of TLO, I came across a fascinating image of Taruntius and its surroundings. Sure, Taruntius is one of the most interesting craters on the Moon. In words by Peter Grego (page 145) it "presides over a fair- ly bland region full of gnarled hills and unimpressive, highly eroded craters." Taruntius, says Peter, has a "distinct double-walled appearance when it is near the terminator", which is because its outer walls are low and it has an inner ring, around its central peak, that appears higher than the outside walls. Due to its diame- ter (56 km), Taruntius should have a depth of about 2.3 km, while its actual depth is only 0.4 km, even its central peak rises higher than its rim, which can be seen in IMAGE 1. What is the cause? It is one of the most characteristic floor-fractured craters (FFC), to the point that Don Wilhelms uses it as an example in the canonical work of early lunar geology "The Geologic History of the Moon" (page 113): "The fractured floors are higher relative to the crater rims and surrounding terrain than are the floors of typical impact cra- ters. Many of the floors, however, occur in craters with other morphologies diagnostic of impact origin- such as central peaks, as in Gassendi and Posidonius, and the whole range of exterior impact phenomena including rays, as at Taruntius. Uplift of impact-crater floors is the evident explanation”. Taruntius is inter- esting as a sample of Copernican tectonism "Copernican tectonism was minor… The only definite Coperni- can tectonic features are the uplifted floors of such craters as Taruntius." The location of the FFCs near the maria is explained because they are areas where the neighboring magma was able to rose underneath their floors and uplift them. Also, the numerous cracks in Taruntius' tormented floor surface are due to the pres- sure of the rising magma. In IMAGE 1 (bottom) we can also see another of Taruntius's characteristics, in the words of Elger (page 42): “the very gentle inclination of the glacis, which on the S. extends to a distance of at least 30 miles before it sinks to the level of the surrounding country, the gradient probably being as slight as 1 in 45”. "Glacis" is an old term for the very gentle outer slopes of craters with more complex mor- phology, which derives from the sloping part of a fortification wall (remember in "The British grenadiers": "and we with hand grenades, we throw them from the glacis”), which undoubtedly says a lot about what an- cient observers saw on the surface of the Moon: a world almost similar to our own.
Image 1 Ta- runtius, Fran- cisco Alsina Cardinalli, Oro Verde, Argenti- na. 21 August 2016 05:16 UT. Meade 10 inch LX200 Schmidt- Cassegrain tele- scope, 742 nm IR pass filter, QHY5-ll cam- era.
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Other wonders of Taruntius are reserved for other illumination. The bright rays of Taruntius do not seem so noticeable, although it is a Copernican crater, probably because of the complicated morphology of its rim. In IMAGE 2 we can see how the Taruntius bright ray system looks under near full Moon illumination, not as bright as those of the neighboring Proclus. There is another morphological feature of Taruntius that is only enjoyed with frontal illumination. Let's look at IMAGE 3, which is a zoom of IMAGE 2. Below the central peak in the image (that is to the south) we see a dark spot that connects both internal “walls”. It is evidence of volcanic activity in the form of ash or lava residue. For Wood (page 107), who makes us see that the dark spot we see actually are two that we cannot resolve, this volcanic activity is very recent: “Schultz and Wichman attributed the uplift as due to 1.9 km thick pond of frozen magma (a laccolith) only a few kilometers beneath the crater floor. The intriguing thing is that Taruntius’s youthful age implies that magma rose near the surface in Copernican time. Under a high Sun, you can see two dark patches near Ta- runtius’s central peak, so maybe lava or ash did erupt on to the surface a billion years ago. If so, this epi- sode would have been one of the last gasps of volcanism on the Moon, making Taruntius a strong candidate for future explorations”. If we look to the right, the Eratosthenian Asada also presents the dark spots indi- cating volcanism.
Image 2 Taruntius, Francis- co Alsina Cardinalli, Oro Verde, Argentina. 01 July 2017 23:41 UT. 200 mm refractor telescope, 742 nm IR pass filter, QHY5-ll cam- era.
Image 3 Taruntius, close-up of Figure 2.
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But the wonders do not end with Taruntius. Let's go back to IMAGE 1, upper side, to find one of the “unimpressive, highly eroded craters”: Watts, featured in more detail in IMAGE 4: is it a bright bands pat- tern we see on its east wall? It looks like a very similar pattern to that of the banded craters Group 2 “(Conon type). Rather dull craters with large dark floors and narrow walls. Very short bands show on the walls but cannot be traced on the floors. The bands, despite their shortness, appear radial to the crater cen- ter”, but Watts is not on the ALPO list nor is it young enough to “deserve” its bands. It is probably the sun- light making the most exposed parts of the wall shine more intensely, as we see in IMAGE 5, another zoom of IMAGE 1, which shows us the Secchi crater, of which a wall disproportionately higher than the others already ruined, and in whose complicated morphology we can find brighter areas with a pattern similar to that of Watts east wall.
Images 4 Watts (left) and 5 Secchi (below), Francisco Alsina Cardinalli, Oro Verde, Argen- tina. 21 August 2016 05:16 UT. Meade 10 inch LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, 742 nm IR pass filter, QHY5-ll camera.
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If we look at the lower right corner of IMAGE 1, we will see two beautiful systems of dorsa or wrinkle ridges: on the left Dorsa Cato and on the right Dorsum Cushman. Can you see the details? IMAGE 6 is a zoom of IMAGE 1. On both dorsa we can see the shadows on the eastern slopes and the distinction between the lower broad arch and the sharp crenulated ridge on top of the arch, the latter appears much brighter in two segments of the Dorsum Cushman, as indicated by the arrows, while the bright areas of Dorsa Cato (left) are much less sharp, presumably be- cause the illumination is less oblique as it is fur- ther from the terminator.
And another volcanic detail that appears clear- er in the lower left of IMAGE 6 is a rille along which rimless crater pits formed by degassing eruptions are aligned (as in Rima Hy- ginus).
Image 6 Taruntius, Fran- cisco Alsina Cardinalli, Oro Verde, Argentina. 21 August 2016 05:16 UT. Meade 10 inch LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrain tele- scope, 742 nm IR pass filter, QHY5-ll camera.
References: Elger, Thomas G. (1895), The Moon, George Philip & son, London, (Available in: https://archive.org/ details/moonfulldescript00elgerich )
Grego, Peter (2005): “The Moon and How to Observe It”. Springer. London.
Wilhelms, Don (1987): “The Geological History of the Moon”, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 1987.
Wood, Charles A. (2003), The Modern Moon. A Personal View, Sky and Telescope, Cambridge.
The Lunar Observer/July 2021/ 9
Another Clavius Sunrise Rik Hill
We had a remarkable terminator a couple nights ago. Moretus, Clavius, Tycho, Rupes Recta, Copernicus and Eratosthenes were all on the terminator. The seeing was good so I made the most of these old favorites. Here’s one of them.
This is Clavius (231 km) just coming into the sunlight. The great crater dominates the left side of the image with its interior satellite crater, Rutherford (56 km) on the south wall, just catching the first rays on its west- ern (left) wall. At the same point on the northern wall, you can see the slightest thread of light from the west wall of Porter (54 km). There are two craters below Clavius, Gruemberger (97 km) on the left and Cysatus (51 km) on the right. The big crater to the right of these is Curtius (99 km) and above it is the slightly small- er Zach (73 km).
Notice how the features outside the northern wall of Clavius are softened by a blanket of ejecta? Since Cla- vius is nearly 4 billion years old it is likely not from Clavius. A better candidate would be Tycho, a little further to the north that is only about 1 billion years old.
Clavius Sunrise, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 19 June 2021, 02:49 UT, colongitude 18.0o. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, 610 nm filter, SKYRIS 132M camera. Seeing 7-8/10.
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An Unusual View of Fracastorius Sergio Babino-Alberto Anunziato
Fracastorius is what was formerly known as the “walled plain”, a 124 km diameter damaged circular for- mation situated on the southern shore of Mare Nectaris. Fracastorius's walls usually appear ruined and low and its flat floor and filled with lava. But near the terminator, with oblique illumination, it is clear that its walls are quite steep. The al- most missing wall is the north- ern one, but in this image, we can see a motley set of hills and ridges. The east wall (in the lower part of the image) is stag- gered, with craters, sinkholes (which appear dark) and higher and illuminated areas. The op- posite west wall casts a dra- matic shadow into Fracastori- us's interior. The craters seen above the west wall are, start- ing from Beaumont (53 km. diameter) to the south, Fra- castorius E (9 km.), joined by two other craters to the left, then Fracastorius H (21 km. diameter), a crater of unusual shape, probably several super- imposed impacts, and already on the edge of Fracastorius is Fracastorius D (29 km diame- ter), with its interior completely in shadow, further south lies a chain of craters totally in shad- ow. The illumination, which causes long and elongated ex- pressionist shadows thrown down its walls, makes it diffi- cult to see the details of the floor, although segments of the rille that pass near the very small, although bright, central peak are perceived. The crater- let to the right of the central peak is Fracastorius M (4 km.) and the craterlet to the left is Fracastorius L (5 km).
Fracastorius, Sergio Babino, Montevideo, Uruguay. 14 March 2020 04:59 UT. Celestron CPC 8 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain tele- scope, ZWO ASI 174 mm camera.
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Focus On: The Lunar 100 Features 71 through 80 Jerry Hubbell Assistant Coordinator, Lunar Topographical Studies
This is the eighth article of ten in a series on Chuck Wood’s Lunar 100 list. Chuck Wood, the founder of the Lunar Photo of the Day (LPOD) (Ref.), first discussed this list of lunar features in a Sky & Telescope article published in 2004, and later published on the Sky & Telescope website (Ref.). This series will run from May 2020 until January 2022. I may insert a few other topics in between this series so the end date for this series may extend out to the end of 2022. Chuck wanted this list of lunar features (L1 to L100) to be like the well- known list of Messier objects that would give lunar observers a way to progress in their study of the moon and become life-long observers. The list contains all the diverse features of the Moon including Mare, Cra- ters, Rilles, Mountains, and Volcanic Domes. The list starts out with the naked eye view of the full disk of the Moon and progresses through more difficult features.
This series of Focus On articles is meant to be the basis for a lunar visual observing program but is not lim- ited to that. It can be the basis for starting your own image-based study of the Moon, which will enable you to use the Lunar Terminator Visualization Tool (LTVT) (Ref.), a sophisticated software program used to do topographical measurements of the lunar surface. These articles will introduce and show each of the Lunar 100 features as observed and submitted by our members through drawings, images, and narrative descrip- tions. Although you can use your naked eye and binoculars to start observing objects L1 – L20, observing objects L21 – L80 will require the use of a 3-inch (76-mm) telescope. Features at the end of the list (L81 – L100) will require a 6 to 8-inch (152 to 203-mm) telescope. Many of the features are best observed at differ- ent phases of the Moon.
One of the best ways to help you learn the features of the Moon is through sketching the lunar surface. Dur- ing this series of articles, we will highlight drawings of many of the Lunar 100 features. Springer Books publishes an excellent book, released in 2012, called Sketching the Moon (Handy, et al.) (Ref.). There are other resources on the Internet to help you get started observing and sketching the Moon including the ALPO’s excellent Handbook of the ALPO Training Program (Ref.)
In this article we continue with features 71 through 80 on Chuck’s list. This article highlights the excellent images taken by Rik Hill at the Loudon Observatory in Tucson, Arizona, USA. Here is a list of features 71 – 80:
L FEATURE NAME SIGNIFICANCE RUKL CHART 71 Sulpicius Gallus Dark mantle ash eruptions northwest of crater 23
72 Atlas dark-haloed cra- Explosive volcanic pits on the floor of Atlas 15 ters 73 Smythii Basin Difficult to observe basin scarp and mare 38, 49 74 Copernicus H Dark halo impact crater 31 75 Ptolemaeus B Saucer-like depression on the floor of Ptolemae- 44 us 76 W. Bond Large crater degraded by Imbrium ejecta 04 77 Sirsalis Rille Procellarum basin radial rilles 39, 50 78 Lambert RA Buried “ghost” crater 20 79 Sinus Aestuum Eastern dark-mantle volcanic deposit 33 80 Orientale Basin Youngest large impact basin 50
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This month we had a great response to our request for images and drawings for the eighth set of 10 features of the Lunar 100 (L71 – L80). I am grateful for all the submissions we received. Many of the images came from Alberto Anunziato’s groups, SAO-SLA, and LIADA. Early on he prefaced the images he sent on be- half of his group this way:
“LUNAR 100 PROGRAM Sociedad Astronómica Octante-Sociedad Lunar Argentina
When we found out that the next objectives of the Focus On Section would be the features listed in the Charles Wood's famous Lunar 100, the members from Sociedad Lunar Argenti- na (SLA) and Sociedad Astronómica Octante (SAO) of the República Oriental del Uruguay, we considered interesting to join the initiative of "The Lunar Observer" (TLO) and therefore we launched our Lunar 100 Program, under the auspices of the Lunar Section of the Liga Iberoamericana de Astronomía (LIADA). The objective is twofold. We will report the images submitted to the program to "The Lunar Observer". And we will also publish them in all the media of SLA, SAO and LIADA. We think it is a great opportunity to stimulate amateur lu- nar observation and if the call is successful, we can dream of some final joint publication.”
We look forward to future drawings and images submitted by ALPO, SLA, SAO, LIADA members and others from across the world. Please share with us any images you have in your image catalog; we hope to see everyone participate in these Focus On articles.
– Jerry Hubbell
COMPUTER PROGRAMS
Virtual Moon Atlas https://sourceforge.net/projects/virtualmoon/
Lunar Terminator Visualization Tool (LTVT) http://www.alpoastronomy.org/lunarupload/LTVT/ ltvt_20180429-HTML.zip
REFERENCES
Chuck Wood, The Lunar 100 (November 2012), Sky & Telescope Magazine (website), https:// skyandtelescope.org/observing/celestial-objects-to-watch/the-lunar-100/ (retrieved April 26, 2020)
Handy R., Kelleghan D., McCague Th., Rix E., Russell S., Sketching the Moon, 2012 Springer Books, https://www.springer.com/us/book/9781461409403 (retrieved April 26, 2020)
Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers, Handbook of the ALPO Training Program, http:// www.cometman.net/alpo/ (retrieved April 26, 2020)
Chuck Wood, Lunar Photo Of the Day (LPOD), https://www2.lpod.org/wiki/LPOD:About (retrieved April 26, 2020)
Lunar Reconnaissance Office ACT-REACT Quick Map, http://target.lroc.asu.edu/q3/ (retrieved October 31, 2017)
The Lunar Observer/July 2021/ 13
Patrick Chevalley, Christian Legrand, Virtual Moon Atlas, http://ap-i.net/avl/en/start (retrieved June 30, 2018)
International Astronomical Union Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, Crater Tycho, https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/6163 (retrieved March 1, 2020)
Wikipedia, The Lunar 100 , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_100 (retrieved April 26, 2020)
Aeronautical Chart Information Center (ACIC), United States Air Force, LAC Series Chart Reference, host- ed by the Lunar and Planetary Institute, https://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/mapcatalog/LAC/ lac_reference.pdf (retrieved September 1, 2019)
Lunar and Planetary Institute, Digital Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon, http:// www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/lunar_orbiter/ (retrieved September 1, 2017).
ADDITIONAL READING
Bussey, Ben & Paul Spudis. 2004. The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. Cambridge University Press, New York.
Byrne, Charles. 2005. Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Near Side of the Moon. Springer-Verlag, London.
Chong, S.M., Albert C.H. Lim, & P.S. Ang. 2002. Photographic Atlas of the Moon. Cambridge University Press, New York.
Chu, Alan, Wolfgang Paech, Mario Wigand & Storm Dunlop. 2012. The Cambridge Photographic Moon Atlas. Cambridge University Press, New York.
Cocks, E.E. & J.C. Cocks. 1995. Who’s Who on the Moon: A biographical Dictionary of Lunar Nomencla- ture. Tudor Publishers, Greensboro
Gillis, Jeffrey J. ed. 2004. Digital Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon. Lunar & Planetary Insti- tute, Houston. Contribution #1205 (DVD). (http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/lunar_orbiter/).
Grego, Peter. 2005. The Moon and How to Observe It. Springer-Verlag, London.
IAU/USGS/NASA. Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. (http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Page/MOON/ target).
North, Gerald. 2000. Observing the Moon, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Rukl, Antonin. 2004. Atlas of the Moon, revised updated edition, ed. Gary Seronik, Sky Publishing Corp., Cambridge.
Schultz, Peter. 1972. Moon Morphology. University of Texas Press, Austin. The-Moon Wiki. http://the- moon.wikispaces.com/Introduction
Wlasuk, Peter. 2000. Observing the Moon. Springer-Verlag, London.
Wood, Charles. 2003. The Moon: A Personal View. Sky Publishing Corp. Cambridge.
Wood, Charles & Maurice Collins. 2012. 21st Century Atlas of the Moon. Lunar Publishing, UIAI Inc., Wheeling.
The Lunar Observer/July 2021/ 14
LUNAR 71 TO 80. “A PERSONAL VIEW” Alberto Anunziato
We have now reached the number 80 of the Lunar 100 features that Charles Wood chose for his list of zones of increasing observational difficulty. In addition to being a fun experience, it was an extremely valuable one in many ways, at least for me. First, to locate in the images that we had on our computers the features included in the list, even those that we had never observed directly and that we did not even know we had registered (I confess). Such was the case, speaking of the features between 71 and 80, of Ptolemaeus B: many times we succumb to the temptation to frame that wonderful trio that is Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus and Arzachel, and in the meantime we don't pay much pay attention to the Ptolemaeus floor, which looks like a gray pool due to its smoothness. Looking closely, inspired by the need to find Lunar 75, that soft, slightly bright depression appeared in numerous images, quickly leading me to study Ptolemy's complicated floor, deceptively smooth in some illumination and full of "saucers-like depressions" at other times. In second place, find the Lunar 100 features allowed me to reflect on a particularly compelling observational theme for me: the possibilities of visual observation versus photographic observation. Accidents like the Lunar 78 La- mont R are truly challenging for the camera, but relatively easy to observe visually, at least its bright rim. Thirdly, in the features from 71 to 80 we were able to learn about lunar vulcanism by observing numerous features of volcanic origin: dark areas related to volcanic eruptions such as the dark mantles of Sulpicius Gallus (71) and Sinus Aestuum (79), dark-halo craters like those of Atlas (72) and Copernicus H (74) and a rille originated by a volcanic dike that failed to reach the surface such as Rille Sirsalis (77). We also have two libration zones such as Mare Smythii (73) and Mare Orientale (80) and the so degraded as little-known W. Bond crater (76). Starting next Focus On, the features will require larger telescopes or more exceptional illumination conditions. Let's hope we get at least one observation for each Lunar 100 feature, from 81 to 100. But whether we get it or not, we think it has been a great experience for all of us who participated.
We present a brief introduction to each lunar feature, from Lunar 71 to 80, extracted from the book by Charles Wood, also author of the Lunar 100 list, “A Modern Moon. A Personal View ”, the 2003 Sky Pub- lishing Corporation edition. The book is prior to the list, so we can infer that the importance that the author gives to each feature included in the list is illustrative of the reason why he included it.
L FEATURE NAME SIGNIFICANCE RUKL
71 Sulpicius Gallus Dark mantle ash eruptions northwest of crater 23 72 Atlas dark-haloed cra- Explosive volcanic pits on the floor of Atlas 15 ters 73 Smythii Basin Difficult to observe basin scarp and mare 38, 49 74 Copernicus H Dark halo impact crater 31 75 Ptolemaeus B Saucer-like depression on the floor of Ptole- 44 maeus 76 W. Bond Large crater degraded by Imbrium ejecta 04 77 Sirsalis Rille Procellarum basin radial rilles 39, 50 78 Lambert RA Buried “ghost” crater 20 79 Sinus Aestuum Eastern dark-mantle volcanic deposit 33 80 Orientale Basin Youngest large impact basin 50
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 71 Sulpicius Gallus
Lunar 71 Sulpicius Gallus dark mantle (ash eruptions northwest of crater)
Lunar 18 are the “Mare Serenitatis dark edges: distinct mare areas with different compositions”: “a photo- graph of the full Moon shows that Serenitatis is a bright hued mare, edged by darker lavas that are especially conspicuous along its southern and eastern shores”. But darker than the already dark edges of the mare are “two additional patches of even darker material occur near the Apollo 17 site close to the crater Littrow, and across Mare Serenitatis on a low ridge of the Haemus Mountains near the crater Sulpicius Gallus. These areas seem to be mantled-material is draped over existing terrain, rather than being lava flows-and are called Unit DM for dark mantle (…) Unit DM is interpreted as volcanic fire fountain deposits, similar to gas-rich ash eruptions in Hawaii and deposits at Mare Vaporum. The lower lunar gravity and absence of an atmosphere allowed the lunar pyroclastic material to travel much farther than in similar terrestrial erup- tions” (pages 77-78). This zone could be of vital importance in the years to come of the moon colonization: “Dark mantles are a promising source of material for future lunar habitats, as discussed later” in the magnif- icent book by Arlin Crotts, “The New Moon”. The image of Jesus Piñeiro shows clearly the small darker area near Sulpicius Gallus in which the volcanic ashes accumulated.
Sulpicius Gallus, Jesús Piñeiro, San Antonio de los Altos, Venezuela. 23 November 2020 22:27 UT. Meade ETX 90 mm Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, Astronomik IR pass 807 nm filter, ZWO ASI 462 MC camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 71 Sulpicius Gallus
Sulpicius Gallus, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 19 May 2021, 02:03 UT, colongitude 11.1o. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, 610 nm filter, SKYRIS 132M camera. Seeing 7-8/10.
Sulpicius Gallus, Sergio Babino, Mon- tevideo, Uruguay. 05 December 2019 01:03 UT. 250 mm catadrioptic tele- scope, ZWO ASI 174 mm camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 71 Sulpicius Gallus
Sulpicius Gallus, Francisco Alsina Cardinalli, Oro Verde, Argentina. 14 May 2016 02:32 UT. Meade 10 inch LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, 742 nm IR pass filter, QHY5-ll camera.
Sulpicius Gallus, Francisco Alsina Cardinalli, Oro Verde, Argentina. 17 February 2019 02:13 UT. 200 mm refractor telescope, QHY5-ll camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 72 Atlas
LUNAR 72 Atlas dark-halo craters (explosive volcanic pits on the floor of Atlas)
Atlas is one of the most interesting craters of the Moon, a real classic of the lunar observation with its so different brother Hercules. “The floor of Atlas is much more interesting. Atlas is a so-called floor-fractured crater, with central peaks surrounded by a network of rilles. And like Alphonsus, two dark spots centered on tiny pits occur along the rilles. Telescopic spectral data by Hawke and his University of Hawaii col- leagues demonstrate that these dark spots result from volcanic eruptions of volcanic glass and lava frag- ments” (page 73). But the beauties of Atlas, as is usually the case, they cannot all be enjoyed together. At full moon, we can't enjoy rilles and fractured floor but is the right time to observe two dark areas in sheer contrast with the blinding brightness of everything else. In the image of Luis Francisco Alsina Cardinalli it is clearly noted that the upper dark halo crater (south) is much darker than the lower one (north).
Atlas Francisco Alsina Cardinalli, Oro Verde, Argentina. 19 June 2016 03:02 UT. Meade 10 inch LX200 Schmidt- Cassegrain telescope, 742 nm IR pass filter, QHY5-ll camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 72 Atlas
Atlas, Richard Hill, Loudon Observa- tory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 08 July 2019, 02:27 UT, colongitude 339.0o. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain tele- scope, 610 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M camera. Seeing 8/10.
Atlas, Francisco Alsina Cardinal- li, Oro Verde, Argentina. 20 December 2015 02:13 UT. Meade 10 inch LX200 Schmidt- Cassegrain tele- scope, Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS cam- era.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 72 Atlas
Atlas, David Teske, Louisville, Mississippi, USA. 03 September 2020 07:56 UT colongitude 97.5o. 4 inch f/15 refractor telescope, 1.5 x barlow, IR block filter, ZWO ASI 120 mm/s camera. Seeing 8/10.
Lacus Mortis to Atlas, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 21 May 2018 01:31 UT. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, 610 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M camera. Seeing 8/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 72 Atlas
Atlas and Hercules, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 20 May 2018 02:07 UT, colongitude 329.3o. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, UV filter, SKYRIS 445M camera. Seeing 8/10.
Atlas, Desiré Godoy, Oro Verde, Argenti- na. 10 December 2016 02:20 UT. Meade 10 inch LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrain tele- scope, 742 nm IR pass filter.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 72 Atlas
Atlas, Francisco Alsina Cardinalli, Oro Verde, Argenti- na. 06 August 2019 23:21 UT. 200 mm refractor telescope, QHY5-ll camera.
Atlas, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tuc- son, Arizona, USA. 10 April 2008 01:46 UT. Celestron 14 inch Schmidt -Cassegrain telescope, f/11, UV/IR blocking fil- ter, SPC900NC camera. Seeing 6/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 72 Atlas
Atlas (with Saturn conjunction), Sergio Ba- bino, Montevideo, Uruguay. 19 June 2019 02:27 UT. 8”Astrotech RC (Ritchety Chretien) telescope, ZWO ASI 174 mm camera.
Atlas and Hercules, Richard Hill, Loudon Obser- vatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 03 October 2012 06:50 UT. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain tele- scope, 656.3 nm filter, DMK21AU04 camera. Seeing 6/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 72 Atlas
Atlas and Hercules, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tuc- son, Arizona, USA. 10 April 2012 10:07 UT. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, Wratten 23 filter, DMK21AU04 camera. Seeing 6/10.
Atlas, Ignacio Villarraza, San Nicolás de los Ar- royos, Argentina. 29 December 2020 00:00 UT. 127 mm Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, Xiaomi mi 8 Lite cell phone camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 72 Atlas
Atlas, Alberto Anunziato, Paraná, Argenti- na. 17 November 2019 07:17 UT. Meade EX 105 mm Maksutov-Cassegrain tele- scope, QHY5-Lll-M camera.
Atlas, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 21 July 2015, 02:58 UT. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov- Cassegrain telescope, 656.3 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M camera. Seeing 7-8/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 72 Atlas
Atlas and Hercules, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizo- na, USA. 15 December 2015, 22:53 UT. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov- Cassegrain telescope, 656.3 nm fil- ter, SKYRIS 445M camera. Seeing 7/10.
Atlas, Juan Manuel Biagi, Paraná, Argenti- na. 01 November 2020 04:24 UT. 180 mm Newtonian reflector telescope, QHY5-ll camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 72 Atlas
Atlas, Juan Manuel Biagi, Paraná, Argentina. 15 September 2019 04:36 UT. 180 mm Newtonian reflector tele- scope, QHY5-ll camera.
Atlas and Hercules, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 30 September 2007 06:38 UT. Celestron 14 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, 1.6x barlow, UV/IR blocking filter, SPC900NC camera. Seeing 6/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 72 Atlas
Atlas and Hercules, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tuc- son, Arizona, USA. 14 March 2016, 01:10 UT. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, 656.3 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M camera. Seeing 8/10.
Atlas and Hercules, Luigi Mor- rone, Agerola, Italy. 18 June 2021 18:57 UT. Celestron 14 inch Edge HD Schmidt- Cassegrain telescope, Fornax mount, Baader R + IR Filter 610 nm, Zeiss Abbe barlow, ZWO ASI174M camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 72 Atlas
Atlas, David Teske, Louisville, Mississippi, USA. 19 January 2021 00:48 UT colongitude 333.7o. 4 inch f/15 refractor telescope, IR block filter, ZWO ASI 120 mm/s camera. Seeing 6-7/10.
Lacus Temporis, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 12 April 2016, 03:26 UT. 3.5 inch Questar Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, 656.3 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M camera. Seeing 8/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 72 Atlas
Endymion, Richard Hill, Loudon Observato- ry, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 27 September 2007 06:06 UT. Celestron 14 inch Schmidt- Cassegrain telescope, 1.6x barlow, UV/IR blocking filter, SPC900NC camera. Seeing 6/10.
Endymion, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tuc- son, Arizona, USA. 27 September 2018, 05:32 UT, colongitude 116.7o. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, 610 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M camera. See- ing 8/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 72 Atlas
Atlas, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 10 July 2016 02:38 UT. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov- Cassegrain telescope, 656.3 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M camera. Seeing 8/10.
Atlas, David Teske, Louisville, Mississippi, USA. 03 October 2020 07:33 UT colongitude 103.2o. 4 inch f/15 refractor telescope, IR block filter, ZWO ASI 120 mm/s camera. Seeing 7-8/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 72 Atlas
Lacus Mor- tis to Atlas, Richard Hill, Loudon Ob- servatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 03 April 2017 01:31 UT. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov- Cassegrain telescope, 656.3 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M cam- era. Seeing 8/10.
Lacus Mortis, Richard Hill, Loudon Observa- tory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 18 April 2013 02:18 UT. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, 656.3 nm filter, DMK21AU04 camera. Seeing 8/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 73 Smythii Basin
LUNAR 73 Smythii basin (Difficult-to- observe basin scarp and mare)
“Unlike Mare Marginis, Mare Smythii is defi- nitely contained in a multiring impact basin (…) When the sun is high, parts of the mare floor ap- pear darker than others. This suggest that there are two different ages for the Smythii mare. The area with an intermediate albedo has a relatively large number of superposed craters, indicating that it is relatively old. The northern part of the floor has darker mare and formed more recently perhaps only 1 or 2 billion years ago. Thus, one of the oldest and one the youngest mare deposits occur in the same basin” (page 97). Certainly Mare Smythii is very difficult to observe, so the wonderful image of Rik Hill that we selected is revealing not only of the entire basin but of the two areas with different albedos mentioned in Wood's description. Who knows? Perhaps our progeny can visit Mare Smythii if the future de- cides to pay attention to the fascinating work of Paul Spudis and Lon Hood "Geological and Ge- ophysical Field Investigations from a Lunar Base at Mare Smythii", in whose abstract we read: “Mare Smythii, located on the equator and east limb of the Moon, has a great variety of sci- entific and economic uses as the site for a per- manent lunar base. Here a complex could be established that would combine the advantages of a nearside base (for ease of communications with Earth and normal operations) with those of a farside base (for shielding a radio astronomical observatory from the electromagnetic noise of Earth). The Mare Smythii region displays virtu- ally the entire known range of geological pro- cesses and materials found on the Moon; from this site, a series of field traverses and investiga- tions could be conducted that would provide da- ta on and answers to fundamental questions in lunar geoscience. This endowment of geological materials also makes the Smythii region attrac- tive for the mining of resources for use both on the Moon and in Earth-Moon space”.
Mare Smythii, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 08 April 2017, 04:16 UT. 8 inch f/20 Mak- sutov-Cassegrain telescope, 665 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M camera. Seeing 8/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 73 Smythii Basin
Mare Smythii, Desiré Godoy, Oro Verde, Ar- gentina. 08 November 2019 01:28 UT. 200 mm Newtonian reflector telescope, QHY5L-ll- M camera..
Mare Smythii, David Teske, Louisville, Missis- sippi, USA. 04 November 2019 00:59 UT, colon- gitude 347.9o. 3.5 inch Questar Maksutov- Cassegrain telescope, ZWO ASI 120 mm/s cam- era. Seeing 7/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 73 Smythii Basin
Mare Smythii, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 03 May 2017, 02:20 UT. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain tele- scope, 665 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M camera. Seeing 8/10.
Mare Smythii, Pedro Romano, San Juan, Argentina. 20 October 2020 05:20 UT. 102 mm Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, ZWO ASI 120 camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 73 Smythii Basin
Mare Smythii, Sergio Babino, Montevideo, Uruguay. 13 October 2018 22:24 UT. 81 mm refractor telescope, ZWO ASI 174 mm camera.
Mare Smythii, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 28 June 2017, 03:12 UT. 8 inch f/20 Mak- sutov-Cassegrain telescope, 656.3 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M camera. Seeing 8/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 74 Copernicus H
LUNAR 74 Copernicus H (Dark halo impact crater)
Copernicus is so magnificent in its complicated and well-preserved structure and in its impressive system of bright rays that it outshines wonders such as those discovered by Charles Wood in his Lunar 74: “Look now, preferably under a high Sun, at Copernicus H, a 5-km wide crater closet to the southeast rim of Copernicus. Copernicus H is a normal little impact crater, except that it is surrounded by a halo of dark material. Spec- troscopic studies show that the halo (and several others nearby) is made of the same material as the volcanic glassy ash at Aestuum and Vaporum. It seems that the impact event that produced Copernicus H excavated material from beneath the lighter-hued surface lavas and produced an ejecta blanket from the otherwise bur- ied ash layer. The dark mantle material near Aestuum must continue under the mare lavas near Copernicus. It is unclear why so much of this dark mantle material exists in the area south of Imbrium”. David Teske’s image show us everything: terraced walls, central peaks and bright rays of Copernicus as well as Copernicus H and other dark halo craters nearby.
Copernicus, David Teske, Louisville, Mississippi, USA. 05 May 2020 02:37 UT, colongitude 56.6o. Takahashi Mewlon 180 Dall-Kirkham telescope, IR cut filter, ZWO ASI 120 mm/s camera. Seeing 8/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 74 Copernicus H
Aristarchus to Copernicus, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 14 August 2019, 05:32 UT. 8 inch f/20 Mak- sutov-Cassegrain telescope.
Copernicus, Francisco Alsina Cardinalli, Oro Verde, Argentina. 21 April 2016 22:48 UT. Meade 10 inch LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, QHY5-ll camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 74 Copernicus H
Copernicus, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 16 July 2008, 05:32 UT. 3.5 inch Questar Maksutov-Cassegrain tele- scope, 2x barlow, f/28.8, UV/IR blocking filter, SPC900NC camera, seeing 5/10.
Copernicus, Alberto Anunziato, Oro Verde, Argentina. 21 August 2016 05:32 UT. Meade 10 inch LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, Astronomik ProPlanet 742 IR-pass filter, QHY5-ll camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 74 Copernicus H
Copernicus, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 09 November 2008 04:18 UT. Celestron 14 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain tele- scope, 2x barlow, UV/IR blocking filter, SPC900NC camera. Seeing 6/10.
Copernicus, Francisco Alsina Cardinalli, Oro Verde, Argentina. 12 December 2016 01:16 UT. Meade Starfinder 8 inch Newtonian reflector tele- scope, Astronomik ProPlanet 742 IR-pass filter, QHY5-ll camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 74 Copernicus H
Copernicus, Richard Hill, Loudon Observa- tory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 28 April 2015, 02:36 UT. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, 656.3 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M camera. Seeing 9/10.
Copernicus, Richard Hill, Loudon Ob- servatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 02 May 2012, 03:19 UT. 8 inch f/20 Mak- sutov-Cassegrain telescope, Wratten 23 filter, DMK21AU04 camera. Seeing 7/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 74 Copernicus H
Copernicus to Eratosthenes, Rich- ard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 27 Febru- ary 2007, 02:59 UT. Celestron 14 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain tele- scope, Wratten 21 filter, ToUCam camera.
Copernicus, Pedro Romano, San Juan, Argentina. 21 May 2021. 102 mm Maksutov-Cassegrain tel- escope, Canon 450D camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 74 Copernicus H
Copernicus, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 15 October 2013, 02:04 UT. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, 656.3 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M camera. Seeing 6-7/10.
Copernicus, David Teske, Louisville, Mississippi, USA. 03 February 2021 10:50 UT colongitude 160.7o. 4 inch f/15 refractor telescope, IR block filter, ZWO ASI 120 mm/s camera. Seeing 7-8/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 74 Copernicus H
Copernicus, Francisco Alsina Cardinalli, Oro Verde, Argenti- na. 12 December 2016 01:18 UT. Meade Starfinder 8 inch Newtonian reflector tele- scope, As- tronomik Pro- Planet 742 IR- pass filter, QHY5-ll camera.
Copernicus, Rich- ard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tuc- son, Arizona, USA. 18 September 2010 03:34 UT. Celestron 5 inch Schmidt- Cassegrain tele- scope, 2.5x PowerMate, f/25, UV/IR blocking filter. Seeing 6/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 74 Copernicus H
Copernicus, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tuc- son, Arizona, USA. 19 No- vember 2018, 03:05 UT, co- longitude 36.3o. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain tele- scope, 850 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M camera. Seeing 7/10.
Copernicus, Richard Hill, Loudon Obser- vatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 21 Janu- ary 2013, 02:20 UT. 3.5 inch Questar Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, 656.3 nm filter, DMK21AU04 camera. Seeing 8/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 74 Copernicus H
Copernicus, Richard Hill, Loudon Observato- ry, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 03 April 2020 02:21 UT, colongitude 28.8o. Dynamax 6 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, 1.5x barlow, f/25, 610 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M camera. Seeing 8/10.
Copernicus, Pedro Romano, San Juan, Argentina. 21 May 2021. 102 mm Maksutov- Cassegrain tele- scope, Canon 450D camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 74 Copernicus H
Copernicus, Fran- cisco Alsina Car- dinalli, Oro Verde, Argentina. 17 Feb- ruary 2019 03:17 UT. 200 mm re- fractor telescope, QHY5-ll camera.
Copernicus, Richard Hill, Loudon Ob- servatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 29 March 2018, 04:58 UT, colongitude 57.5o. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, 610 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 74 Copernicus H
Copernicus, David Teske, Louisville, Mississippi, USA. 01 October 2020 03:55 UT colongitude 77.1o. 4 inch f/15 refractor telescope, IR block filter, ZWO ASI 120 mm/s camera. Seeing 7/10.
Copernicus, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 02 May 2020 04:43 UT, colongitude 20.4o. Dynamax 6 inch Schmidt- Cassegrain telescope, 2.8x Klee barlow, 665 nm filter. Seeing 8-9/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 74 Copernicus H
Copernicus to Eratosthenes, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 20 February 2013, 01:30 UT. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, 656.3 nm filter, DMK21AU04 camera. Seeing 8/10.
Copernicus, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 17 May 2016, 02:27 UT. 3.5 inch Questar Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, 1.7x barlow, 656.3 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M camera. Seeing 7/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 74 Copernicus H
Copernicus, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 26 March 2013, 03:43 UT. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain tele- scope, 656.3 nm filter, DMK21AU04 camera. Seeing 7/10.
Copernicus, David Teske, Louisville, Mississip- pi, USA. 26 December 2020 03:28 UT colongi- tude 43.1o. 4 inch f/15 refractor telescope, 1.5 x barlow, IR block filter, ZWO ASI 120 mm/s cam- era. Seeing 8/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 75 Ptolemaeus B
LUNAR 75 Ptolemaeus B (saucer-like depression on the floor of Ptolemaeus)
“When the Sun shines moderately high over Ptolemaeus, the relatively large (9 km) bright impact crater Ptolemaeus A and perhaps three or four craterlets a few kilometers in diameter are visible on its floor. But when the Sun is low, the real action starts-all sorts of shallow “saucers”, or hollows, typically 5 to 10 km in diameter, become visible. The largest and easiest to see are Ptolemaeus B (about 18 km across) to the north of A (…) So what are these saucers adorning the floor of Ptolemaeus? A commonly held view has been that they are craters covered by subsequent lava flows. This suggestion seems best because there is evidence that some of the saucers are definitely buried features. For example, to the east of Ptolemaeus A there is a faint chain of saucers that appears to be radial to the Imbrium basin. Considering that the area around Ptole- maeus is cut by many Imbrium secondary crater chains, it seems likely that this saucer chain originated with the Imbrium impact but was subsequently covered by some material. But what? Is the material lava or per- haps pulverized ejecta that arrived from Imbrium moments after the crater chain formed? A view of Ptole- maeus at full Moon reveals that its floor is not dark like maria but bright like the highlands. So most likely Imbrium ejecta ponded in Ptolemaeus, filling it enough to hide a central peak and nearly burying earlier im- pact craters and gouges on its floor” (pages 136/137).
Ptolemaeus B is certainly the most notorious of the saucer-like depressions of Ptolemaeus and if we zoom in on the Rik Hill image that illustrates Lunar 75, we can recognize the “crater covered by subsequent lava flows” and an old one it is, since we see that its walls before being buried, they were already deteriorated, since the north wall is missing.
Ptolemaeus and Alphonsus, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 24 April 2018, 02:08 UT. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, 610 nm filter.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 75 Ptolemaeus B
Thebit to Oppolzer, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 13 September 2008, 06:24 UT. Celestron 14 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, 2x barlow, UV/IR blocking filter, SPC900NC camera. Seeing 5/10.
Ptolemaeus, Francisco Alsina Cardinalli, Oro Verde, Argentina. 11 December 2016 04:25 UT. Meade 10 inch LX200 Schmidt- Cassegrain telescope, Astronomik Pro- Planet 742 IR-pass filter.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 75 Ptolemaeus B
Rupes Recta to Ptolemaeus, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 09 May 2014, 03:50 UT. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, 656.3 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M camera. Seeing 8/10.
Ptolemaeus, Ser- gio Babino, Mon- tevideo, Uruguay. 05 December 2019 01:10 UT. 250 mm catadrioptic telescope, ZWO ASI 174 mm cam- era.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 75 Ptolemaeus B
Arzachel to Oppolzer, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 21 August 2007, 03:19 UT. Celestron 14 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, 1.6x barlow, UV/IR blocking filter, SPC900NC camera. Seeing 6/10.
Ptolemaeus, Francisco Alsina Cardinalli, Oro Verde, Argenti- na. 09 October 2016 00:25 UT. Celestron 11 inch Edge HD inch LX200 Schmidt- Cassegrain telescope, QHY5-ll camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 75 Ptolemaeus B
Catena Davy, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 14 May 2019, 02:33 UT, colongitude 27.0o. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, 610 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M camera. Seeing 9/10.
Ptolemaeus, Román García Verdier, Paraná, Argentina. 10 July 2019 22:09 UT. 180 mm reflector telesc ope, ZWO ASOI 120 MC camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 75 Ptolemaeus B
Ptolemaeus, Marcelo Mojica Gundlach, Cochabamba, Bolivia. 30 April 2020 23:31 UT. Skywatcher 6 inch Mak- sutov-Cassegrain telescope, ZWO ASI 178 B/N camera. Seeing 7/10, transparency 5/6.
Ptolemaeus to Alphon- sus, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 24 April 2018, 02:08 UT, colongitude 12.9o. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov- Cassegrain telescope, 610 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M camera. Seeing 8/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 75 Ptolemaeus B
Ptolemaeus, Rich- ard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tuc- son, Arizona, USA. 05 April 2017, 02:12 UT. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov- Cassegrain tele- scope, 656.3 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M camera. Seeing 8/10.
Ptolemaeus, David Teske, Louisville, Mississippi, USA. 18 June 2021 02:42 UT colongitude 3.6o. 4 inch f/15 refractor telescope, 1.5 x barlow, IR block filter, ZWO ASI 120 mm/s camera. Seeing 7/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 75 Ptolemaeus B
Arzachel to Flammarion, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 01 March 2012, 01:51 UT, colongitude 12.9o. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, 656.3 nm filter, DMK21AU04 camera. Seeing 8/10.
Ptolemaeus, Alberto Anunziato, Oro Verde, Argentina. 11 November 2016 06:40 UT. Celestron 11 inch Edge HD inch LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrain tele- scope, Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 75 Ptolemaeus B
The Trio, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tuc- son, Arizona, USA. 13 June 2016, 02:44 UT. 8 inch TEC f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, 656.3 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M camera. Seeing 9/10.
Ptolemaeus to Arzachel, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 22 May 2010, 03:01 UT. Celestron 14 inch Schmidt- Cassegrain telescope, 2x barlow, f/22, UV/IR blocking filter, DMK21AU04 camera. Seeing 8/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 75 Ptolemaeus B
Herschel to Rupes Recta, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 27 January 2007, 02:53 UT. Celestron 14 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, Wratten 21 fil- ter, SPC900NC camera.
Ptolemaeus, Jesús Piñeiro, San Antonio de los Altos, Venezuela. 07 June 2021 00:40 UT. Meade 10 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, 9.7 mm eyepiece projection, Canon EOS 50D camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 75 Ptolemaeus B
Ptolemaeus, David Teske, Louisville, Mis- sissippi, USA. 03 Feb- ruary 2021 10:52 UT colongitude 160.7o. 4 inch f/15 refractor tel- escope, 1.5 x barlow, IR block filter, ZWO ASI 120 mm/s camera. Seeing 7-8/10.
Ptolemaeus, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tuc- son, Arizona, USA. 15 June 2016, 02:47 UT. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain tele- scope, 656.3 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M camera. See- ing 8/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 75 Ptolemaeus B
Arzachel to Flammarion, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 07 Octo- ber 2019, 01:44 UT, colongitude 9o. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, 610 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M camera. Seeing 8/10.
Alphonsus Trio, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 29 June 2020, 02:54 UT, co- longitude 10.9o. 6 inch Dynamax Schmidt- Cassegrain telescope, 2x barlow, 850 nm filter, SKYRIS 132M camera. Seeing 8-9/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 75 Ptolemaeus B
Ptolemaeus to Arzachel, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 16 February 2016, 02:17 UT. 8 inch TEC f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain tele- scope, 656.3 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M cam- era. Seeing 7/10.
Ptolemaeus, David Teske, Louisville, Mis- sissippi, USA. 09 September 2020 10:14 UT colongitude 171.7o. 4 inch f/15 refrac- tor telescope, 1.5 x barlow, IR block filter, ZWO ASI 120 mm/s camera. Seeing 8/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 75 Ptolemaeus B
Ptolemaeus to Rupes Recta, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 05 August 2014, 02:34 UT. 3.5 inch Questar Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, Klee barlow, 656.3 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M camera. Seeing 7/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 76 W. Bond
Lunar 76 W. Bond (large crater degraded by Imbrium ejecta)
“The highlands around the lunar north pole are dominated by degraded, shallow, often interconnected cra- ters. Look at J. Herschel, Birmingham, W. Bond, and Meton-even the names sound old and worn out. These old craters formed before the cataclysm that excavated the Imbrium basin, and so they have been scoured and partially infilled by Imbrium ejecta. Their floors are either rubbly looking from small clots of basin debris (w. Bond, J. Herschel)” (page 67). Actually, we can add little more to this description of this deteriorated crater, as we can see in the image of Luis Francisco Alsina Cardinalli.
W. Bond, Francisco Alsina Cardinalli, Oro Verde, Argentina. 17 February 2019 03:40 UT. 200 mm refractor tele- scope, QHY5-ll camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 76 W. Bond
Barrow to Meton, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 21 April 2021, 01:43 UT, colongitude 17.2o. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, 610 nm filter, SKYRIS 132M camera. Seeing 8/10.
W. Bond, Francisco Alsina Cardinalli, Oro Verde, Argentina. 28 August 2020 23:21 UT. 200 mm refractor tele- scope, QHY5-ll camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 76 W. Bond
Barrow, Richard Hill, Loudon Obser- vatory, Tucson, Ari- zona, USA. 06 Octo- ber 2019, 01:23 UT, colongitude 348.1o. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov- Cassegrain telescope, 610 nm filter, SKYR- IS 445M camera. Seeing 8/10.
W. Bond, Francisco Alsina Cardinalli, Oro Verde, Argentina. 28 August 2020 23:26 UT. 200 mm refractor tele- scope, QHY5-ll camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 76 W. Bond
Barrow, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 20 June 2010, 02:37 UT. Celestron 14 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, f/22, 656.3 nm filter, DMK21AU04 camera. Seeing 8/10.
W. Bond, Sergio Babino, Montevideo, Uruguay. 10 December 2019 01:40 UT. 250 mm catadrioptic tele- scope, ZWO ASI 174 mm camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 76 W. Bond
W. Bond, Francisco Alsina Cardi- nalli, Oro Verde, Argentina. 17 February 2019 03:20 UT. 200 mm refractor telescope, QHY5-ll cam- era.
North Pole, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 18 April 2013, 02:23 UT. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, 656.3 nm filter, DMK21AU04 camera. Seeing 8/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 77 Sirsalis Rille
Lunar 77 Sirsalis Rille (Procellarum basin radial rilles)
“The highlands bordering the western side of Oceanus Procellarum are cut by a multitude of long, nearly straight rilles. A fine example slices through old craters south of Crüger and angles north-northeast past the conspicuous crater Sirsalis before disappearing along the Procellarum shore. This is not a rille like those around the northern side of the Aristarchus plateau but rather a flat-floored linear trough. This rille appears to be roughly radial to the Imbrium basin, but its shape was controlled by something else. While a student at the University of Massachusetts, Matt Golombek (later of Mars Sojourner fame) measured the angles of the rille’s walls and deduced that it formed in material that progressively thickened from 2.0 to 3.5 km deep in the direction of Orientale. Golombek concluded that the rille’s width and the slopes of its walls were deter- mined by the thickness of Oriental ejecta though which the rille cuts and which increase toward the basin. Further evidence about the nature of this rille was provided by the Lunar Prospector spacecraft, which mapped a strong magnetic anomaly associated with it. The magnetism indicates the existence of a volcanic dike that failed to reach the surface” (pages 182/183).
We see in the Felix León’s image how the straight rille runs near Sirsalis J and Sirsalis F (left) into Darwin (right).
Sirsalis Rille, Felix León, Santo Domingo, República Dominicana. 27 March 2021 00:55 UT. 127 mm Maksutov- Cassegrain telescope, DMK 21 618 AU camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 77 Sirsalis Rille
Rimae Sirsalis, Richard Hill, Loudon Obser- vatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 16 February 2011 04:59 UT. Celestron 14 inch Schmidt- Cassegrain telescope, 2 x barlow, f/22, UV/ IR blocking filter, DMK21AU04 camera. See- ing 8/10.
Rimae Sirsalis, Sergio Babino, Montevideo, Uruguay. 20 January 2019 04:20 UT. 8”Astrotech RC (Ritchety Chretien) telescope, ZWO ASI 174 mm camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 77 Sirsalis Rille
Sirsalis to Mersenius, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 02 April 2015, 03:42 UT. TEC 8 inch f/20 Maksutov- Cassegrain telescope, 656.3 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M camera. Seeing 9/10.
Rimae Sirsalis, Richard Hill, Loudon Ob- servatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 04 May 2012, 05:19 UT. TEC 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, Wratten 23 filter, DMK21AU04 camera. Seeing 7/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 77 Sirsalis Rille
Sirsalis, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 04 June 2020, 02:24 UT, colongitude 66.7o. Dynamax 6 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, 2 x barlow, 850 nm filter, SKYRIS 132M camera. Seeing 8/10.
Sirsalis Rille, Felix León, Santo Domingo, República Dominicana. 27 March 2021 00:30 UT. 127 mm Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, DMK 21 618 AU camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 77 Sirsalis Rille
Rimae Sirsalis, Richard Hill, Loudon Ob- servatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 25 Feb- ruary 2021, 05:43 UT, colongitude 69.1o. TEC 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain tele- scope, 610 nm filter, SKYRIS 132M cam- era. Seeing 8/10.
Sirsalis, David Teske, Louisville, Mississippi, USA. 26 July 2019 10:24 UT, colongitude 200.1o. Takahashi Mewlon 180 Dall-Kirkham telescope, ZWO ASI 120 mm/s camera. Seeing 4/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 78 Lambert RA
Lunar 78 Lambert R (a buried “ghost” crater)
There are certainly ghost craters that are easier to observe than Lambert R. It is the only one of its kind on Charles Wood's list, or we could associate it with Lunar 53 Lamont "buried basin". It seems easier to ob- serve visually than in photographic images, but I don't think anyone can find it without first knowing its lo- cation. With frontal light its edges are seen shining slightly, although it is confused and superimposed with Lambert's very weak bright rays. Says Charles Wood: “A much more ambiguous ridge ring is a sharply de- fined but very low enclosure immediately south of the crater Lambert. Although this indistinct 55-km-wide ring had been noticed a hundred years ago, it appears on none of the classical lunar maps. It was named Lambert R during the early 1960s when the first modern catalog of lunar craters was compiled at the Uni- versity of Arizona by a half dozen students (including me) under the direction of David Arthur. During the Apollo era some scientists proposed that portions of the ring had been formed by volcanic eruptions. Per- haps so, but a more likely explanation is that the ring is simply an impact crater that was later completely buried by lava flows”. (Page 43)
Lambert, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 24 April 2021, 04:58 UT, colongitude 55.8o. TEC 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, 610 nm filter, SKYRIS 132M camera. Seeing 7/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 78 Lambert RA
Lambert R, Alberto Anunziato, Paraná, Argenti- na, SLA. 23 May 2021 22:20-22:30 UT. Meade EX 105 mm Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, 154x.
Timocharis, Pedro Romano, San Juan, Argenti- na. 21 May 2021 22:55 UT. 102 mm Maksutov- Cassegrain telescope, Canon 450D camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 78 Lambert RA
Mare Imbrium, Pedro Romano, San Juan, Argentina. 21 May 2021 23:05 UT. 102 mm Maksutov-Cassegrain tele- scope, Canon 450D camera.
Mare Imbrium, David Teske, Louisville, Mississippi, USA. 23 February 2021 02:32 UT colongitude 40.4o. 4 inch f/15 refractor telescope, IR block filter, ZWO ASI 120 mm/s cam- era. Seeing 7-8/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 79 Sinus Aestuum
Lunar 79 Sinus Aestuum (Eastern dark-mantle volcanic deposit)
Wood's description, once again, is superb and points out the interesting features of this volcanic area: “Sinus Aestuum is a similar, 230-km-wide circle of mare material that lies to the south and east of Eratosthenes. Although it means Seething Bay, Aestuum is boring real estate except for a braidlike wrinkle ridge that ex- tends from southwest to northeast. The Aestuum lavas are low-titanium basalts estimated to be 3.2 billion years old. An instructive aspect of Sinus Aestuum and Mare Vaporum is that the region features some of the most extensive deposits of dark mantle material anywhere on the Moon. Based on work by Head, Hawke, Pieters, and others, such dark coatings are now believe to be fine volcanic ash from explosive erup- tions. You can see this unusual volcanic deposit vent when the Sun is relatively low. Dark material is visi- ble on both the eastern and western shores of Mare Vaporum. The rough terrain south of the crater Manilius is obviously ejecta from the Imbrium basin, but it has been subsequently coated by a layer of dark ash. On the east side of Vaporum the dark material covers the mare but is apparently thicker on the patch of subdued hills that separate Vaporum from Aestuum. Similar ash-coated hills lie southeast of Copernicus. Small rilles and domes can be seen in some of these dark deposits. Perhaps these are the volcanic vents that were the sources for ashes, or maybe the vents are buried under the younger lavas filling Aestuum and Vaporum” (page 60). In Marcelo Mojica Gundlach's image we see not only the darkest areas that extend between Sinus Aestuum and Mare Vaporum but also the small rilles, domes and wrinkle ridge that identify this area as volcanic.
Sinus Aestuum, Marcelo Mojica Gundlach, Cochabamba, Bolivia. 01 May 2020 23:10 UT. Skywatcher 6 inch Mak- sutov-Cassegrain telescope, ZWO ASI 178 B/N camera. Seeing 5/10, transparency 5/6. Top arrow points to crater Eratosthenes, bottom two arrows point at lava flows in Sinus Aestuum.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 79 Sinus Aestuum
Eratosthenes, Marcelo Mojica Gundlach, Cocha- bamba, Bolivia. 22 July 2018 23:36 UT. Skywatch- er 6 inch refractor tele- scope, Orion V-block filter, SWO CMOS camera.
Eratosthenes, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 03 April 2020, 02:24 UT, colongi- tude 28.8o. Dynamax 6 inch Schmidt- Cassegrain telescope, 1.5 x barlow, 610 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M camera. Seeing 7-8/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 79 Sinus Aestuum
Sinus Aestuum, Jesús Piñeiro, San Antonio de los Altos, Venezuela. 24 November 2020 22:48 UT. Meade ETX 90 mm Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, Astronomik IR pass 807 nm filter, ZWO ASI 462 MC camera.
Eratosthenes, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 27 November 2017, 01:01 UT, colongitude 11.2o. TEC 8 inch f/20 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, 610 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M camera. Seeing 8-9/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 79 Sinus Aestuum
Eratosthenes, Richard Hill, Loudon Observato- ry, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 12 November 2013, 03:46 UT. TEC 8 inch f/20 Maksutov- Cassegrain telescope, 656.3 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M camera. Seeing 8/10.
Sinus Aestuum, Francisco Alsina Cardinalli, Oro Verde, Argentina. 20 December 2015 00:36 UT. Meade LX200 10 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 79 Sinus Aestuum
Copernicus to Eratosthenes, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 05 August 2014, 02:14 UT. Questar 3.5 inch Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, 1.7 x barlow, 656.3 nm filter, SKYRIS 445M camera. Seeing 7/10.
Sinus Aestuum, Francisco Alsina Cardinalli, Oro Verde, Argentina. 10 September 2016 22:59 UT. Celestron 11 inch Edge HD Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, QHY5-ll camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 79 Sinus Aestuum
Sinus Aestuum, Rafael Lara Muñoz, Guatemala, Guatemala, SLA. 02 May 2020 18:45 UT. 114 mm reflector telescope, Samsung Note 9 cell phone camera.
Sinus Aestuum, Alberto Anunziato, Paraná, Argentina. 27 September 2020 00:05 UT. 180 mm Newtonian reflector telescope, QHY5-ll camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 80 Orientale Basin
Lunar 80 Orientale basin (youngest large impact basin)
The order of priority for the libration zones is as follows (remember that the difficulty of observing each accident increases as they occupy a higher position on the list): L56 Australe basin, L70 Humboldtianum basin, L73 Smythii basin and we arrive to the L80 Orientale basin. It is interesting to see in the images that we have published of each of these accidents in different Focus On Sections the increasing difficulty to observe these elusive areas in the lunar limb:
“Orientale is what the Imbrium basin would look like if it were stripped of its thick lava flows (...) the Orientale basin is a nearly pristine multiring basin. The Cordillera mountains, with their rugged massifs, and a dramatic scarp facing the basin center, define the outer ring. The next ring is made of more massifs and is called Outer Rook Mountains. The dark mare lavas forming Lacus Veris leaked to the surface just inside the Outer Rooks, presumably along deep fractures associated with the basin ring formation. Encircled by the Outer Rooks is a diffuse collection of smaller mountains and hills that are generally thought to mark two additional rings (...) The Cordillera peaks rise 1.25 km above the surrounding highlands and the floor or Mare Orientale is about 6 km below the peaks. Thus, this vast hole-more than 900 km wide-is very shallow, with only 6 km of total relief (....) what can we see from Earth? Longitudinal libratios (the Moon shaking its head back and forth) regularly bring Orientale into view. With a higher Sun over the western limb the dark mare lava flows stand out distinctly against the bright anorthositic crust. Lacus Autumni is a patch of mare inside, the northern part of the Cordillera Mountains, while Lacus Veris is a much longer ribbon of mare that follows the inside of the Outer Rook Mountains. When librations are very favorable, Mare Orientale itself can be seen bordered by a low white range-the Inner Rooks. The Rook and Cordillera mountains are sometimes visible in profile as bumps on the limb of the Moon” (pages 179- 181).
Let's see in the image of Rik Hill how many of these characteristics we can find.
Mare Orientale, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 27 September 2007 05:58 UT. Celes- tron 14 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, 1.6 x barlow, UV/IR blocking filter, SPC900NC camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 80 Orientale Basin
Mare Orientale Robert H. Hays, Jr.
I sketched this area around this mare on the morning of July 17, 2009. Mare Orientale is usually at or be- yond the limb, but libration was favorable for it this morning. Mare Orientale itself is the largest dark fea- ture along the limb near a conspicuous peak. It has a sharp southern edge, but it tapers off gradually to the north. A long, dusky strip is detached from Mare Orientale to the north. More dusky strips are farther from the limb, oriented mostly north-south. The largest one has several kinks and a dark bulge. A dark spot lies between this strip and Orientale, and several more spots are farther north. A few isolated dark markings are south of the long strip, and another detached spot is close to the limb south of Mare Orientale. Eichstadt is the largest crater in the sketch, and the one farthest from the limb. This crater has two small companions, Eichstadt E to the south and Eichstadt G to the west. (Other small craters shown nearby on the Lunar Quad- rant map were not seen as such, probably due to the terminator’s distance at this time.) Two other fairly large craters are southwest and northwest of Eichstadt; both have bright interiors. There are at least five shadowless bright spots in this area, the largest one being near the crater northwest of Eichstadt. Some sub- stantial peaks give the limb a serrated appearance. I tried placing these peaks as well as possible, but they may be exaggerated in the sketch.
Mare Orientale, Robert H. Hays, Jr., Worth, Illinois, USA. 17 July 2009 09:30-10:10 UT. 15 cm reflector telescope, 116 x. See- ing 8/10, transparency 6/6.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 80 Orientale Basin
Mare Orientale, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 26 September 2007 05:30 UT. Celes- tron 14 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, 1.6 x barlow, UV/IR blocking filter, SPC900NC camera. Seeing 6/10.
Byrgius, Alberto Anunziato, Paraná, Argentina. 16 April 2016 09:02 UT. Meade LX200 10 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, QHY5-ll camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Focus On Lunar 100 Number 80 Orientale Basin
Mare Orientale, David Teske, Louisville, Mississippi, USA. 09 November 2020 10:13 UT co- longitude 194.9o. 4 inch f/15 refractor telescope, IR block filter, ZWO ASI 120 mm/s cam- era. Seeing 7-8/10.
Mare Orientale, Richard Hill, Loudon Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 27 February 2021, 06:33 UT, colongitude 93.7o. 8 inch f/20 Maksutov- Cassegrain telescope, 610 nm filter, SKYRIS 132M camera. Seeing 7/10.
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Recent Topographic Studies
Rupes Recta, Luigi Morrone, Agerola, Italy. 18 June 2021 19:29 UT. Celestron 14 inch Edge HD Schmidt- Cassegrain telescope, Fornax mount, Baader R + IR Filter 610 nm, Zeiss Abbe barlow, ZWO ASI174M camera.
Tycho, Jesús Piñeiro, San Antonio de los Altos, Venezuela. 30 May 2021 04:34 UT. Meade ETX 90 mm Maksutov- Cassegrain telescope, Astronomik L2 UVIR filter, ZWO ASI 462 MC camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies
Arzachel, Luigi Morro- ne, Agerola, Italy. 18 June 2021 19:12 UT. Celestron 14 inch Edge HD Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, Fornax mount, Baader R + IR Filter 610 nm, Zeiss Abbe barlow, ZWO ASI174M camera.
Archimedes, Luigi Mor- rone, Agerola, Italy. 18 June 2021 19:03 UT. Celestron 14 inch Edge HD Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, Fornax mount, Baader R + IR Filter 610 nm, Zeiss Abbe barlow, ZWO ASI174M camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies
Mare Crisium, Fernando Surà, San Nicolás de los Arroyos, Argentina. 29 April 2021 00:42 UT. 127 mm Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, J7 cell phone camera.
Aristoteles and Eudoxus, Luigi Morrone, Agerola, Italy. 18 June 2021 18:54 UT. Celestron 14 inch Edge HD Schmidt- Cassegrain telescope, Fornax mount, Baader R + IR Filter 610 nm, Zeiss Abbe barlow, ZWO ASI174M camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies
Albategnius, Luigi Morrone, Agerola, Italy. 18 June 2021 19:18 UT. Celes- tron 14 inch Edge HD Schmidt- Cassegrain telescope, Fornax mount, Baader R + IR Filter 610 nm, Zeiss Abbe barlow, ZWO ASI174M camera.
Vallis Alpes, Luigi Morrone, Agerola, Italy. 18 June 2021 19:24 UT. Celestron 14 inch Edge HD Schmidt- Cassegrain telescope, Fornax mount, Baader R + IR Filter 610 nm, Zeiss Abbe barlow, ZWO ASI174M camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Lunar Eclipse 26 May 2021
Lunar Eclipse, Pedro Romano, San Juan, Argentina. 26 May 2021 09:247 UT (above), 10:05 UT (below). 102 mm Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, Canon 450D camera.
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Recent Topographic Studies Lunar Eclipse 26 May 2021
Lunar Eclipse, Pedro Romano, San Juan, Argentina. 26 May 2021 10:20 UT (above), 10:40 UT (below). 102 mm Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, Canon 450D camera.
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Lunar Geologic Change Detection Program Coordinator Dr. Anthony Cook- [email protected] Assistant Coordinator David O. Darling [email protected]
2021 July
Introduction: In the set of observations received in the past month, these have been divided into three sections: Level 1 is a confirmation of observation received for the month in question. Every observer will have all the features observed listed here in one paragraph. Level 2 will be the display of the most rele- vant image/sketch, or a quote from a report, from each observer, but only if the date/UT corresponds to: similar illumination (±0.5º), similar illumination and topocentric libration report (±1.0º) for a past LTP re- port, or a Lunar Schedule website request. A brief description will be given of why the observation was made, but no assessment done – that will be up to the reader. Level 3 will highlight reports, using in-depth analysis, which specifically help to explain a past LTP, and may (when time permits) utilize archive repeat illumination material.
LTP reports: No LTP reports were received in May, but I would like to highlight an observation by Jay Albert, who noticed two very dark spots in Atlas on 2021 May 24 (See Fig 1). Of course, this is not an LTP, as was immediately realized by Jay, but I just thought I ought to mention it to prevent less experi- enced observers, sometime in the future wrongly assuming that there was something unusual about the ap- pearance of the floor of Atlas. Anyway, for those who are curious, these appear to be volcanic related fea- tures in LROC images.
Figure 1. Atlas and Hercules as imaged by Jay Albert on 2021 May 24 UT 02:16, taken with a camera phone placed up against the eyepiece and orientated with north towards the top.
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Level 1 – Reports received for May included: Jay Albert (Lake Worth, FL, USA - ALPO) ob- served: Aristarchus, Atlas, Gassendi, Herodotus, Mare Serenitatis, Piazzi Smyth, and Tycho. Alberto Anun- ziato (Argentina – SLA) observed: Aristarchus, Aristillus, Herodotus, and Plato. Maurice Collins (New Zealand – ALPO/BAA/RASNZ) imaged: the lunar eclipse and several features. Anthony Cook (Newtown, UK – ALPO/BAA) obtained video of earthshine in monochrome, and the lunar surface in thermal IR. Chris Dole (Newbury, UK – BAA) imaged: Lichtenberg. Walter Elias (Argentina – AEA) imaged: Deseilligny. Valerio Fontani (Italy – UAI) imaged: Lichtenberg. Les Fry (West Wales, UK – NAS) imaged: Aristarchus, Bettinus, Gassendi, Harpalus, and Schickard. Kris Fry (West Wales, UK – NAS) imaged the Moon. Rik Hill (Tucson, AZ, USA – ALPO/BAA) imaged: Aristotles/Eudoxus, Ina, Rimae Aridaeus, and Sulpicius Gallus. Pedro Humberto ºRomano (Argentina – SLA) imaged: Aristarchus, the lunar eclipse, and Plato. Leandro Sid (Argentina – AEA) imaged: Aristarchus, Gassendi, and Herodotus. Trevor Smith (Codnor, UK – BAA) observed: Aristarchus, Plato, Proclus, and several features. Luigi Zanatta (Italy – UAI) imaged Eu- doxus.
Level 2 – Example Observations Received: Eudoxus: On May 17 UT19:34 Luigi Zanatta (UAI) imaged this crater for the following lunar schedule request:
BAA Request: Eudoxus - please try to image the shadow filled interior of this crater. We are trying to explain an observation from Meudon Observatory in France made in 1881 for which we don't have the precise UT for. You may or may not need to over-expose the image - it is not clear from the original report whether it was faint light inside the shadow filled interior, or sunlit high- land emerging from the shadow? Please send any images to: a t c @ a b e r . a c. u k .
Figure 2. Eudoxus as imaged by Luigi Zanatta on 2021 May 17 UT 19:34 and orientated with north towards the top. (Left) Original image. (Right) Contrast stretched.
This lunar schedule request refers to 1881 May 04 – estimated time 20:00UT. Sunset at Meudon was at 19:14UT (Moon at 47° altitude) and moonset by effectively midnight, so the 20:00UT estimate does not seem unreasonable. In an email from Nigel Longshaw, that I received on 5th May, he says that Trou- velot’s observation refers to an observation he made on 5/4/1881 (no time given) in connection with Eudox- us where he saw a ‘…bright in the shadow of the crater, a point a little elongated from N to S, exactly on the place where the western extremity of the bright line was seen in 1877’. We have covered this observa- tion before in the 2020 Sep (p115-116), 2021 Mar (p93-94), and 2021 Apr (p55) newsletters. The bright line seen in 1877 refers to a line on the northern inner rim, which was covered in Nigel Longshaw’s BAA paper (JBAA, 117, 4 (2007)) at a different stage of illumination. As you can see from Luigi’s image (Fig 2), there is nothing unusual inside the shadowed area. We shall leave the weight of the original observation at 3 for now.
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Deseilligny: On May 17 UT21:14 Walter Elias (AEA) imaged this crater under similar illumination to the following report:
Near Deseilligny in Mare Serenitatis (29E, 25N) 1971 Feb 01 UT 19:40-20:15 Ob- served by Persson (Hvidore, Denmark, 2.5" refractor, x100, S=G) "Obscur. (blurred & dark) starting between Plinius & Menelaus moving towards Posidoni- us. Normal after 2 min. A little crater (white spot) periodically disappeared for several secs regularly every few min. There was haze above only this spot. A tiny crater SE of it was invis. till 2015h then became clear & steady. Color was reddish-brown. Drawing. (Apollo 14 watch)." NASA catalog weight=2. NASA catalog ID 1293. ALPO/BAA weight=1.
Figure 3. Southern Mare Serenitatis, as imaged by Walter Elias (AEA) on 2021 May 25 UT 21:14 and orientated with north towards the top. The image has been color normalized and then had its color saturation increased to 35%.
Deselligny is a small crater, just under 7 km in diameter, and is barely visible against the image noise in the contrast stretched version of Walter’s image (Fig 3). The wrinkle ridges on the floor of Mare Serenitatis are plainly visible however, which imply that no obscuration was present when Walter took this image. So, what was observed in 1971 must have been unusual, I note however that although the seeing was good for the Danish astronomer concerned, a relatively small aperture of 2.5” was being used. We shall leave the weight at 1 for now.
Aristarchus: On 2021 May 22 UT 22:47-23:05 Trevor Smith (BAA) observed visually the following re- peat illumination/topocentric libration observation:
On 1980 Jul 23 at UT22:00 G.W. Amery (Reading, UK, 8" reflector, x144 and x207, seeing=III-V and transparency=fair) found that the interior shadow was a light grey. BAA LTP coordinator (Foley) suggests that this was light reflect- ing from the illuminated walls? Cameron 2006 catalog LTP ID=102 and weight=1. ALPO/BAA weight=2.
As Trevor’s observation was both repeat illumination and repeat topocentric libration, then this made it especially useful in testing out Foley’s suggestion: that the shadow was grey because of light re- flecting off the craters walls and illuminating the shadowed floor, and hence why it was not jet black. The tolerance for these repeat illumination/viewing parameters was ±1.0°, and although the Sun is only 0.5°in diameter, the walls of the crater aren’t anywhere near mirror like, so we can expect a bit of scatter and the tolerance to be not as precise as this.
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Trevor noted that “The crater was right on the rim of the terminator tonight and the interior shadow looked to me to be jet black and no hint of grey was seen.” He looked again at 23:45 and the shadow was still jet black, despite his seeing being IV and transparency poor. So whatever Geoff Amery saw in 1980 appears to have been unusual. I think we shall leave the ALPO/BAA weight at 2 for now will but consider raising it to 3 in future once we have more observations.
Aristarchus and Herodotus: On 2021 May 24 UT 02:30-02:55 Jay Albert observed (and took one image) and between 02:27-02:50UT Leandro Sid (AEA) imaged these craters under similar illumination to the fol- lowing reports:
Herodotus 1965 Jun 11 UT 21:35-21:40 Observed by Porta, Garau (Mallorca, Bale- ares, 4" refractor x250) "Red glow in crater at 2140, then clouds stopped obs. After clouds, floor was abnormal rose color" NASA catalog weight=5. NASA cata- log ID #879. ALPO/BAA weight=4.
Cobra Head 1966 May 02 UT 20:05 Observed by Sartory (England, 8.5" reflector x400) "Eng. moon blink detected red spots, seen visually also". NASA catalog weight=4 (good). NASA catalog ID #934. ALPO/BAA weight=3.
Figure 4. Aristarchus as imaged on 2021 May 24 with color saturation increased to 30% and orientated with north towards the top. (Left) Image taken by Leandro Sid (AEA) at 02:27UT. (Right) Camera phone image by Jay Albert (ALPO) taken at 02:51UT.
Jay Albert observed visually and had a good view of the entire Aristarchus Plateau. He noted that Herodotus showed a flat, smooth gray floor with a sunlit W wall and black shadow along the interior E wall. There was no sign of any red, rose or any other color seen (We have covered this before in the 2015 Jun (p13 & 15) and 2021 Jan (p124-125) newsletters. For the Cobra Head LTP (We have covered this be- fore in the 2020 Mar (p75) newsletter), there was no sign of red spots, despite checking visually with Ko- dak Wratten 25 and 44A filters. The images that Leandro and Jay took (Fig 4) have been color enhanced slightly, and also show no obvious signs of color where this was described in the original reports, although natural colors are showing up. We shall leave the weights as they are for now.
Aristarchus: On 2021 May 24 UT 22:55 Pedro Humberto ºRoman (SLA) imaged, and at 22:10-22:25 Al- berto Anunziato observed visually the area under similar illumination to the following report:
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1975 Nov 17 LeCroy Jr. and Sr. (Springfield, VA, 4.5" reflector, x75, x300, S=3, T=4) observed the following in the Aristarchus and Herodotus region: "Both were fused together as an oval & had a bluish cast on the E.rim. In W#25 filter it was white. At 0100h albedo decreased from 10+ to 9.5 & more detail could be seen. Separation of the 2 craters began to be seen at 0007h, details much brighter, incl. c.p. in Aris. @ 0110h main brightness & blue tint shifted to N. rim. At 0116h the SW rim was brightest & no color. At 0122h ray was brightest & no color. At 0122h ray had decreased in length & more details seen in oval. At 0123h ray was broken & smaller, becoming very small at 0125h & at 0126. The knob was gone & the edges not bright any more. Albedo=9. Sketches. (Seeing variations meas. were 1/2s in length so LTP variations not due to lo- cal atm. cond. Alt. = 65 deg". The Cameron 1978 catalog ID=1416 and weight=3. The ALPO/BAA weight=3.
Figure 5. Aristarchus as imaged on 2021 May 24 at 22:55UT by Pedro Humberto ºRoman (SLA). 105mm Maksutov- Cassegrain used with an ZWO ASI 120C camera. (Left) labelled wide angle view with north towards the top right. (Right) Zoomed in view with color saturation increased to 35% and north towards the top.
Nothing much resembling what LeCroy Jr. & Sr., saw back in 1975 can be seen in Pedro’s wide an- gle and narrow angle views in Fig 5. Alberto, using a Meade EX 105 at x154 commented that the crater just looked normal to him. I will leave the ALPO/BAA weight at 3 for now.
Lunar Eclipse: On 2021 May 26 at 0947-10:40UT Pedro Humberto ºRomano (SLA) and 09:42-11:40UT Maurice Collins (ALPO/BAA/RASNZ) obtained some images of the eclipse which were taken under simi- lar illumination to the following reports:
1685-12-10 Bianchini saw a red streak seen on floor of Plato during an eclipse. The Cameron 1978 catalog assigns a LTP ID of 14 and a weight of 1. The ALPO/BAA catalog assigns a weight of 1 too.
Copernicus observed by Beccaria on 1772-10-11 Bright spot (4th magnitude) seen on eclipsed Moon and glimmering specks. Seen by nephew and niece of Beccaria. Cameron 1978 catalog weight=4. ALPO/BAA catalog weight=2.
In 1790 Oct 22/23 at UT 23:00-02:00 W. Herschel (Windsor, UK) observed during a total lunar eclipse at least 200 small, round (spots?). The Cameron 1978 catalog ID=69 and weight=4. The ALPO/BAA weight=1.
On 1889 Jul 12 at 20:52-21:00UT, Kruger of Gotha? or Kiel? Germany, using a 6" reflector (x33), saw a brilliant Aristarchus in the surrounding gloom during an eclipse. The brilliance was striking. Cameron 1978 catalog ID=263 and weight=2.
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On 1910 Nov 16/17 UT 22:50-00:10 Albright (Edge(b?)aston, England, UK) ob- served in Stofler crater "A luminous pt. on Moon dur. ecl. (mid-ecl 0025) Oth- ers saw a meteor on moon from widely separated places". The Cameron 1978 cata- log ID=333 and the weight=3. The ALPO/BAA weight=3.
On 1967 Apr 24 at UT 11:47-12:08 Osawa (Hyogo, Japan, 6" reflector, x50) ob- served during totality, two luminescent spots (started 20 min after beginning of totality) near Grimaldi. Location not certain because of dimness of umbral shadow and lunar features. (Bright spots in Sven Hedin?). Color was bluish ra- ther than yellowish and magnitude < 9. The Cameron 1978 catalog ID=1035 and weight=3. The ALPO/BAA weight=2.
On 1982 Jan 09 at UT21:37 P. Moore? (Selsey, UK) observed that Copernicus was brighter than or equal to Aristarchus. However, this was during a total eclipse of the Moon. Cameron 2006 catalog ID=162 and weight=5. ALPO/BAA weight=2.
On 1985 May 04/05 at UT19:52-00:30 during the lunar eclipse V.V. Kurchin (Volgograd, Russia, 2" reflector, x88) found that Alphonsus was abnormally bright - as were a few other features. Cameron 2006 catalog ID=270 and weight=2. ALPO/BAA weight=1.
Plato. On 1989 Feb 20 at UT 16:55 G. Kolovos (Thessaloniki, Greece) photo- graphed in one photograph (out of 3) during a lunar eclipse, some bright patches below (south?) of the crater that were not in the other photographs (UT16:56:32 or 16:58:56). Foley commented that the photographs were grainy so cannot tell for sure. The Cameron 2006 catalog ID=356 and the weight=1. The ALPO/BAA weight=1.
Figure 6. The total lunar eclipse of the Moon on 2021 May 26 and orientated with north towards the top. (Left) As imaged by Pedro Humberto ºRomano (SLA) at 10:40UT, some 31min before totality with an exposure to bring out detail in the penumbral shadow. (Right) As imaged by Maurice Collins (ALPO/BAA/RASNZ) and orientated with north towards the top. Taken at 11:25UT, or 5 minutes after mid eclipse.
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Lunar eclipses are well renowned for LTPs. Why? is a different matter. Yes, the Moon is going through the center of the Earth’s magnetotail, so for the brief duration of the eclipse, the hot charged plasma (in particu- lar electrons) it contains slam into the surface. Unlike under normal passages through the magnetotail (±3 days either side of Full Moon), where the UV from the Sun normally dissipates charging; during an eclipse the UV is cut off, so surface dust particles can become charged, repel and levitate. So, in theory you could have extremely tenuous dust layers above the surface during a lunar eclipse. Also, you can have massive temperature swings from +120°C down to -30°C in just a few minutes, so the thermal stress can potentially crack some rocks. However, how these translate into LTP is a completely different matter and not at all proven yet. More likely, the darkness of the eclipse, image noise, and unfamiliarity of some observers with the surface bathed in an orange to deep red/brown color, no doubt cause many observational mis- interpretations of what they were looking at. Listed above are just some of the LTP accounts that have oc- curred in the past during eclipses, under similar illumination. Take a look through Pedro’s and Maurice’s images in Fig 6 and see what you think of the original LTP descriptions listed above.
For the 1685 report, I see no sign of a red streak on the floor of Plato in Fig 6. Likewise for the 1782 report, Copernicus does not look especially bright and for the 1983 Moore report, Copernicus is supposed to be brighter than Aristarchus, but in Fig 6 this is clearly not the case. Maybe it depends upon the radial brightness gradient across the shadow and where features are with respect to this? The 1889 report refers to an extremely bright Aristarchus. Again, although it can be very bright (depending upon libration angle), this too could be affected by the radial brightness gradient in the shadow. Sir William Herschel’s 1790 report has always fascinated me – some 200 round spots were seen! What I don’t know is whether he ever ob- served a total lunar eclipse before with a telescope? Those spots could easily refer to bright ray craters, and telescopes of the time were long focal length devices, so not very good at wide field work – consequently the umbra would be very dark and only the brightest features would be seen, i.e., ray craters? Well, it’s only a theory and I don’t want to cast doubt on this famous British/Hanoverian astronomer’s lunar observing skills. The 1910 report of a meteor on the Moon sounds intriguing – though I cannot see anything of a lumi- nous point in Stofler crater. For the Japanese 1967 report, I wonder if the two luminous points near Grimal- di were just ray craters? I sometimes see this in earthshine, which has a similar Full-Moon like appearance to the umbral shadow. Moving onto 1985, in Fig 6 there is no sign of Alphonsus being very bright, but one does have to wonder about the size of the telescope that the Russian observer was using. The 1989 eclipse photo report could be from marks on the photographic material, but without the image it is difficult to tell.
Level 3 - In Depth Analysis: Lichtenberg: On 2021 May 25 UT 22:06, 22:17, 22:28 Valeri Fontani (UAI)and Chris Dole (BAA) UT 22:27 obtained some images that were taken for the following Lunar Schedule request:
BAA Request: An important historical LTP sketch of this crater, and its sur- rounds, made by Richard Baum back in 1951 seems to have the wrong UT? It is very important that we establish what the UT and date of this observation ac- tually was. In this prediction we are seeing if his UT was actually meant to be GMAT. Please email any sketches, monochrome, and especially color images to: a t c @ a b e r . a c. u k
This refers to an observation made by Richard Baum (BAA) with a date and time of 1951 Jan 21. The following is what is described in Richard’s observational note book (I hope all the words are correct, his writing was difficult to read!). Incidentally when he refers to east, he means west and vice versa – this is because in those days the coordinate system on the Moon was Classical and not the more modern IAU.:
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• “Lichtenberg. 1951 January 21d. 3-in O.G. • 17h. 59m. 10s UT x90. Seeing 7/10. While sweeping area to the north of O.Struve a tiny spot was detected in lower reaches of telescope field, ap- parently W. of Lichtenberg. Optical effect? • 18h. 20m. 36s. UT X90 Seeing 7/10. Spot in center of field, of a delicate rose shade and purely local. Lunar surface around the tint gray and drab- looking. Sketch made. • 18h. 25m U.T. X100 Seeing. 7/10. Spot has taken on a nebulous appearance, extending over a larger area. • 18h. 30m. 20s. U.T. Seeing 9.5/10. Really fine moment of seeing; it is for- tunate indeed to have such a fine spell of seeing during a rare phenomenon, as is being watched now. In the spot no decided change has taken place; the extent and color remain as before. Estimate of the position places center at long. 66°10.’E and latitude 31°24’N. Power X100. • 18h. 31m U.T. X100. Seeing 9.5/10. Position of center at long. 66°8.’E and latitude 31°25’N. suspected fading, though uncertain. • 18h. 33m. 16s U.T. X100. Seeing 9.5/10. No change in appearance. Position of center at long. 66°10.’E and latitude 31°23’N. • 18h. 37m. 20s U.T. X100. Seeing 9.5/10. Fading of spot detected; the nucle- us is no longer rosy but is taking on a grayish or ashen appearance. The fainter shading surrounding the nucleus is very difficult to detect. Center estimated as at long. 66°12.’E and latitude 31°25’N. • 18h. 38m. 20s U.T. X100. Seeing less than 8. Conditions deteriorating, clouds forming. Spot barely visible, no longer a bright glowing red but shot through with an ashen gray pallet. • 18h. 38m. 29s. X100. Seeing <5. The region visible, area grayish in color, no trace at all of the nucleus. • 20h. U.T. X90. Seeing 6. Suspicion of area? A closer study reveals no trace which can be recognized as belonging to the red glow of an hour or so ago. • 20h. 15m. U.T. X90., & X100. Seeing 6>. Definitely no trace of area. • Observation closed.”
So, what we can see from this is that he definitely states UT and not GMAT. Now let’s compare his sketch with some repeat illumination observations if indeed it was in UT. In Fig 7. you can see immediately that there is too much shadow in the repeat illumination observations to correspond to what Richard drew.
Figure 7. Observations of Lichtenberg, orientated with north towards the top. (Far Left) Image by Brendan Shaw (BAA) taken on 2004 May 03 UT 00:16-00:17. (Left) A sketch by Harold Hill (BAA) made on 1988 Mar 01 UT 22L:30-23:10. (Right) A sketch made by Nigel Longshaw made on 2020 Apr 06 UT 22:00-22:25. (Far Right) A sketch by Richard Baum made on 1951 Jan 21 UT 18:21(?).
So now let us test the theory to see if he was using GMAT mistakenly as UT. (See Fig 8). GMAT is 12h behind UT as it starts at noon on the Greenwich Meridian. As you can see the images by Chris Dole (BAA) and Luigi Fontani (UAI) have a much better resemblance of the shadow inside the crater, but there is no dark fan like area to the east of Lichtenberg.
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Figure 8. Observations of Lichtenberg, orientated with north towards the top. (Far Left) Image by Chris Dole (BAA) taken on 2021 May 25 UT 22:27 with color saturation increased to 65%. (Center) Image by Valerio Fontani (UAI) taken on 2021 May 25 UT 22:28 with color saturation increased to 65%. (Right) A sketch by Richard Baum made on 1951 Jan 21 GMAT 18:21(?).
So, let’s do one further experiment, suppose Richard got the date wrong and it was in fact 1951 Jan 22 UT 18:21? Fig 9 show a repeat illumination image for this scenario. It is indeed possible that the interior shadow drawn by Richard corresponds to the barely visible thin shadow in Valerio’s image, but again the dark fan-like feature is not visible in the modern-day image.
Figure 9. Observations of Lichtenberg, orientated with north towards the top. (Left) Image by Valerio Fontani (UAI) taken on 2021 Feb 26 UT 22:29 with color saturation increased to 65%. (Right) A sketch by Richard Baum made on 1951 Jan 22(?) UT 18:21.
So, is it possible to come to some sort of conclusion? The sketch by Richard Baum does not corre- spond to 1951 Jan 21 UT 18:51, as the shadow is wrong. It may be that he used GMAT by mistake, alt- hough if you look into the Moon’s altitude, the Moon would have been at 17° above the horizon (and fall- ing), which is a bit on the low side! 1951 Jan 22 UT 18:21 is perhaps more reasonable in order to get the shadow right. However, none of the dates have the general appearance of Lichtenberg, agreeing with what Richard drew. In terms of red tints, it is noted in some of the colored images, atmospheric spectral disper- sion can add rose colored tints, but not in the right place, Nigel Longshaw saw some color too (Fig 7 - Right) , but this was again not where Richard saw it. One last thing to consider – maybe Richard mistakenly drew another crater without realizing it – personally I very much doubt this as he was a very skilled observ- er. We shall leave the weight of this LTP at 3 for now, and I may tentatively change the date to 1951 Jan 22 and see what this brings in with additional repeat illumination observations.
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General Information: For repeat illumination (and a few repeat libration) observations for the coming month - these can be found on the following web site: http://users.aber.ac.uk/atc/lunar_schedule.htm . By re-observing and submitting your observations, only this way can we fully resolve past observational puz- zles. To keep yourself busy on cloudy nights, why not try “Spot the Difference” between spacecraft image- ry taken on different dates? If you would like your observations to be considered for mention in the next newsletter, then they should be submitted by 17:00UT on the 24th of July, covering observations for June. Please send observations in, even if older than this as they are still very useful for future repeat illumination studies. This can be found on: http://users.aber.ac.uk/atc/tlp/spot_the_difference.htm . If in the unlikely event you do ever see an LTP, firstly read the LTP checklist on http://users.aber.ac.uk/atc/alpo/ltp.htm , and if this does not explain what you are seeing, please give me a call on my cell phone: +44 (0)798 505 5681 and I will alert other observers. Note when telephoning from outside the UK you must not use the (0). When phoning from within the UK please do not use the +44! Twitter LTP alerts can be accessed on https:// twitter.com/lunarnaut . Dr Anthony Cook, Department of Physics, Aberystwyth University, Penglais, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 3BZ, WALES, UNITED KINGDOM. Email: atc @ aber.ac.uk
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ALPO 2021 Conference News
Overview Due to the continuing nearly worldwide quarantining caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the great success we had with last year's online conference, the 2021 Conference of the ALPO will once more be held online on Friday and Saturday, August 13 and 14. (This is to prevent a scheduling conflict with the 2021 Astronomi- cal League Convention (ALCon 2021) which will be held in Albuquerque, NM, on August 4 thru 7, 2021.)
The ALPO conference times will be: • Friday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time (10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Pacific Time) Saturday from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time (10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Pacific Time). The ALPO Conference is free and open to all via two different streaming methods:
• The free online conferencing software application, Zoom. On the ALPO YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEmixiL-d5k2Fx27Ijfk41A Those who plan to present astronomy papers or presentations must (1) already be members of the ALPO, (2) use Zoom, and (3) have it already installed on their computers prior to the conference dates. Zoom is free and Available at https://zoom.us/.
Those who have not yet joined the ALPO may do so online, so as to qualify to present their work at this con- ference. Digital ALPO memberships start at only $18 a year. To join online, go to http:// www.astroleague.org/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=10&products_id=39 , then scroll to the bottom of that page, select your membership type, click on “Add to Cart” and proceed from there.
There will be different Zoom meeting hyperlinks to access the conference each of the two days of the confer- ence. Both links will be posted on social media and e-mailed to those who wish to receive it that way on Thursday, August 12, 2021. The Zoom virtual (online) “meeting room” will open 15 minutes prior to the be- ginning of each day’s activities.
Those individuals wishing to attend via Zoom should contact Tim Robertson at [email protected] as soon as possible.
Agenda The conference will consist of initial welcoming remarks and general announcements at the beginning each day, followed by papers and research findings on astronomy-related topics presented by ALPO members with Short breaks between the various presentations.
Following a break after the last astronomy talk on Saturday will be presentations of the Walter Haas Observ- ing Award, the Peggy Haas Service Award and the Michael D. Reynolds Astronomy Award. The last one is brand new and was presented to Ms. Pranvera Hyseni several months ago in recognition for her work over the past several years to advance the public’s awareness and appreciation of astronomy.
A keynote speaker will then follow the awards presentations on Saturday. The selection of a keynote speaker is in progress and the final decision will be announced in the summer issue (JALPO63-3) of our journal, The Strolling Astronomer.
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Presentation Guidelines All presentations should be no more than 15 minutes in length; the preferred method is 12 minutes for the presentation itself plus 3 minutes for follow-up questions. The preferred format is Microsoft PowerPoint.
Send all PowerPoint files of the presentations to Tim Robertson at [email protected] .
Suggested Topics Participants are encouraged to present research papers and experience reports concerning various aspects of Earth-based observational astronomy including the following: • New or ongoing observing programs and studies, specifically, how those programs were designed, imple- mented and continue to function. • Results of personal or group studies of solar system or extra-solar system bodies. • New or ongoing activities involving astronomical instrumentation, construction or improvement. Challenges faced by Earth-based observers such as changing interest levels, deteriorating observing condi- tions brought about by possible global warming, etc. Information about paper presentations, the keynote speaker and other conference data will be published in our journal, The Strolling Astronomer, and online as details are learned.
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Lunar Calendar July 2021
Date UT Event
1 2110 Last Quarter 5 1500 Moon at apogee 405,341 km 9 Greatest northern declination +25.5o 10 0116 New Moon, lunation 1219 12 0900 Venus 3o south of Moon 12 1000 Mars 4o south of Moon 14 West limb most exposed -5.6o 14 South limb most exposed -6.7o 17 1010 First Quarter 21 1000 Moon at perigee 364,520 km 23 Greatest southern declination -25.5o 24 0237 Full Moon 24 1700 Saturn 4o north of Moon 26 0100 Jupiter 4o north of Moon 27 East limb most exposed +6.2o 27 North limb most exposed +6.6o 31 1316 Last Quarter
The Lunar Observer welcomes all lunar related images, drawings, articles, reviews of equipment and reviews of books. You do not have to be a member of ALPO to submit material, though membership is highly encouraged. Please see below for membership and near the end of The Lunar Observer for submission guidelines.
Comments and suggestions? Please send to David Teske, contact information page 1. Need a hard copy, please contact David Teske.
AN INVITATION TO JOIN THE A.L.P.O.
The Lunar Observer is a publication of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers that is available for access and par- ticipation by non- members free of charge, but there is more to the A.L.P.O. than a monthly lunar newsletter. If you are a non- member you are invited to join our organization for its many other advantages.
We have sections devoted to the observation of all types of bodies found in our solar system. Section coordinators collect and study members’ observations, correspond with observers, encourage beginners, and contribute reports to our Journal at appro- priate intervals.
Our quarterly journal, The Journal of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers-The Strolling Astronomer, contains the results of the many observing programs which we sponsor including the drawings and images produced by individual ama- teurs. Additional information about the A.L.P.O. and its Journal is on-line at: http://www.alpo-astronomy.org. I invite you to spend a few minutes browsing the Section Pages to learn more about the fine work being done by your fellow amateur as- tronomers.
To learn more about membership in the A.L.P.O. go to: http://www.alpo- astronomy.org/main/member.html which now also provides links so that you can enroll and pay your membership dues online.
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SUBMISSION THROUGH THE ALPO IMAGE ARCHIVE ALPO’s archives go back many years and preserve the many observations and reports made by am- ateur astronomers. ALPO’s galleries allow you to see on-line the thumbnail images of the submitted pictures/observations, as well as full size versions. It now is as simple as sending an email to include your images in the archives. Simply attach the image to an email addressed to [email protected] (lunar images). It is helpful if the filenames follow the naming convention : FEATURE-NAME_YYYY-MM-DD-HHMM.ext YYYY {0..9} Year MM {0..9} Month DD {0..9} Day HH {0..9} Hour (UT) MM {0..9} Minute (UT) .ext (file type extension) (NO spaces or special characters other than “_” or “-”. Spaces within a feature name should be replaced by “-”.) As an example the following file name would be a valid filename: Sinus-Iridum_2018-04-25-0916.jpg (Feature Sinus Iridum, Year 2018, Month April, Day 25, UT Time 09 hr16 min) Additional information requested for lunar images (next page) should, if possible, be included on the image. Alternatively, include the information in the submittal e-mail, and/or in the file name (in which case, the coordinator will superimpose it on the image before archiving). As always, additional commentary is always welcome and should be included in the submittal email, or attached as a separate file. If the filename does not conform to the standard, the staff member who uploads the image into the data base will make the changes prior to uploading the image(s). However, use of the recommended for- mat, reduces the effort to post the images significantly. Observers who submit digital versions of draw- ings should scan their images at a resolution of 72 dpi and save the file as a 8 1/2'“x 11” or A4 sized picture. Finally a word to the type and size of the submitted images. It is recommended that the image type of the file submitted be jpg. Other file types (such as png, bmp or tif) may be submitted, but may be converted to jpg at the discretion of the coordinator. Use the minimum file size that retains image detail (use jpg quality settings. Most single frame images are adequately represented at 200-300 kB). How- ever, images intended for photometric analysis should be submitted as tif or bmp files to avoid lossy compression. Images may still be submitted directly to the coordinators (as described on the next page). However, since all images submitted through the on-line gallery will be automatically forwarded to the coordinators, it has the advantage of not changing if coordinators change.
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When submitting observations to the A.L.P.O. Lunar Section In addition to information specifically related to the observing program being addressed, the fol- lowing data should be included:
Name and location of observer Name of feature Date and time (UT) of observation (use month name or specify mm-dd-yyyy-hhmm or yyyy-mm-dd-hhmm) Filter (if used) Size and type of telescope used Magnification (for sketches) Medium employed (for photos and electronic images) Orientation of image: (North/South - East/West) Seeing: 0 to 10 (0-Worst 10-Best) Transparency: 1 to 6
Resolution appropriate to the image detail is preferred-it is not necessary to reduce the size of im- ages. Additional commentary accompanying images is always welcome. Items in bold are re- quired. Submissions lacking this basic information will be discarded.
Digitally submitted images should be sent to: David Teske – [email protected] Jerry Hubbell –[email protected] Wayne Bailey—[email protected]
Hard copy submissions should be mailed to David Teske at the address on page one.
CALL FOR OBSERVATIONS: FOCUS ON: Lunar 100 Focus on is a bi-monthly series of articles, which includes observations received for a specific fea- ture or class of features. The subject for the September 2021 edition will be the Lunar 100 num- bers 81-90. Observations at all phases and of all kinds (electronic or film based images, drawings, etc.) are welcomed and invited. Keep in mind that observations do not have to be recent ones, so search your files and/or add these features to your observing list and send your favorites to (both): Jerry Hubbell –[email protected] David Teske – [email protected]
Deadline for inclusion in the Lunar 100 numbers 81-90 article is August 20, 2021
FUTURE FOCUS ON ARTICLES: In order to provide more lead time for contributors the following future targets have been selected: The series of the Lunar 100 will follow on the schedule below:
Subject TLO Issue Deadline Lunar 100 (numbers 81-90) September 2021 August 20, 2021 Lunar 100 (numbers 91-100) November 2021 October 20, 2021
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Focus-On Announcement
We are pleased to announce the future Focus-On topics. These will be based on the Lunar 100 by Charles Wood. Every other month starting in May 2020 , the Focus-On articles will explore ten of the Lunar 100 targets. Targets 81-90 will be featured in the September 2021 The Lunar Observer. Submissions of arti- cles, drawings, images, etc. due by August 20, 2021 to David Teske or Alberto Anunziato.
L FEATURE NAME SIGNIFICANCE RUKL CHART 81 Hesiodus A Concentric crater 54, 64
82 Linné Small crater once thought to have disappeared 23
83 Plato craterlets Small craters at the limits of detection 3 84 Pitatus Crater with concentric rilles 54 85 Langrenus Rays Aged ray system 28 86 Prinz rilles Rille system near the crater Prinz 19 87 Humboldt Crater with central peaks and dark spots 60
88 Perry Difficult to observer polar crater 4
89 Valentine Dome Volcanic Dome 13
90 Armstrong, Aldrin and Small craters near the Apollo 11 landing site 35 Collins Explore the Lunar 100 on the link below: https://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/celestial-objects-to-watch/the-lunar-100/
The Lunar 100: Features 1-10 May 2020 Issue – Due April 20, 2020 The Lunar 100: Features 11-20 July 2020 Issue – Due June 20, 2020 The Lunar 100: Features 21-30 September 2020 Issue – Due August 20, 2020 The Lunar 100: Features 31-40 November 2020 Issue – Due October 20, 2020 The Lunar 100: Features 41-50 January 2021 Issue – Due December 20, 2020 The Lunar 100: Features 51-60 March 2021 Issue – Due February 20, 2021 The Lunar 100: Features 61-70 May 2021 Issue – Due April 20, 2021 The Lunar 100: Features 71-80 July 2021 Issue – Due June 20, 2021 The Lunar 100: Features 81-90 September 2021 Issue – Due August 20, 2021 The Lunar 100: Features 91-100 November 2021 Issue – Due October 20, 2021 Jerry Hubbell –[email protected] David Teske – [email protected]
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Key to Images In This Issue
1. Abulfeda 12. Lambert 2. Albategnius 13. Orientale Basin 3. Alpes, Vallis 14. Sinus Aestuum 4. Archimedes 15. Ptolemaeus 5. Aristoteles 16. Rupes Recta 6. Arzachel 17. Sirsalis Rille 7. Atlas 18. Smythii Basin 8. Clavius 19. Sulpicius Gallus 9. Copernicus 20. Taruntius 10. Crisium, Mare 21. Tycho 11. Fracastorius 22. W. Bond
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