Posidonius

The seeing was a bit unsteady, but I wanted to see what I could obtain shooting video. Here is Posidonius, named for the Greek philosopher, geographer and astronomer, who lived 135 - 51 BCE. This walled plain is 95km in diameter. Adjacent to Posidonius is the 51km crater Chacornac, now filled with darkness. Just to the south we find the oblong appearing le Monnier, a flooded crater 61km in diameter also in darkness. le Monnier is the site of the Luna 21 landing. To the west is part of Mare Serenitatis (Sea of Serenity), which the Dorsa Smirnov runs across as seen here. This image does not do the view through the eyepiece justice!

8:24UT, 10 October, 2017, Tucson, Arizona.
Celestron 20cm (8”) EdgeHD with a Canon 80D operating with eyepiece projection using a 21mm eyepiece. Video processed with AutoStakkert & Registax.

Theophilus, Cyrillus & Catharina

Theophilus, Cyrillus & Catharina (all about 100km in diameter). Sinus Asperitatis (Bay of Roughness) and Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility) are to the north, while the Rupes Altai rings the south.

7:48UT, 10 October, 2017, Tucson, Arizona.
Celestron 20cm (8”) EdgeHD with a Canon 80D operating ` f/ 25
1/250 second, 16,000 ISO, Camera RAW

After Full

The moon begins to wane after the Harvest Moon. October 7th, 2017

Struve, Eddington & Russell

This image just happens to be a bit smaller than, but a very similar orientation to "Plate 17. Struve" of Antonín Rükl's Atlas of the Moon.

Struve (170km), the remains of a flooded walled plain is along the terminator experiencing dawn. Already in full daylight are the remains of the flooded walled plain Eddington (125km). The last flooded walled plain above them in this image is Russell, at 103km. The large crater below them at the bottom of the frame is Krafft. It is 51km in diameter and has a flooded floor. The crater near the center of the frame is Seleucus (43km) and directly above that is Briggs (37km) and then Briggs B.

7:57UT, 4 October, 2017, Tucson, Arizona.
Celestron 20cm (8”) EdgeHD

Canon 80D operating with eyepiece projection using a 9.7mm eyepiece.
1/100 second
16,000 ISO
Camera RAW

Darwin, Byrgius & the Montes Cordillera

Top center we see the paired craters of Sirsalis and Sirsalis A. To it's right we see the 45km crater Hansteen, the mountain Mons Hansteen and the flooded crater Billy. To the left of the Sirsalis craters we find the Summer Lake (Lacus Aestatis) and the 90km crater Rocco emerging from the darkness.As we turn south we pas by the flooded crater Crüger, past Darwin to Byrgius (46,130 & 87km respectively) in the center of the frame. Reaching south along the terminator the Montes Cordillera are basking in the dawn light, leading us down to the walled plains of Lagrange and Piazzi (160 & 101km).

7:00UT, 4 October, 2017, Tucson, Arizona.
Celestron 20cm (8”) EdgeHD
Canon 80D operating with eyepiece projection.
1/320 second
6400 ISO
Camera RAW

Grimaldi & Riccioli

I had a chance to image the moon at a higher magnification. The right half of this image is dominated by Oceanus Procellarum. The 30km crater Reiner and the flat bright feature Reiner Gamma stand out in this part of the ocean. Immediately to the left is the deep crater Cavalerius (58km) and the 106km walled plain Hevelius. The 222km inner basin of Grimaldi is filled with lava, which is surrounded by a broken outer wall with a 430km diameter. Moving towards the terminator and back to the north we see Riccioli (146km), Hedin mostly in shadow (143km), and Olbers (75km) At the top of the frame is Cardanus at 50km.

06:56UT, 4 October, 2017, Tucson, Arizona.
Celestron 20cm (8”) EdgeHD
Canon 80D operating with eyepiece projection.
1/200th second
6400 ISO
Camera RAW

Back to the Moon!

After a few fits and starts on this blog, I am thinking it is probably the best place for me to post my new astronomical images. I've picked up a new amateur telescope, and have restarted my long dormant lunar photography program.

We'll start this off with an image of the nearly full moon.

~5:00UT, 4 October, 2017, Tucson, Arizona.
Celestron 20cm (8”) EdgeHD
Canon 80D operating a f/ 10
1/2000 second, 2000 ISO
Camera RAW