FreeLists / az-observing / [AZ-Observing] The moon through borrowed lens.....

["Thad Robosson" <starstarcracker@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hey All, 

Happened to be out on the driveway last night testing (read as de-bugging) Mr. 
Tejera's new equatorial platform (a snazzy new number from Red Oak Astronomy 
{tm})  and was scanning the moon.  (It wasn't like I could find anything else 
because Rick forgot to put his Telrad on his scope.)  I was panning around the 
terminator at 92x when I came across an area I hadn't seen before.  The region 
around Aristarchus struck me as particularly interesting.  Aristarchus itself 
was what I could only describe as "flourescent white" in contrast with the 
area.  Right next door is Heredotus, a slightly oblong crater whose sunlit rim 
highlighted it, and the small crater labeled as "N" in Rukl is visible on 
Heredotus' rim.  The Vallis Schroteri was a long, not quite perfect arc of 
shadow and white, which is what caught my eye initially.  North of these is 
Mons Heredotus, which was quite white and casting a long notable shadow along 
with 2 other unamed "mons" to the north of that.  Montes Agricola was an 
impressive range of mountains forming a natural border of sorts, the South end 
was tall enough to cast a shadow into the terminator.  Dorsa Burnet appears to 
meld itself into the south end of Montes Agricola, in an attempt to become an 
extension of this range.  The floor of this area appears slightly browner than 
it's surrounding regions.  Seeing wasn't great, about a 6 of 10, but better 
than it has been lately.  A nice way to test out a new toy, which worked well 
by the way....:-)

Thad

Thad Robosson
Double star enthusiast
Member Saguaro Astronomy Club
ATM group chairman
Owner/operator Twin Points Observatory
33 27 N, 112 19 W
Phoenix, Arizona, USA

"In what was facetiously called 'the Univeristy of the Far East',
the better-educated officers lectured enlisted men in history, 
French, and biology.  Astronomy was the most popular class of all.  
Lying on their backs beneath the Southern Cross, the POWs followed
the course of the stars and planets, bathed themselves in meteor 
showers, and took their minds off this world by contemplating others."

From "Ghost Soldiers", an account of the Cabanatuan POW Camp 
during WWII,by Hampton Sides.

The use of your 'delete' key is authorized...




--
See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please 
send personal replies to the author, not the list.