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