on 15th August, I decided to make a lunar crater drawing. It was the first in 2013. I was even a little scared and realized when making the drawing, that it was not so easy on the hand. The edge areas also act somewhat coarser than usual, but overall I was pleased with the “Parry”. I noticed this crater is, as it almost appeared hexagonal or honeycomb.
The air was in the low-lying moon of course not the best.
CS Uwe
Here are a few details:
48 km diameter
Wall heights up to 560 m
Age about 3 billion years
Basic flooded with lava
Location: Near Tauberbischofsheim, Germany
Telescope: 10 “ACF
Eyepieces: 18mm Orthos (binocular)
Magnification: 150x to 200x
This sketch is centered on the large walled plain crater Albategnius (135 km.). The well illuminated inner and outer rim margins appeared very rugged in contrast to the smooth floor interrupted by the off center mountain casting a large shadow. A sizable portion of the western wall was destroyed by crater Klein (45 km.). Klein also has a central peak which was overtaken by shadow during this observing session. Also visible in the sketch on the eastern side of Albategnius are craters Ritchey (25 km.), Hind (30 km.) and close by Halley (36 km.)
Sketching:
For this sketch I used: black Strathmore 400 Artagain paper, 8”x 12”, white and black Conte’pastel pencils, flat white paint, pink pearl eraser and blending stumps.
Telescope: 10 inch f/5.7 Dobsonian and 6mm eyepiece 241x
Date: 09-26-2013 00:30 – 02:00 UT
Temperature: 15°C (60°F)
Clear, calm
Seeing: Antoniadi III
Co longitude: 165.3°
Lunation: 20.55 days
Illumination: 60.7 %
Phase: 282.3°
Plato and Archimedes lunar craters
Eastbourne, UK
29th August 2013, 01:15 – 03:15 UT. Temperature 13C; seeing Antoniadi III
Meade LX90 8″ Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope with 26mm super Plossl eyepiece, 77x
White and black pastel on Daler Rowney Canford black paper
I was lucky enough that a second consecutive clear night allowed me to study these craters again; this time they were on the terminator and the whole scene looked very dramatic, enhanced by the long deep shadows.
the mooncrater Hainzel was the object that I sketched yesterday evening. It was quite warm and nice weather to draw the picture.
The craters composes a complex formation with Hainzel A and C with identical size.
There are very steep slopes to the South.
High walls crushed to the North-East by Hainzel C and to the North by Hainzel A.
The floor is very tormented.
A clear sky and best Greetings
Uwe
Object Name Hainzel Crater
Object Type Lunar Crater
Location near Tauberbischofsheim Germany
Date 29. July. 2012 21.45 p.m till 22.30 p.m
Media graphite pencil and white Paper
Object Name: First Quarter Moon
Object Type: abstract interpretive sketch of prominent lunar features
Location: Oberlin, Ohio
Date: August-September 2013
Media: Sharpie, ball-point pen, and colored pencil on white paper
As this is the latest addition to my series of abstract astronomy-themed drawings (see more here: http://preshuss1.deviantart.com/gallery/45423007), I used a bit of artistic license in interpreting the lunar features that are shown. Still, I did my best to reference the moon’s actual geography.
The Sea of Rains is the central focus. Framing the craters Archimedes, Aristillus, Autolycus, and Cassini, this ancient volcanic plain is edged from south to north by the Appenine and Caucasus mountains, and capped by the “Alpine Valley.” The northern Mare Frigoris (Sea of Cold) bleeds around the crater Aristotle and into the lakes of Death and Dreams, finally bringing the eye to rest on a Sea of Serenity at lower right. Yes…it’s easy to get carried away by such tantalizing names! Exploring the lunar surface can feel like wandering through a poem…
On the evening of September 16, 2013, I got the best view of the basin ring segment between young crater Zucchius (65 km.) and just the tip of large older crater Schiller (179 km.) The ring arc was more than a day beyond the terminator but perfectly illuminated to show its depth and smoothness.
Craters Weigel (36 km.) and Weigel B (37 km.) initially caught my eye as light was brightly glinting off the rims.
For an excellent image of this region see the LPOD for May 26, 2013 http://lpod.wikispaces.com/May+26%2C+2013
There were many fine crater showing nicely in this region at the time of the observation and sketch.
Sketching:
For this sketch I used: black Canson paper 9″x 10″, white and black Conte’
pastel pencils , and Conte’crayons, a blending stump, Pink and White Pearl erasers. Brightness was not altered but contrast was increased +3 using the scanner for this sketch
Telescope: 10 inch f/ 5.7 Dobsonian with 6mm (241x) eyepiece
Date: 09-17-2013, 02:00 – 03:45 UT
Temperature: 16°C (60°F)
Clear, calm
Seeing: Antoniadi II
Co longitude 53.8°
Lunation 11.42 days
Illumination 91.5%
Eratosthenian geological period includes fairly young, non-rayed fresh craters. I did notice a Copernican ray to the N of Eratosthenes and several patches of lightened areas within the surrounding areas. Eratosthenes has very steep, tormented walls and is approximately 60km x 60km wide. It has an elongated central mountain with several summits. Its morphology is very similar to impact crater Copernicus, but its rays most likely deteriorated from weather and age.
The distance of this crater from the terminator made it perfect for studying the floor and terraced walls. The western floor edge was difficult to differentiate from where the upslope began for its wall. It appeared to be more a lightening with a few darkened lines.
For comparison, here is an image from the Lunar Orbiter (through the Lunar and Planetary Institute site). My sketch is the eyepiece view from my telescope and will need to be rotated 180 degrees to match the Lunar Orbiter image.
I send to you a sketch created last year of a favorite region of the lunar landscape. Rupes Recta, latin for “Straight Fault” or “Straight Wall” is a lunar fault at the southeastern region of Mare Nubium. This sketch was created at ~8 days lunation when the angle of the Suns light casts deep shadows across the linear fault giving it the appearance of a very steep cliff.
In spite of appearances, Rupes Recta is not a sheer cliff, though still relatively steep. It rises above the mare plain ~250 to 300 meters high with ~20 degree grade as reported by some authors. The fault runs NW to SE for ~120 km terminating at the south end as a jumble of rubble and then a smooth curved wall. This creates the appearance of a sword as likened by 17th century Huygens, the curved region being the sword handle with the cliff edge being the sword blade.
Seeing was very good on this night but the angle of light at the terminator did not illuminate the “handle” as well as on other nights of observing. When this region is observed days later the steepness of the fault vanishes and appears as a step transition instead. The light plays amazing tricks on the eye.
Sketched in relief to the west of the fault is crater Birt just becoming lit. Thebit and Thebit A are sketched to the SE of Rupes Recta.
Cindy (Thia) Krach
Maui, Hawaii
4,000 el.
12.5” Portaball
14mm 109x, 9mm 169x
Plato and Archimedes craters
Lunar craters
Eastbourne, UK
28th Aug 2013, 01:15 – 03:15 UT. Temperature 12C
Meade LX90 8″ Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope with 26mm super Plossl eyepiece, 77x
White and black pastel on Daler Rowney Canford black paper
As a little summer holiday project I made a pledge to myself to sketch lunar craters at every opportunity, casually assuming that the usual poor British summer weather would make this an easy commitment to keep. However, I have been kept busy over the last couple of weeks!
I have been inspired by the quality of the sketches on your website and as you can see I am still some way off those standards; however, I am pleased to see (I think) some improvement in my efforts. I sketched this at the eyepiece using the pastels and just my finger as a blending tool.
