A hike around the Moon

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davesellars
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A hike around the Moon

#1

Post by davesellars »


Session: 13th Jan
Scope: 12" Dob

So, we've recently had over the previous few nights amazing seeing. I could tell late evening as the sun went down the stability of the air made for exceptional visibility over the valley seeing sharp details of objects in the distance. The moon which was already well up was rock solid and easy to pull out a lot of features naked eye...

Jupiter - At 5pm before Jupiter made its way below the roof of a nearby (unoccupied) house, I quickly collimated dead on with the cheshire. With the 10mm Delos giving 150x the planet was incredibly sharp, the middle bands showing an intense brown / orange tint - the brightness though making it difficult to see much further detail so I put in the 7mm Pentax XW for 214x which while I lost some of the colour of the main large middle bands allow seeing detail in the rest of the planet. The bands themselves showed some good detail with the swirls and eddies showing with some persistance. My wife joined me with my eldest daughter and they were quite blown away with the view! Unfortunately, the planet didn't take long to disappear below the rooftop... That reminds me to raise the dob a touch on a mat or two for tonight...

I decided to do a session of moon observation of which i'm a complete noob! :) Therefore I spent a bit of time on google and found a good page listing 12 targets:

https://astronomy.com/news/observing/20 ... ar-targets

I popped these targets in to Sky Safari and added a couple of others for good measure... prepared, it was time to start around 9pm.

For this part I started with the Pentax XW 5mm but quickly switched to a 4mm TMB Optical Planetary II giving 300x

Clavius - Not too far away from the terminator this was showing really clearly. Craterlets J,N,Y,C,D,T,X and K all very clear. I enjoyed the "route" walking down from this towards Tycho via Maginus.

Plato - Perhaps not the best (too much illumination?) for attempting to see the small craterlets however I could just about make out some pock-marks in the extremely flat featureless crater.

Archimedes - Nice visual on this spotting a couple of the craterlets. The nearby Montes Spitzbergen highlighted especially well.

Thor's hammer - Not the offical name (as it doesn't see to have one). However it a feature just to the south (normal way up) of Mons Piton that looks unmistakenly like a mallet. Not too difficult to see but it rather an impression on the surface that needs the sharpness and reasonable power to make out the shape well.

Back down to Plato it's a short stroll to...

Sinus Iridum (Bay of Rainbows) - OK, this feature blew me away. I think it may have been ideally situated(?) with the close terminator - following the length of the bay a great amount of features embedded into it particularly from Bianchini crater to Laplace D. One of the most awesome features of this bay was Promontorium Laplace - on the bay side of this cape starts looks to be a meandering valley which is of reasonable length. To the west of this (dob view) some "footprints" left in the otherwise flawless bay.

Copernicus - Obviously two central craterlets and ridges on the edge of the main crater. Montes Carpatus nicely detailed below this (dob view). As I strolled then towards the terminator from Copernicus I was intrigued by Montes Riphaeus which stood out beautifully illuminated although it does not appear to be a particularly prominent mountain range.

Rimae Gassendi - This one was spectacular - the closeness to the terminator really highlighted the depth of this feature and the central mountains inside the crater which there seemded to be 4 individual mountains although clumped together - The 3D effect was really quite outstanding.

Rimae Hadley - One of my extras as it was the site of the Apollo 15 landing site and I was particularly after seeing the "stream" that runs through that area. I'd got the area in view however the clarity was disappearing fast... I looked to see where the problem was and sure enough my secondary mirror had succumbed to dew. In fact, the air was so damp that everything was soaked with water. This feature will have to wait until next time!

I wrapped up at 11pm and warmed up inside while pondering to take out a refractor but it was also starting the freeze and I was getting tired (3 nights in a row!)
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Re: A hike around the Moon

#2

Post by turboscrew »


Nice report, and thanks for the link. I've never really observed the moon, but maybe I should. It just seems to make more sense if you have some idea, what you're looking at. Maybe I take my binoculars with me when I go to sauna. I could take some looks between löylys.
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Re: A hike around the Moon

#3

Post by Bigzmey »


Nice planetary/lunar session Dave! Moon is a great target. Even with poor seeing there is enough topography features to keep you busy. Did you use filters or stopped down the aperture?
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
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Re: A hike around the Moon

#4

Post by davesellars »


Bigzmey wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 6:54 pm Nice planetary/lunar session Dave! Moon is a great target. Even with poor seeing there is enough topography features to keep you busy. Did you use filters or stopped down the aperture?
Cheers! No filters / stopped down aperture. Just the scope and the eyepiece! However, it was too bright with my 10mm and even the 7mm was a little too much, however the 5mm and 4mm dimmed the brightness sufficiently to be quite comfortable.
SW Flextube 12" Dobsonian.
Starfield ED102 f/7; SW ED80; SW 120ST
EQ5 and AZ4 mounts
Eyepieces: TV Delos 17.3 & 10; Pentax XW 7 & 5; BCO 32,18,10; Fuyiyama Ortho 12.5; Vixen SLV 25.
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Re: A hike around the Moon

#5

Post by davesellars »


turboscrew wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 6:12 pm Nice report, and thanks for the link. I've never really observed the moon, but maybe I should. It just seems to make more sense if you have some idea, what you're looking at. Maybe I take my binoculars with me when I go to sauna. I could take some looks between löylys.
Thanks! I've kind of only observed the moon briefly before without knowing what I was looking at. It made a big difference to be prepared and have some idea of the targets and further details within or around them. I've certainly got a taste for it and will see to add the lunar 100 observing list to go through for these nights when the DSOs are a no go.
SW Flextube 12" Dobsonian.
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Eyepieces: TV Delos 17.3 & 10; Pentax XW 7 & 5; BCO 32,18,10; Fuyiyama Ortho 12.5; Vixen SLV 25.
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Re: A hike around the Moon

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Post by turboscrew »


Let's see about tonight. The clouds just rolled in. Maybe, just maybe, they roll out too.
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Re: A hike around the Moon

#7

Post by davesellars »


Good luck! It's clear here as in no cloud however we have freezing fog. I can see the moon OK but after 3 sessions in a row I'm pretty worn and not up to fighting with the humidity affecting the optics!
SW Flextube 12" Dobsonian.
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Eyepieces: TV Delos 17.3 & 10; Pentax XW 7 & 5; BCO 32,18,10; Fuyiyama Ortho 12.5; Vixen SLV 25.
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Re: A hike around the Moon

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Post by Lady Fraktor »


Another great session Dave, Lunar viewing can be a lot of fun as it is such a dynamic object.
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Re: A hike around the Moon

#9

Post by Makuser »


Hello Again Dave. Another great report and I am glad that you had some fun at the eyepiece lately. And, the moon is always a great treat with the plethora of wonderful features to see. And it was great that your wife and daughter got to have some nice views of Jupiter. Thanks for another well written report Dave and the best of wishes for clear night skies.
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Re: A hike around the Moon

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Post by helicon »


Great report on your lunar adventure Dave, and congrats on winning the TSS VROD of the day.
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Re: A hike around the Moon

#11

Post by The Wave Catcher »


Hi Dave,

Thanks for the great report! As a 98% visual observer, I too observer the Moon often. Is this the feature that you indicated was Thor’s Hammer? I does look like it. :D

Image

I captured this image at 0222 UTC on January 11, 2022, Monday night here in Texas.
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Re: A hike around the Moon

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Post by davesellars »


The Wave Catcher wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 3:54 pm Hi Dave,

Thanks for the great report! As a 98% visual observer, I too observer the Moon often. Is this the feature that you indicated was Thor’s Hammer? I does look like it. :D

Image

I captured this image at 0222 UTC on January 11, 2022, Monday night here in Texas.
Many thanks!

Great image! Yes, that's it - It's pretty clear in the eyepiece as well if conditions allow.
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Re: A hike around the Moon

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Post by davesellars »


helicon wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 2:32 pm Great report on your lunar adventure Dave, and congrats on winning the TSS VROD of the day.
Many thanks Michael!
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Eyepieces: TV Delos 17.3 & 10; Pentax XW 7 & 5; BCO 32,18,10; Fuyiyama Ortho 12.5; Vixen SLV 25.
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Re: A hike around the Moon

#14

Post by John Baars »


Nice report, Thanks and congratulations on the VROD!
The terminator on the Moon is always a rewarding subject.
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Re: A hike around the Moon

#15

Post by Frankskywatcher »


Awesome report and thanks for the link provided I’m going to try and follow that tonight.
Great report thanks !
Gee if I had known there was so much to see I would have started decades ago ! :Astronomer1:

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Re: A hike around the Moon

#16

Post by Unitron48 »


Great session; great read!! Congrats on your VROD award!

Dave
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