FreeLists / az-observing / [AZ-Observing] Two Capellas tonight

["Steve Coe" <stevecoe@xxxxxxxxx>]

Howdy all;

In case you have never had a chance to observe both Capellas, tonight was a 
good night.  The star Capella is the brightest in Auriga and a nice view, even 
from my light polluted backyard in Phoenix, Az.  However, for the "other" 
Capella, you will need a telescope.  It is an interesting crater on the Moon at 
the edge of the Sea of Nectars.

This observation is with my 7 inch f/15 Meade Maksutov-Cass using 175X to 300X 
on a night when I rated the seeing at 6 out of 10.  There were no clouds.  

The crater Capella is of average size and is a round crater with a somewhat 
large central peak.  The central peak is more of a mound than a sharply defined 
mountain, but it is immediately obvious even at lower powers.  The walls are 
pretty smooth and the floor of the crater has some texture to it.  There are 
several small craters in the floor of Capella and two craters that have 
destroyed the walls of Capella on the south side.   If that were all there was 
to say about Capella it would seem rather dull, however it is a unique and 
fascinating structure for one reason.  There is a prominent valley that cuts 
this crater into two almost equal pieces.  This valley appears to be a chain of 
about 6 craters of similar size that are overlapping each other and so seem to 
be one almost smooth valley.  This valley makes a diagonal cut through Capella 
and the interaction of these two features are unique in my observations of the 
Moon.  

Rukl #47 shows some of this feature, but a good photo is in The Pictorial Guide 
to the Moon by Alter, page 93.

Put it on your lunar look ups;
Steve Coe

stevecoe@xxxxxxxxx
Author:  Deep Sky Observing--The Astronomical Tourist
Saguaro Astronomy Club web site:
www.saguaroastro.org

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