View from a high point

Walled Plain Craters Hipparchus and Albateginius
  
Close to the visible center of the lunar nearside are the north-south crater pair
Hipparchus and Albateginius. On this evening from my observing site they were on
the sunrise terminator. Hipparchus at 150 km. in diameter is the largest and
oldest of the pair dating from the pre-Nectarian period (4 billion years ago). At
and internal to the northeast rim of Hipparchus lies crater Horrocks (30 km.) with
its bright rim and the deep dark center.

Just beyond the Hipparchus crater rim to the southeast is the young, small (15
km.) crater Pickering also with a well illuminated rim. Near the center of
Hipparchus crater Hipparchus X is visible and between it and Horrocks a small
narrow rille was easily seen which is parallel to Rima Reaumur lying out beyond
the Hipparchus rim to the northwest  (not sketched). Between Hipparchus and
Albateginius are the old craters Halley (37 km.) and Hind (31 km.). Most of the
rim of crater Albateginius (139 km.) is brightly illuminated by the sun as are two
high points within the “well of darkness”. The illuminated point closest to the
center is the top of a central peak. The other bright point closer to the rim is
the high point on the margin of crater Klein (44km) sitting in darkness. At the
beginning of the sketch these two points were not visible but appeared about 45
minutes after I started.

I tried to picture in my mind what the view would be like if you could stand on
either of these high points and look out and down. Wouldn’t that be a sight?

  Sketching:
  For this sketch I used: black Strathmore 400 Artagain paper, white and black Conte’
  pastel pencils and a blending stump. Contrast was slightly increased after scanning.
  Telescope: 10 inch f/ 5.7 Dobsonian and 6 mm eyepiece 241X
  Date: 5-24-2007 2:05-3:20 UT
  Temperature: 23° C (74° F)
   Partly cloudy with haze, light winds
  Seeing:  Antoniadi II
  Colongitude 356.7 °
  Lunation 7.28 days
  Illumination 52 %
  
  Frank McCabe