Category: Moon

Before the Nectaris Basin, There Was Rosenberger and Vlacq

This sketch was made on an exceptionally steady night of seeing and centers on two old craters in the highlands of the southeastern quadrant near the approaching sunset terminator. At times of higher sun the dominating feature here is a uniform scattering of similar looking 30-50 km. craters that dot this highland plain. It is something of a nightmare to identify small impactors in this local. This region looks and is ancient. Here you will find two large sketching targets side by side, the craters Rosenberger (96km.) and Vlacq (89 km.).
Both of these craters pre-date the impact that formed the Nectaris basin some 3.9 billion years ago. As obviously ancient as these craters appear at high sun with the worn out rims, lack of large central peaks, lack of ejecta blanket rays, etc. At a low sun angle this pair takes on a more youthful appearance. The sharp shadows hide some tell tale signs of age. The smaller of the two, namely Vlacq is noticeably more youthful, with its larger, central, double massif, lower floor crater count and slight bulge inward onto Rosenberger.
It was a pleasure under near perfect weather conditions to observe and sketch this pair again at the eyepiece after 3 years hiatus.

Sketching:

For this sketch I used: black Strathmore 400 Artagain paper, 9”x 12”, white and black Conte’pastel pencils and blending stumps, gum eraser, brush. Brightness was slightly decreased with the scanner.

Telescope: 10 inch f/ 5.7 Dobsonian and 6 mm eyepiece 241 x
Date: 8-28-2010, 6:30-8:20 UT
Temperature: 22° C (72° F)
clear, calm
Seeing: Antoniadi II
Colongitude: 133.2 °
Lunation: 18.1 days
Illumination: 88.8% Waning Gibbous

Frank McCabe

Geminus and Bernoulli

2010 08 26, 0737 UT Geminus and Bernoulli
PCW Memorial Observatory, OH, USA, Erika Rix – www.pcwobservatory.com
Zhumell 16”, 12mm Burgess, 2x Barlow, 300x mag, 13% T moon filter
Temp: 15.1C, > 90% humidity, S: Antoniadi III-I
Sketch created scopeside with Rite in the Rain paper and charcoal.

Phase: 342.4°
Lunation: 16.19d
Illumination: 97.6%
Lib. Lat: -5°48’
Lib. Long: -2°06’
Az: 206°48’, Alt: 46°49’

*Geminus:* complex crater, 56.7° E, 34.5°N
Eratosthenian Period (-3.2 billion yrs to –1.1 billion yrs)
Dimension: ~88×52 km, Height: 5400 km
Named after Geminus of Rhodes. Depending on which reference you use, he
was said to have lived in 70 BC or in 50 AD (or thereabouts) and was a
mathematician and astronomer.

Although this is a circular formation, it appears oblong because of an
effect called foreshortening caused by its position near the limb. Even
the central ridge appears offset from the midpoint of the crater floor.
The moon filter helped bring out more details not only in the terraced
walls of the crater but also the extensive ejecta and formations
surrounding Geminus. An area of interest is northern rim of the crater.
In the sketch, there are two bright circular areas representing notches
that I first believed were craters. The rim itself appeared well-defined
and very sharp.

Geminus C (16×16 km) is located just southeast of Geminus and Messala A
(26×26 km) is located a little further to the northwest.

*Bernoulli: *crater, 60.7° E, 45° N
Upper Imbrian period (-3.8 billion yrs to –3.2 billion yrs)
Dimension: ~49×49 km, Height: 4000 km
Named after Jacques Bernoulli, 17th century Swiss mathematician and
physicist

The central mountain in this crater was visible just outside of the
encroaching shadow. The terraced southern rim appears to spill into the
outer surroundings and the northern edge seemed to plateau connecting
like a bridge to Bernoulli A.

The full report can be found here:

2010 08 26, Geminus and Bernoulli

Erika Rix

Vieta and Terminator

Object: Moon. Vieta crater and others
Scope: Schmidt-Cassegrain 5″ with Antares S-W 7,4mm and barlow 2x
Magnification: about 338x
Date: August 22nd, 2010.
Place: Wrocław, Poland
Weather: Good. Seeing 3/5. Transparency 3/5
Technique: White pastel on black art paper with printed sketch pattern
Tooling: some “cosmetology” with GIMP 2
Observer: Aleksander Cieśla (Wimmer)

The Copernican Abyss

The Copernican Abyss

I managed to witness a sunrise on crater Copernicus just after nightfall. This was a sketching opportunity I did not want to pass up. Copernicus crater at 90 plus kilometers in diameter and 800 million years old is one of the showpiece craters of the moon whenever it is visible.
The rim of Copernicus at this observation was coming under full illumination while the crater floor remained in cold darkness.
A pair of 7x binoculars is all that is need to show this crater to the observer. As the moon approaches full phase the ray system of this crater can be seen to best advantage.

Sketching:

For this sketch I used: white sketching paper 12”x 10”, HB, 4B, 6B graphite pencils, a blending stump, Artgum eraser and brush. After scanning, Brightness was decreased (-2) and contrast increased (+2) using Microsoft Office Picture Manager.

Telescope: 10″ f/5.7 with 9mm ortho. eyepiece for 161x
Date: 8-19-2010, 1:00 – 1:30 UT
Temperature: 22° C (72° F)
Partly cloudy, calm, 60% humidity
Seeing: Antoniadi III
Colongitude 20.4°
Lunation 8.9 days
Illumination 73 %

Frank McCabe

Stippling Cauchy and Rumker

PCW Memorial Observatory, OH, USA
Erika Rix

2010 06 30, 0533-0839 UT
Cauchy, rilles, & domes
Zhumell 16”, 12mm Burgess, 2x Barlow, 300x mag
Temp: 11.2°-9.7°C, > 90% humidity
S: Antoniadi III increasing to II-I
Phase: 118°
Lunation: 17.77 d
Illumination: 87.2%
Lib. Lat: -3°28’
Lib. Long: +00°33’
Az: 135°22’, Alt: 25°44’

2010 06 25, 0229 UT
Mons Rumker
Zhumell 16”, 12mm Burgess, 2x Barlow, 300x mag
Phase: 16.2°
Lunation: 12.64 d
Illumination: 98%
Lib. Lat: 3°37’
Lib. Long: 5°33’
Az: 153°57’, Alt: 19°25’

One of the joys of the types of observing sessions we do is trying new
techniques and media to sketch the objects we view (except for my solar
sketches….I’ve sort of settled for the comfortable ol’ shoe feeling of
my black paper and Conte’). I’ve played around with quills and India ink
for years, actually since I was in my early teens. The thought of having
an open bottle of India ink next to me in the dark while observing was a
not appealing. In fact, as messy as I am with ink, nothing within a 10’
radius would have been safe from being splattered black, including my
optics.

I’ve been studying some of Harold Hill’s beautiful sketches and fancied
trying my hand at stippling for lunar observations instead of my typical
charcoal or pastels. I believe the norm is to do a schematic sketch in
pencil and label it with a legend. The idea of this is to bring the
sketch back inside and stipple over it with the quill and ink in the
comfort of your home with light. If you took care with your notes and
the labeling, you could even do this days later. It takes me long enough
to write my reports and record all the data from my sessions and I don’t
relish the idea of spending extra time working on a sketch once my
session at the eyepiece is over. Above all, I certainly don’t trust my
ability to redraw (or draw over a schematic sketch) using a shading
legend, which is one reason my sketches are completed at the telescope.
I want to ensure that there is no chance of me messing up (adding
details, misplacing markings, wrong shadings…) the details that I
actually see during my session.

Taking all that into consideration, a good alternative to India ink is
using a marker. Grabbing what I could find on hand, I used white card
stock paper and a permanent marker with a finer point for my sketch of
Mons Rumker. Since this was my first attempt, I went ahead and tried the
schematic sketch with labels first of Mons Rumker. I ended up with lines
and numbers all through the sketch so that soon I was unable to make
neither rhyme nor reason of the sketch itself.

Next, I tried drawing the dome with a pencil as if I were making a quick
regular sketch of it. Then I redrew it inside the house using the marker
for stippling. Although it was kind of fun, if I’m going to do a sketch
with a pencil anyway, what’s the point of doing it all over again with
stippling? Plus, I accidentally inverted my craterlets in the re-sketch.
The final straw was when I showed the stippled sketch to Paul, my
husband who is also an amateur astronomer, and after studying it for a
moment, he asked me what it was.

My next attempt turned out much better. I can’t help but to think part
of that is because I sketched while viewing instead of having to try
decipher my notes or markings of a schematic sketch after my observing
session was over. I was sketching all the subtle blendings instead of
having lined borders where the contrasts changed. Of course, the change
in markers plus a little more experience helped too. I sketched the area
around Cauchy with the rilles and domes nearby. I used an ultra-fine
black permanent marker with Rite in the Rain paper and created the
entire sketch at the eyepiece. I didn’t find a need to use erasers nor
pencils for the Cauchy sketch.

Harold Hill is a master and I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me. But the
first step is actually do it. The second is doing it again and again.
Throw in a few tweaks to the media or techniques, and my stippled
sketches are bound to show a result of my efforts.

Maurolycus Revisited

Maurolycus Revisited

This is a notable crater in the southern highlands as the terminator approaches. On this twentieth day of lunation the setting sun shadow could be seen crawling across the crater floor to the east. The large size (115 km.), central peaks on a flat floor and high terraced walls identify this ancient crater (Nectarian period) as a walled plain impact. The east wall rises steeply above the floor 4.2 kilometers. Part of a previous large crater juts out from under Maurolycus to the south (on top in the sketch). Central peaks casting shadows were seen north of the center point on the crater floor. The floor is mostly flat and smooth with a few visible craters. Among the many similar craters in the southern highlands this is a crater that truly stands out.

Sketching:

For this sketch I used: black Strathmore 400 Artagain paper 9”x6” (half sheet), white and black Conte’ pastel pencils and a blending stump. After scanning, Brightness was decreased (-4) and contrast increased (+4) using the scanner.

Telescope: 10 inch f/ 5.7 Dobsonian and 6 mm eyepiece 241 x
Date: 7-2-2010, 8:30-9:00 UT
Temperature: 16° C (60° F)
clear, calm
Seeing: Antoniadi III
Colongitude: 157.7 °
Lunation: 20 days
Illumination: 71 %

Frank McCabe

Edge of the Schiller-Zucchius Basin

Edge of the Schiller-Zucchius Basin

With no specific sketching target in mind, I was examining the south terminator region of the moon and noticed it was showing what is considered to be an unfavorable view because it was turned away from the observer. There was a poorly defined part of a scarp-like ring partially visible under craters Rost A, Weigel and Weigel B. This ring is just beyond the Schiller-Zucchius basin center which was not yet illuminated by sunlight. The southeastern portion of this ring illuminated by the rising sun presented a half dark, half illuminated pathway that ended at the terminator. I found this view at the eyepiece quite fascinating and had some difficulty capturing it correctly. The “unfavorable” libration of this part of the moon near the terminator contributed to the shallow angle view. Even the appearance of famous, elongated, paramecium shaped crater Schiller was unusual. These are the kinds of surprises that get me motivated to sketch the moon.

Sketching:

For this sketch I used: Black Canson sketching paper, 14”x 9”, White and black Conte’ pencils, a blending stump, plastic eraser. After scanning, contrast and brightness were adjusted slightly using the scanner.



Telescope: 10 inch f/5.7 Dobsonian and 9mm eyepiece 161x

Date: 6-23-2010, 1:45 – 2:30 UT 

Temperature: 27° C (80° F) 
clear, calm

Seeing: Antoniadi III 

Co-longitude: 44.3°

Lunation: 10.6 days 
Illumination: 88.2 %
Observing Location: +41°37′ +87° 47′

Frank McCabe

Partial Lunar Eclipse Over the Sonoran Desert

Object : Moon/ Partial Lunar Eclipse
Date : June 26, 2010
Time : 04:45 LST / 11:45 UT
Location : Wickenburg Arizona USA
Instrument : Naked eye observation
Weather : Moderate winds, cool upper 70’s , clear skies and the glow of the
semi-eclipsed Moon.
Medium : Acrylic paint on canvas paper 8.5 x 11

Comments :
This was my chance, I’ve wanted to do this acrylic paint since quite a while
back! I figured since the Moon will shed some light on the subject, I might
as well take advantage of the situation. At first, I didn’t know how big to
go on the canvas since I wanted to put some detail on the eclipsed Moon. Too
big and I might just make a weekend project out of something simple. So, I
settled for an 8.5 x 11 inch, which would make it easy for me to scan and
upload without to much hassle.

I framed my view next to a Saguaro cactus and set myself so that if I
painted the foreground first, the Moon will still be in the vicinity of my
selected view within an hour or so later. Shortly after 10:00 UT, I noticed
the Moon began to creep into the Earth’s shadow but that was not the time
for me to immortalize it on canvas just yet. I didn’t know how hard this
task was going to become but I realized it was going to be trickier than I
had anticipated. After brushing away on the static vegetation for almost an
hour and keeping an eye on the Moon that kept inching closer to the horizon,
I had to act on it ‘pronto’.

The full Strawberry Moon lay there tranquil and serene but being eaten away
by the umbral darkness. I noticed the shadow working its way from Mare
Frigoris and moving down onward into part of Oceanus Procellarum, all of
Mare Imbrium and Mare Serenitatis, and a portion of Mare Tranquilitatis and
Mare Fecunditatis. At this point, I would say the Moon was about 40 percent
covered while it would still go on to cover for a total of 50 percent or so.
While this was a naked eye session, I still carried my 12 x 60’s just for
kicks. I noticed through the binoculars that the Northern part of the Moon
had a pinkish to copper hue along that edge. I thought perhaps half the Moon
would turn red orange but that wasn’t the case, I guess I’ll have to wait
until December of this year to get that effect when we get the entire lunar
eclipse! : D

Wishing you dark and clear nights!
Juanchin

Beautiful Bullialdus

Bullialdus Crater

Eratosthenian period crater Bullialdus (63 km.) was just a few hours past full rim illumination and was not yet taking light on its central peaks but the western terraced wall was well illuminated by morning sunlight. The darkness over the floor of this caldera gives a sense of greater depth than the true drop of 3.5 kilometers.At the time of this observation ridges and furrows were clearly seen on the craters outer ramparts. Also included in this sketch are craters Bullialdus A and B at 10 o’clock and Konig at 12 o’clock. South is up in the sketch and East is to the right.

Sketching

Telescope: 10 inch f/ 5.7 Dobsonian and 6 mm eyepiece 241 x
Date: 7-21-2010, 1:00-2:30 UT
Temperature: 22° C (72° F)
clear, calm
Seeing: Antoniadi III
Colongitude: 26.3 °
Lunation: 9.25 days
Illumination: 77.1%

Frank McCabe