Lunar Observing Last Night

Another fine night with the waxing gibbous moon in the south and begging to be observed.

Gassendi was on the terminator and was a beautiful sight, the central peaks casting fine shadows onto the floor, as were the outer wall and it gives a real impression of the shape of the crater rim. It is often called the ring with a jewel, and with Gassendi A sitting on the edge of Gessendi, this gives the impression of a diamond ring.

Gassendi sits on the edge of the Mare Humorum and it's a wonderful feature, the wrinkle ridges and rimae appearing with ease under the low rising sun. On the opposite shore from Gassendi lie the flooded craters Dopplemayer, Puiseux, Lee and Vitello.

Moving south Schiller is just emerging into the morning light, I could see at the tip of Schiller there is an S shaped region that sneaks around Rost A and Weigel and gives the impression of a river flowing through the craters.

The southern highlands are a nightmare when it comes to observing, there are so many craters in this region that it is difficult to pick out anything but the major features, such as Tycho, the use of an atlas helps, but even then, the view through the eyepiece does not always coincide with the maps and it takes a little working out, I crater hop from a well known feature, to what I am looking at.

I really enjoy moving down the terminator and really love the way the shadows stretch across the landscape and higher features on the dark side pick up the rising sun and appear as little spots of light in the darkness.

I've neglected the moon for too long and have to get some more lunar time in.

One final thing, using the Explore Scientific eyepiece, I notice that the view of the moon is darker, as if I am using a moon filter, I wonder if this has something to do with the nature of the eyepiece, being nitrogen purged as it is.

Thanks for your time.

Paul

One final, final thing, a big thanks to John Flannery, the book you gave me on the moon was extremely useful in sorting out what I was seeing.

Hi, Paul. What is the name of the lunar book? Is is Antonin Rukl's or Thierry Legault?

Ken and I also observed the Gibbous Moon too through Ken's telescope. We saw Gassendi and its stunning twin peaks. There was a big crater in shadow on the northern terminator north of Plato. It was Philolaus. Rupes Recta was on the scene near Gassendi.

I will have a further report as to what I saw -very dramatic sights in my scope.

Aubrey.

It's a pretty old book Aubrey, the precursor to Rukl's atlas, remember that time you, me, Michael and John went to the Sugarloaf to observe an event, can't remember what event, we ended up sitting in Michael's car looking out at the rain, John gave the book to me that evening.

Paul

Great report, thanks Paul. I agree that we often overlook the moon, despite the fact that the details along the terminator never fail to enthrall. If you have an iThing, the app "Moon Maps" is great because it shows a series of photos corresponding to the current moon phase, which clearly label the prominent features, especially those along the terminator.

Mike

lunartic wrote: One final thing, using the Explore Scientific eyepiece, I notice that the view of the moon is darker, as if I am using a moon filter, I wonder if this has something to do with the nature of the eyepiece, being nitrogen purged as it is.

Very nice report Paul, the Moon is always great to explore, if you ever get a chance to see it through a good set of binoviewers then you wont be disappointed.
Interesting thing you noticed about the ES eyepiece, which one was that and what were you comparing it to ?
The nitrogen prevents mould-mildew between lens elements, in theory..