Category: Moon

Two Craters in the Extreme Northern Zone

Philolaus and Anaximenes

Lunar craters Philolaus and Anaximenes
Sketch and Details by Giorgio Bonacorsi

Hello Astronomy Sketchers,all o.k.?

After bad weather i decide to observe and drawing the Moon.The vision is partially clear,humidity and clouds cover the sky and made a sketch was very difficult.But yesterday,the sky was clear and i take my little Vixen vmc 110 klevstov .I observe the north zone and decide to drawing two beautyfull craters:Philolaus and Anaximenes.The execution, at the end, was complicated by the passage of light clouds and humidity.I hope like you .

Clear sky and good sketch for all.
Ciao,Giorgio Bonacorsi.

Site:Pergola,Marche Region,Center Italy.
Date:5-6 of May 2009
Moon phase:Crescent (12,1 days)
Instrument:Klevstov Vixen vmc 110
Eyepiece: 15mm + Barlow (138x)
Seeing:Good, clouds and humidity at the end.
Temperature:Fresh,no wind.

Mid-Moon Craters

Arzachel and Alpetragius

Lunar craters Arzachel and Alpetragius
Sketch and Details by Frank McCabe

With the moon just past first quarter, many beautiful, deep craters near the center of the lunar-earth facing side standout in shadowed relief. Among those visible were the famous trio of Alphonsus, Ptolemaeus and Arzachel. During this observation I selected Arzachel (96 km.) and neighbor Alpetragius (41 km.) for sketching. Both of these craters were on display about 200 kilometers from the terminator shadow line. Arzachel is the southern most of the above mentioned trio. It is a lower Imbrium impact depression and in addition it is floor fractured. Central to the crater floor is a fine mountain projecting one and a half kilometers above the floor. Also on the floor of the crater is Arzachel A (10 km.) with light shimmering off its illuminated rim. Part of Rimae Arzachel was visible as a bright edge rille which partly paralleled the floor shadow cast by the northeastern rim.
Alpetragius the smaller, older crater (Nectarian) has a very large round mountain covering most of the crater floor. Just the tip of this mountain was catching the first rays of morning sun as I began this sketch.

Sketching:

For this sketch I used: black Strathmore 400 Artagain paper 8”x 8”, white and black Conte’ pastel pencils and a blending stump. After scanning, Brightness was decreased (-2) using my scanner.

Telescope: 4.25 inch f/10 equatorial and 6 mm at 180x
Date: 5-3-2009, 0:50 – 1:40 UT
Temperature: 13°C (55° F)
hazy, high thin clouds, calm
Seeing: Antoniadi III
Colongitude 11.2 °
Lunation 7.9 days
Illumination: 63 %

Frank McCabe

A Rupes and a Rima

Rupes Recta

Rupes Recta and Rima Birt
Sketch and Details by Balázs Benei

Hello,

This is my other sketch, I made it at the beginning of April. Rupes Recta was very easy to observe, it was totally in the field of vision. Rimae Birt was not so easy but I could see it firmly. The seeing was very good at times, I could observ the crater Birt D, which had only 3km (~2miles) diameter. I think this was the end of the definition of my telescope. I made the sketch with graphite pencil.

My equipment: 110/800 (4′) Newtonian reflector, 2x barlow, 10mm eyepiece, 160x magnification.

Yours sincerely
Balázs Benei

Object name: Rupes Recta, Rimae Birt

Object type: Lunar rille, Lunar rimae

Location: Gyöngyös, Hungary

Date: 2009. 04. 04. 17:35 – 18:55 UT

Magnificent Archimedes

Archimedes

Lunar crater Archimedes
Sketch and Details by Krzysztof Jastrzebski (Jarzbi)

Hello.
This is my new charcoal sketch: large lunar impact crater Archimedes.
Object Name:
* Object Type (Moon: Archmiedes crater)
* Location (Skawina City in Poland)
* Date (02 May 2009, 20:00 UTC)
* Equipment: Synta 8” Dob, Eyepice SP10 mm.

Greetings,
Krzysztof Jastrzebski (Jarzbi)

Gorgeous Gassendi

Gassendi

Lunar crater Gassendi
Sketch and Details by Carlos E. Hernandez

I made an observation of Gassendi on April 6, 2009 (05:30 U.T.) using my 9-inch (23-cm) F/13.5 Maksutov-Cassegrain at 359x under steady (6-7/10) seeing conditions and transparent skies (4-5/6). Gassendi (17.5*S, 39.9*W) is a prominent walled-plain located over the northern edge of Mare Humorum measures approximately 68 miles (110 km) in diameter with a central group of peaks as high as 0.75 miles (1.2 km) high. A complex set of rilles are noted over the floor of Gassendi named Rimae Gassendi. The crater located over the northern edge of Gassendi is Gassendi A (~21 miles (33 km) diameter) with Gassendi B (~16 miles (26 km) diameter) to the north of A. Gassendi is estimated to be 3.6 billion (thousand million, +/- 700 million years) years of age. The rim of Gassendi rises as high as 1.5 miles (2.5 km) above the floor of the plain, especially the northwest rim. The central peaks of Gassendi were considered a potential landing site for the Apollo 17 mission to the Moon, but the Taurus-Littrow Valley was chosen instead.

A digital image produced using Photoshop CS3.

Carlos

Webmaster’s note: I encourage everyone to go to the Cloudy Nights Sketching Forum to read Carlos’ step by step description about how he created this beautiful digital sketch.

Sunset Terminator Approaching Atlas

Atlas and Hercules

Lunar craters Atlas and Hercules
Sketch and Details by Frank McCabe

Craters Atlas (87 km.) and Hercules (69 km.) made an attractive pair on this evening a couple of days past full moon. Atlas the older of the two (Upper Imbrium period) was deeper into shadow hiding the fractured floor but not the central floor uplift and peaks. The rims and aprons of both Atlas and Hercules were nicely illuminated as were the surrounding ejecta melts. Hercules the younger of the pair is an Eratosthenian period crater (3.2 billion years old). On the floor of Hercules I could see 14 km. diameter Hercules G near the center of the lava flooded, smooth floor. The sketch region extends southward (top of sketch) to the stand alone crater Grove (29 km.). To the north of Hercules is the 34 km. diameter crater Keldysh with its bowl shape and shadow hidden floor.

Sketching:

For this sketch I used: black Strathmore 400 Artagain paper12”x 9”, white and black Conte’
pastel pencils and a blending stump. After scanning, Brightness was decreased (-3) and contrast increased (+3) using Microsoft Office Picture Manager.

Telescope: 10 inch f/ 5.7 Dobsonian and 9 mm eyepiece 161x
Date: 9-18-2008, 4:00-5:30 UT
Temperature: 15° C (59° F)
Clear, transparent, calm
Seeing: Antoniadi III
Colongitude 129.3 °
Lunation 18.3 days
Illumination 90 %

Frank McCabe

A Humorum Aside

Gassendi

Lunar crater Gassendi on the shores of Mare Humorum
Sketch and Details by Richard Handy

One hundred and fourteen kilometers in diameter, filled with rilles and a rich variety of terrain, Nectarian era Gassendi sits on the northwestern shores of Mare Humorum in the South West Quadrant of the Moon. Gassendi is a great example of a FFC (Floor Fractured Crater). Why is it fractured? Well, the real lowdown on the rilles is that they are created by magma that finds its way to the surface through weaknesses and fissures in the breccia beneath Gassendi. As the magma fills these volumes, it pushes up on the material on the crater floor causing these characteristic fractures in the surface and in the process providing a vent for lavas. The really amazing thing was the number of rilles on the floor that were bifurcated, some seemly splitting at obtuse angles while others paralleled the rim. I could sense that there was a level of detail hidden by the seeing, a larger population of smaller rilles awaiting that moment of perfect clarity to reveal themselves. However with Antoniadi III as my average, it wasn’t going to be tonight. On the northwestern wall of Gassendi resting on its northwestern margin, much as Gassendi is to Humorum, is 33 km Copernican era, Gassendi A. Above and to the northwest is the 26 km flat floored Gassendi B. I wonder how much is floor fill is from his bigger and (younger?) brother to the south, the result of slow and steady mass wasting or a carpeting of material from a larger event. The whole area to the north and west of Gassendi seemed to be filled with these arcuate grooves. Towards the southern sunken rim of Gassendi, the northwest part of a Basin rim seemed elevated above the Mare as it rose to meet a collapsed section of Gassendi’s rim in the middle of the western outer wall. I could tell the area to the west of this arc had a different texture to the terrain, as if they were only partially submerged in the mare lavas. There were arcuate rilles here as well, paralleling the Basin. I hoped you all enjoyed this, I know I had a rille wonderful time sketching this one and sharing it with you.

Here are the sketch details:

Subject: Gassendi and environs Atlas: Rukl 52
Date: 9-3-06 Start time 4:20 UT Ending time: 5:56UT
Seeing: Antoniadi III with moments of II every 3-5 min, Weather: clear to partly cloudy
Lunation: 11.38 days Colongitude 46 deg Phase: 49.9 deg
Illumination: 82.2 % Lib. in Lat. : +6 deg 28 min Lib. in Long.: – 6 deg 53 min
Telescope: 12″ Meade SCT F10
Binoviewer: W.O. Bino-P with 1.6X Nosepiece
Eyepieces: W.O. 20mm WA Plossls
Magnification: 244X
Sketch medium: White and black Conte’ on Black textured Conte’ paper
Sketch size: 18″ x 24″

The Walled Plain Maurolycus

Maurolycus

Lunar crater Maurolycus
Sketch and Details by Carlos E. Hernandez

I made an observation of the walled plain Maurolycus (41.8*S, 14.0*E, 71 miles (114 km) diameter) on April 2 , 2009 (02:00 U.T.) using my 9-inch (23-cm) F/13.5 Maksutov-Cassegrain (253x). The seeing was average to good (5-7/10) with clear and dark skies (5/6). The central peaks of the Maurolycus rise over 15,000 feet (specifically 15, 518 feet (4,730 meters) above the floor of the plain. Terraced walls are prominent over this massive plain. The terrain over the northwest portion of the plain is pockmarked with small craters and ridges. Baroclus (44.9*S, 16.8*E, 51 miles (82 km) diameter) is the elliptical crater to the southeast of Maurolycus. It contains two smaller craters over it’s eastern section. Faraday (42.4*S, 8.7*E, 43 miles (70 km) diameter) lies in shadow to the west of Maurolycus.

A digital image produced using Photoshop CS3.

Carlos

Clavius Suspended Over the Terminator

Clavius

Lunar crater Clavius
Sketch and Details by Frank McCabe

At about 3:00 universal time April 4, 2009 the large well known crater Clavius (225 km.) was suspended over the terminator in a remarkable way I don’t get to see often enough. I was observing with a 4.25 inch f/5 Newtonian using a 4mm eyepiece 135x. I felt compelled to grab a quick sketch of this remarkable view. After 40 minutes this is what I came up with. The craters on the central floor of Clavius, namely D and C were visible during the entire session and sunlight was spreading across the crater floor around these craters as I worked. For sketching I used 3 graphite pencils (2H, B and 6B) and a sheet of copy paper. The final sketch was adjusted in brightness +2 and contrast +2 after scanning. The sky was clear and cold 3.3°C or 38°F. Seeing was below average Antoniadi IV. The moon at the time of the sketch was 8.4 days old.

Frank McCabe