Post by Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe on Aug 18, 2011 11:36:18 GMT -6
Unusual lighting on the Lunar Surface this Imaging session
17 August 2011
17 August 2011
I was goofing around with guitar with the down the block neighbor late Wednesday evening - since our Park District joint star party was canceled due to early clouds. But at around 11:00 pm, I noticed that the Moon was hanging nicely in the east...and felt like some imaging.
I set-up the smaller C5 Telescope, as I did not desire to hoist the massive C11 beast. I plopped down the C5 outside of the garage, pointed the polar axis north, plugged in the battery pack and off I went. No polar alignment or leveling...(Robb
).But, the intense alley lights are pouring into the OTA, despite the use of the dew shield...
Using Astro-brella jr, it provided much needed shade, and my corrector plate was now in darkness...
The lighting off the lunar surface this evening was unusual. A great deal of shading, rays, splotches and varying albedo reflections - much more than I recall observing....
A great long and especially bright ejecta ray from Tycho...
Sea of Serenity was...serene....
Near the South pole, neat rays and splotches...
I'm assuming the right solar angle, is just so this session, as to provide good relief and contrast...
At the Sea of Nectar, it oddly smiles back at me. Hmmmm....Nectar.
Shifting to the Sea of Tranquility....I like how Astronaut Charlie Duke mis-pronounced "Twanquility" upon the confirmation of the Eagle touch down in the Apollo 11 mission.
Copernicus with very complicated ejecta ray structure.
There were also some interesting lunar artifacts observed...
Back at Copernicus, is this line of impacts...can't say I ever saw before. Virtual Moon doesn't reflect what this is.
A long bright ray cuts across the valley that leads into PICCOLOMINI (Nice central peak) - with an interesting circlet of overlapping craters kissing it, four equal spaced impacts at RICCIUS,
...and evenly angled craters at RABBI LEVI
Can't say that I ever noticed these before, but will from now on.
The wee C5 scope delivers nicely, using just a 40mm & a 25mm 1.25" eyepieces - hooked up to the Canon Powershot S3. It was a but hazy and turbulent this session and the images not as sharp as they could be. But I think I will take it apart for cleaning, flocking and alignment soon....
At about 1:00 am, clouds rolled in and the session was over. The Moon always has something new to discover and enjoy - even after decades of observations...
Awesome images, I liked the smiling Sea of Nectar. Two of my favorite spots on the moon to look at are Sinus Iridum and Tycho crater. 
