Category: Moon

Lunar crater Tycho unfinished
Sketch and Details by Frank McCabe

I was about 45 minutes into this sketch when I began thinking about the last time I started a close up sketch of the crater Tycho. I was stopped shortly into that attempt by fast approaching clouds. This time I was not concerned because satellite images and the Clear Sky Clock for my area revealed little or no chance of that and suddenly as if on command the clouds rolled in from the east and sketching was over.
So I share with you my second attempt at a Tycho crater sketch. What is it they say about the third time?

Sketching:

For this partial sketch I used: black Strathmore 400 Artagain paper 9″ x 12″, white and black Conte’
pastel pencils, gum eraser and blending stumps.
Telescope: 10 inch f/ 5.7 Dobsonian with 6mm (241x) eyepiece.
Date: 8-13-2009 9:30-10:15 UT
Temperature: 20°C (68°F)
Clear and then cloudy, calm
Seeing: Antoniadi III,
Co longitude 107.3°
Lunation 22 days
Illumination 54.5%
Oak Forest, Illinois

Frank McCabe

Lunar crater Langrenus and environs
Sketch and Details by Frank McCabe

One night past the August full moon I had the opportunity to observe the craters near the moon’s eastern limb. One of these craters, the one I selected for sketching, was the walled-plain crater Langrenus. With the terminator a couple of hundred kilometers away the beautiful ray system was still easily seen crossing Mare Fecunditatis to the west. Crater Langrenus is approximately 132 kilometers in diameter and dates from the Eratosthenian period. Its walls stand several kilometers tall and it has a nice pair of central mountain peaks rising more than a kilometer above the floor. The northern portion of the floor is heavily boulder covered but in the current lighting that was difficult to see clearly. Beyond the crater to the northwest the triplet craters of Naonobu, Bilharz and Atwood were nicely visible and a central swelling could be seen on the floor of each.

Sketching:

For this sketch I used: black Strathmore 400 Artagain paper, white and black Conte’
pastel pencils and a hard blending stump.
Telescope: 10 inch f/ 5.7 Dobsonian with 6mm (241x) and 4 mm (362x) eyepieces
Date: 8-8-2009 6:50-8:15 UT
Temperature: 22°C (72°F)
Partly cloudy, calm
Seeing: Antoniadi III,
Co longitude 107.3°
Lunation 16 days
Illumination 98.5%
Libration in Longitude -3.5°

Frank McCabe

The Lunar Crater Moretus
Sketch and Details by Frank McCabe

Lunar Crater Moretus

When I think of craters in and around the south polar region of the moon, this is the one that comes to mind first. The lunar excavation I have sketched here is complex crater Moretus (114 kilometers in diameter). Moretus is an Eratostherian age feature with remarkable depth of nearly 4 kilometers from rim to floor. Rising above the center of that floor and casting a long shadow to the base of the east wall is the 2.6 km. central peak reflecting much light to my eye from its mostly shadowed surroundings. The inner terraced walls were gleaming on the eastern side in the setting sunlight and even the glacis of melted eject was eye catching against the surrounding shadowed cratered field of the southern highlands. You cannot look at the moon on a morning like this and not be moved by the beautiful view of the old cratered moon.

Sketching:

For this sketch I used: black Canson paper 12”x 10”, white and black Conte’ pastel pencils, blending stumps. After scanning, Brightness was decreased (-2) and contrast increased (+2) using Microsoft Office Picture Manager.

Telescope: 10 inch f/ 5.7 Dobsonian and 6 mm eyepiece 241x
Date: 7-14-2009, 9:30 – 10:15 UT
Temperature: 15° C (60° F)
clear, calm, low humidity
Seeing: Antoniadi III
Colongitude 177.7°
Lunation 21.8 days
Illumination 58.4 %

Frank McCabe