Lunar Sketch 5 of 12: Tycho

Dear All,

I am delighted to share with you my fifth installment of the lunar sketches. After several attempts throughout May I was concerned I would not be in a position to submit a sketch. I made several attempts to sketch the lunar surface earlier in the month, but clouds, wind, or houses obstructed my view. Thankfully, the sky cleared this evening, which allowed me to sketch the Moon.

I started the sketch at 20:08 UT+1 and completed it at 21:19 UT+1 under a calm warm evening. Tycho was selected because I 'backed-out' of Clavius - that looked too complex for my skills. While Tycho appeared to be a more suitable target, the more time I spent looking at the object the more details I could see. It is for this reason, that I very much enjoy observing the Moon. Not only are there so many features to observe, but watching how the shadows change each feature over time is rather exciting.

This was most notable with Tycho's terraced walls. The was a real sense of depth when I view the crater through the eyepiece this evening. Considering its central peak is estimated to be 1500m, the walls must look incredible from Tycho's floor. 

I was very surprised to see the number of craterlets surrounding Tycho. And speaking of the craterlets; I struggled to sketch 'Street'. To me it looked like an old 50p coin. 

Other details from this evening's session include:

Location: Dundrum - Bortle 8
Seeing: 5pk
Transparency: 4- 5
Instrument used: f/8 150mm Newtonian Reflector
Eyepiece: 6mm Expanse (66° AFOV)
Materials used: 2B pencil, a kneaded erasers, an eraser shield. The image was sketched at the eyepiece, and cropped and reszied using GIMP 2.0. The sketch was photographed on my phone, and I tilted the phone at a slight angle when taking the photo.

As always many thanks for taking the time to read the above, and your comments and feedback are always welcomed.

Clear skies to all,

Darren.

Extremely good sketch, Darren.
I believe Tycho is one of the brightest craters on our Moon.
Its diameter is 85 kms.
Its depth is 4850 metres.
I am admiring your central peak too.
We do owe a lot to the main man Tycho Brahe who lived from 1546 to 1601.
He never got the use of a telescope at all during his life.
But he must have been one of the greatest observers of all time.
He discovered that very bright supernova which was visible in 1572 in Cassiopeia.
Kepler, also on the Moon, was his pupil.

Thank you, once again, Darren.
I too was observing the Moon last night.
Details later on.

Best regards from Aubrey.

Hi Aubrey, 

Very many thanks for your nice message. I didn't know that Tycho is 4850 meters deep. The crater has taken on a whole new lease of life with that information. 

And the fact that Tycho contributed so much to the field of astronomy without a telescope is remarkable.

Looking forward to hearing how your lunar observations went. 

Clear skies, 

Darren.