On this last evening of winter just hours before the full Moon, my sky cleared enough to get out and sketch the Moon.
130 km. crater Pythagoras was well positioned on this evening for lunar sketching. Before the summer of 2009-laser altimeter reading taken by the Kaguya gave a crater depth of 4.5 km. with central peaks rising to 3 km. above the crater floor. At 130 km. in diameter, the terraced walls of the distant rim were nicely visible in moments of good seeing. Hugging the southeastern wall of Pythagoras, slightly larger Babbage (140 km.) with its old crumbled walls and large central crater Babbage A shared the spotlight here near the dark lavas of Mare Frigoris. If you follow the west wall of Babbage to the south, you arrive at 70 km. crater Oenopides with its shallow featureless floor.
Sketching Information
Pythagoras Crater on black 400 Series Strathmore paper using white and black Conte’ pastel pencils
Sketch Date: March 19, 2011, a time of favorable libration for this crater using a 13.1-inch f/6 Dobsonian telescope riding on an equatorial platform with a 6mm eyepiece for 333x at 05:05-07:00 UT
Seeing: Antoniadi III
Weather clear, calm, 32 degrees F (0 degrees C)
Lunation 14.3 days
Moon 99.6% illuminated
Colongitude 83.9°
Latitude Libration +07° 06′
Lunar Distance: Near Perigee
Rükl Atlas Pl 2
Frank McCabe
Great, Frank, as always.
Frank
Fantastic work.
Scott.
Frank, another winner!
Hi Frank,
A very nice rendition. This sketch has a nice depth to it, given by your clever use of dark and light shading. I’ve noticed a tiny darkening take surrounds some highlights, and this really helps to kick-along the white.
I’m always keen on seeing detail around the terminator. It is always so dramatic.
Alex M.
Rodrigo, Scott, John and Alex,
Thank you all for your kind comments about my sketch.
I look forward to seeing sketches by each of you here.
Frank 🙂