Plato and Vallis Alpes
- astroavani
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Plato and Vallis Alpes
With an image of such magnitude it is difficult for me not to comment on the two targets that stand out the most; Plato and Vallis Alpes.
Plato is one of the main targets of lunar astrophotography.
A good photo of Plato should show at least 3 or 4 smaller craters present on its floor, always in a darker hue than the surrounding terrain.
But every good self-respecting atrophotographer knows that it's not easy to make these small craters appear on your floor and, for that to happen, certain conditions must be met.
Firstly, an opening of no less than 250mm is ideal, not that it is impossible to register them with 200mm or even 180mm, but with 250mm it is much easier.
Secondly, the angle of incidence of sunlight must also be observed, if the terminator is too low and close, the contrast is too great making it difficult to record, if on the other hand the sun is too high, the smaller craters do not form shadows which it also makes it impossible to register them. I believe that the ideal is the Sun at an altitude of 30° to 45° so the contrast is not so great and shadows are still formed, facilitating their perception.
Thirdly, we must pay attention to seeing, with a bad seeing any recording is almost impossible, as these small craters disappear when the turbulence is strong.
I won't talk about focus because any mistake destroys a good result!
As a general rule, in order to get an impressive photo of at least some of these small craters, they would have to be visible briefly during the real-time screen capture on the lap top. If so, we learned that after the best stacked frames, these small craters will show up perfectly as seen in the attached photo.
Vallis Alpes, in the south of Mare Frigoris, not far from the Cassini crater and Plato's Great Eastern Plain, is one of the most spectacular valleys on the moon.
Seen in this image, Vallis Alpes (Alpine Valley) is a feature that extends 166 km from Mare Imbrium, running northeast to the edge of Mare Frigoris. This valley was discovered in 1727 by Francesco Bianchini. The valley is narrow at both ends and widens in the center to be about 10 kilometers in diameter.
The bottom of the valley has a flat, lava-flooded surface with a narrow 'channel' winding through the middle. This channel is generally thought of as a "graben", an area between two parallel faults that have fallen below the surrounding area. The narrow inner channel is believed to have been formed after the formation of the Imbrium basin, after the lava flows into the sea. It probably corresponds to a 'lava tube' that collapsed in a later geological episode due to the high velocity and low viscosity of the magma.
Very interesting to know that channels are common on the moon, considered one of the most fascinating volcanic features due to their wide range of scales (from 100 meters to over 100 km in length) and morphologies they present (linear, curved or sinuous).
Channels typically form when lava flows erode the existing surface, melting the substrate, removing mechanical material, or a combination of thermal and mechanical processes. However, some may have been lava tubes, rilles, that suffered roof collapse after their formation.
Trying to detect this relatively narrow and winding channel that runs along the bottom of Vallis Alpes is one of the favorite challenges of lunar observers, its exact dimensions are not exactly determined, but its vision is a very satisfactory test, as are the small craters on the floor. Plateau.
I hope these tips are of some use to anyone like me who likes to venture into Lunar photography!
Plato is one of the main targets of lunar astrophotography.
A good photo of Plato should show at least 3 or 4 smaller craters present on its floor, always in a darker hue than the surrounding terrain.
But every good self-respecting atrophotographer knows that it's not easy to make these small craters appear on your floor and, for that to happen, certain conditions must be met.
Firstly, an opening of no less than 250mm is ideal, not that it is impossible to register them with 200mm or even 180mm, but with 250mm it is much easier.
Secondly, the angle of incidence of sunlight must also be observed, if the terminator is too low and close, the contrast is too great making it difficult to record, if on the other hand the sun is too high, the smaller craters do not form shadows which it also makes it impossible to register them. I believe that the ideal is the Sun at an altitude of 30° to 45° so the contrast is not so great and shadows are still formed, facilitating their perception.
Thirdly, we must pay attention to seeing, with a bad seeing any recording is almost impossible, as these small craters disappear when the turbulence is strong.
I won't talk about focus because any mistake destroys a good result!
As a general rule, in order to get an impressive photo of at least some of these small craters, they would have to be visible briefly during the real-time screen capture on the lap top. If so, we learned that after the best stacked frames, these small craters will show up perfectly as seen in the attached photo.
Vallis Alpes, in the south of Mare Frigoris, not far from the Cassini crater and Plato's Great Eastern Plain, is one of the most spectacular valleys on the moon.
Seen in this image, Vallis Alpes (Alpine Valley) is a feature that extends 166 km from Mare Imbrium, running northeast to the edge of Mare Frigoris. This valley was discovered in 1727 by Francesco Bianchini. The valley is narrow at both ends and widens in the center to be about 10 kilometers in diameter.
The bottom of the valley has a flat, lava-flooded surface with a narrow 'channel' winding through the middle. This channel is generally thought of as a "graben", an area between two parallel faults that have fallen below the surrounding area. The narrow inner channel is believed to have been formed after the formation of the Imbrium basin, after the lava flows into the sea. It probably corresponds to a 'lava tube' that collapsed in a later geological episode due to the high velocity and low viscosity of the magma.
Very interesting to know that channels are common on the moon, considered one of the most fascinating volcanic features due to their wide range of scales (from 100 meters to over 100 km in length) and morphologies they present (linear, curved or sinuous).
Channels typically form when lava flows erode the existing surface, melting the substrate, removing mechanical material, or a combination of thermal and mechanical processes. However, some may have been lava tubes, rilles, that suffered roof collapse after their formation.
Trying to detect this relatively narrow and winding channel that runs along the bottom of Vallis Alpes is one of the favorite challenges of lunar observers, its exact dimensions are not exactly determined, but its vision is a very satisfactory test, as are the small craters on the floor. Plateau.
I hope these tips are of some use to anyone like me who likes to venture into Lunar photography!
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Accessories: Tele Vue Powermate 2X, Baader L filter, Baader IR Pass 610 and 685, Astronomik IR Pass 742, Tele Vue Binovue, various orthoscopic eyepieces
- Unitron48
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Re: Plato and Vallis Alpes
I'm purely a visual lunar observer, but appreciated all your information...and your image is incredible!! Matches anything in "The Cambridge Photographic Moon Atlas". Certainly an APOD candidate!!
Dave
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Re: Plato and Vallis Alpes
Congratulations Avani on having your image selected as todays TSS APOD !
app.php/article/12-21-2022-tss-astropho ... of-the-day
app.php/article/12-21-2022-tss-astropho ... of-the-day
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Re: Plato and Vallis Alpes
Hi Avani. Another wonderful astrophotography image from you. This time you have Plato and Vallis Alpes and with superb sharp surface details. As a lunartic I really enjoyed your capture and also your very informative text. Thanks for taking the time to put this great work up on here Avani and congratulations on receiving the TSS APOD Award today.
Marshall
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Orion Astroview 120ST f/5 Refractor on EQ3 mount
Celestron Comet Catcher 140mm f/3.64 Schmidt-Newtonian on alt-az mount
Celestron Omni XLT150R f/5 Refractor on CG4 mount with dual axis drives.
Orion 180mm f/15 Maksutov-Cassegrain on CG5-GT Goto mount.
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Re: Plato and Vallis Alpes
I appreciate the comments and I'm happy for TSS APOD
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Re: Plato and Vallis Alpes
That's amazing Avani, great write up also!
Congratulations on the well deservedAPOD !
Congratulations on the well deserved
Clear Skies,
-Jeff
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Re: Plato and Vallis Alpes
My word, that’s great - well deserved APOD ! Framing and clarity is superb.
Cheers,
Tony.
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Tony.
Smart Scope: Dwarf II - Club and outreach work.
AP Refractor: Altair 72EDF Deluxe F6;1x & 0.8 Flatteners; Antares Versascope 60mm finder. ASIAir Pro.Li battery pack for grab & go.
Celestron AVX Mount; X-cel LX eyepieces & Barlows 2x 3x, ZWO 2” Filter holder,
Cameras: main DSO ASI533MC; DSO guide ASI120MM; Planetary ASI224MC; DSLR Canon EOS100 stock.
Filters: Astronomik IR cut; Optolong L-Pro; Optolong L-Enhance.
Binoculars: Celestron 15 x 70.
Latitude: 52.219853
Longitude: -1.034471
Accuracy: 5 m
Bortle 4 site. https://maps.google.com/?q=52.21985,-1.03447
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Re: Plato and Vallis Alpes
Beautiful capture Avani, definitely deserves APOD !
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Re: Plato and Vallis Alpes
Another amazing lunar image Avani!
I still say you should do a atlas, your images and information are often better than my Rukl
I still say you should do a atlas, your images and information are often better than my Rukl
Gabrielle
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See Far Sticks: Elita 103/1575, AOM FLT 105/1000, Bresser 127/1200 BV, Nočný stopár 152/1200, Vyrobené doma 70/700, Stellarvue NHNG DX 80/552, TAL RS 100/1000, Vixen SD115s/885
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Re: Plato and Vallis Alpes
very nice , thx .
I LOVE REFRACTORS ,
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REFRACTOR , TS-Optics Doublet SD-APO 125 mm f/7.8 . Lunt 80mm MT Ha Doublet Refractor .
EYEPIECES, Delos , Delite and 26mm Nagler t5 , 2 zoom Svbony 7-21 , Orion Premium Linear BinoViewer .
FILTER , Nebustar 2 tele vue . Apm solar wedge . contrast booster 2 inches .
Mounts , cg-4 motorized , eq6 pro belt drive .
“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.”
― Isaac Asimov
Jean-Yves
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