crater – Page 46 – Astronomy Sketch of the Day

A Catena Linked Pair

With high pressure moving into my observing area, there was a good chance that the
cloud cover would break up and move out before local midnight. Eventually it did.
The nearly full moon hung low and large in the sky to the south. The largest mare
on the lunar surface is the Ocean of Storms. A pair of similar looking, north to
south oriented craters at the western extreme of the Ocean of Storms is linked to
each other by a rille-like chain of craters. The southern most crater of the pair
is the 50 km. diameter Cardanus. This crater was demonstrating its terraced walls
and hilly irregular ramparts in the low altitude sunlight. Following the catena
southward for a little more than 60 km. we arrive at the other member of the pair
named Krafft. Like Cardanus crater Krafft (51 km.) has in addition to the features
of the former, a crater of 13 km off set from the center of the floor. The sun was
high enough to illuminate much of the impact debris of the region in the form of
numerous crater rays. Closer to both the terminator and limb of the moon in the
libration zone larger craters Vasco de Gama and Dalton are making their appearances
from the long lunar night.



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: 7-29-2007, 3:10-4:30 UT
Temperature: 23° C (74° F)
Partly cloudy, calm
Seeing: Antoniadi III
Colongitude   83.6 °
Lunation   14.6 days
Illumination 99 %
Libration long. -4.7°

Frank McCabe

Beautiful Bullialdus

This is my impression of the Lunar Crater Bullialdus with it’s neighbors Konig and
Lubiniezky. It was sketched with a #2HB mechanical pencil on Strathmore Wind Power
Sketching Paper. Other pertinent details are on the sketch itself. I really enjoyed
drawing this sketch because of the detail I was able to see in Bullialdus (one the
smaller craters I’ve captured) and the surrounding landscape.

Jason Aldridge

Almost a Basin

As the 2007 year began, winter’s cold grip had not yet taken hold. I was finishing
the process of cleaning and repairing a 13 inch Newtonian telescope when I decided
to colliminate and test the optics on the star Polaris and the moon. The moon was
one day past full and upper Imbrian period crater Humboldt in the
east-south-eastern sector of the libration zone was nicely placed for sketching.
Crater Humboldt at 207 km. in diameter is classified as a large floor fractured
crater. If this crater was 33% larger it would be a lunar basin. On the Lunar 100
list crater Humboldt is number 87.

At or near full moon many observers avoid looking moonward but old Luna can be a
rewarding telescope target at any and every phase.

Sketching:

I used a No. 2 HB pencil on copy paper for this drawing
Date: 1-4-2007 4:00 to 4:40 UT
Temperature: 0°C (33° F)
Windy, some mid-altitude cloudiness, seeing was average
Antoniadi : III
13.1 inch f / 5.9 Dobsonian 9mm ortho ocular 218X
Colongitude: 91.9°
Lunation: 14.6 days
Illumination: 99.6 %
Libration in longitude. +5.5°

Frank McCabe

Center of the Lunar Nearside

When the moon is several degrees below the summer ecliptic to the south, it can be
challenging to view and sketch from mid-northern latitudes.
I chose for sketching a highland region inside the triad of the Bays of Medii and
Aestuum and the Sea of Vapors. The center of this region contains the crater pair
Pallas and Murchison. Crater Pallas (50km.) which is a Nectarian period formation
is more than 3.8 billion years old. Pallas has a partially buried central peak at
1.3 km. above the lava flooded floor. Crater Pallas-A rests on the western rim and
deep bowl shaped crater Bode beyond the rim are clearly seen. Murchison (58 km.)
which is the oldest of the pair at about 4 billion years shows the greatest amount
of wear. Lava flooded floor, severe wall erosion, and strikes such as Chladni
(13.8km.) on the southeastern wall are among the features that demonstrate the age
of this crater. All that remains of the common wall of Pallas-Murchison are pieces
of ridge wall. Half of well known crater Triesnecker is visible to the east.
I was unable to use higher magnification because sky conditions were below average
until after moonset.


Sketching:
For this sketch I used: black Strathmore 400 Artagain paper, white and black Conte’
pastel pencils and a blending stump. Contrast and brightness were slightly
increased after scanning.
Telescope: 10 inch f/ 5.7 Dobsonian and 9 mm eyepiece 161X
Date: 7-23-2007, 1:15-1:48 UT
Temperature: 24° C (75° F)
Partly cloudy, calm
Seeing: Antoniadi III
Colongitude 10.1 °
Lunation 8.6 days
Illumination 58 %

Frank McCabe

Lovely Limb

Crater Ingrahami

You have got to admit, on a clear winter night from the northern hemisphere the
full moon has a way of revealing itself and moving high and bright to the
meridian. After looking at the full moon through a telescope eyepiece you can be
quite moonblind for a while. Don’t make any sudden movements until your night
vision returns. This night was my rendezvous with the crater Inghirami. Crater
Inghirami is a Nectarian period crater (3.85 billion years old) and measuring 92
km.in diameter. This crater is southwest of Schickard and southeast of Vallis
Inghirami. The crater has an interesting floor with what looks like a low ridge
mountain range running across it. Inghirami crater is near the edge of the lunar
impact basin Mare Orientale. Below is my number 2 pencil and ink sketch on copy
paper of the region of Inghirami crater near both the terminator and limb.


Date: 1-3-2007 4:00 to 4:45 UT
Temperature: -2.2 °C (28° F)
Breezy, seeing was average
Antoniadi : III
13.1 inch f / 5.9 Dobsonian 6mm ortho ocular 327X
Colongitude: 83°
Lunation: 13.8 days
Illumination: 100 %

Frank McCabe

Before the Moon Is Full

Crater Schickard

One of the many large and interesting craters on the visible lunar surface is 227
km. diameter walled plain crater Schickard. This Pre-Nectarian crater is somewhat
isolated from craters of equal size. It is the shallow floor of Schickard that
presents its most interesting features. After the large impactor struck the lunar
highlands to form this crater, lava passed to the surface through cracks that
served as channels. Tens of millions of years later the gargantuan impact forming
the Orientale basin occurred blanketing the crater with highland ejecta. After
some time more flooding of dark mare lava created the two notable dark patches on
the crater floor to the Northwest and Southeast. This grand crater can easily be
seen in a modest telescope with good lighting one or two days before full moon.

Sketching:
For this sketch I used: copy paper, a no. 2 graphite pencil, fingertips for
blending.
Telescope: 10 inch f/ 5.7 Dobsonian at 233X
Date: 11-4-2006, Time: 2:11-3:15 UT
Clear skies: 4.4°C (40°F)
Seeing: Pickering 5/10
Colongitude 70.5 °
Lunation 12.9 days
Illumination 97 %

Frank McCabe

Prominent Trio

Theophilus, Cyrillus and Catherina

This sketch of the trio Theophilus, Cyrillus and Catherina was done in about 15
minutes due to clouds coming in. to make the best of the limited time I tried to
focus only on the big shapes, shadows & lines. Then I worked the sketch out inside.
Below is the quick sketch done outside, and above the finished version.

Sketched on the 22th May 2007 from my home in Bornem, Belgium. I used my 8” f/5 dob
at 200x through a 5mm Baader Hyperion eyepiece.

The sketch was done on standard A4 printerpaper with pencils. I then scanned it and
adjusted the brightness/contrast levels a bit to make it stand out better.

Kris Smet

Three near the seashore

Archimedes et. al.

Finally, I was blessed with a clear sky. It has been 26 days since the beginning of the year and this is my fourth clear or mostly clear night. With the moon well into lunation 1040, it was bright and high in the sky at nightfall. After observing the lunar surface for about forty-five minutes, I selected a favorite region in eastern Mare Imbrium for sketching.

As an eighth grader with a new 4.25 inch f/10 Newtonian telescope, Archimedes was the first crater I remember identifying with this scope. I selected my 10 inch f/ 5.7 Dobsonian and 6mm eyepiece to make my sketch of this region. In the sketch below the three craters in counterclockwise direction from smallest to largest are: Autolycus, Aristillus and Archimedes. About half way between Autolycus and Archimedes is the impact site of the first spacecraft to reach the moon September 14, 1959. It was Luna 2 and after crossing through the Van Allen belt it detected and confirmed the solar ions known as the solar wind particles just prior to its lunar rendezvous.

The two smaller craters are from the Copernican period and the larger crater Archimedes is an ancient crater that dates back beyond 3 billion years ago. The terraced walls of Archimedes stand 2000 meters above the flat lava flooded floor of this crater. I was unable to detect at this observation any of the craterlets on the floor. This crater is 85 km. across. Autolycus is less than half the diameter of Archimedes has a higher rim (3000 meters) and an irregular floor. Aristillus which is intermediate in size (56 km diameter) has the tallest rim at 3500 meters and 3 mountains on its floor up to 900 meters tall.

For this sketch I used: black Strathmore 400 Artagain paper, white and black Conte’
pastel pencils and a soft piece of leather for blending. Image was slightly darkened using Imageenhance software.
Date 1-27-2007 1:10-2:40 UT
Temperature: 3.8° C (39° F)
Windy with strong gusting
Seeing average Antoniadi: III
Colongitude: 10.5 °
Lunation: 7.9 days
Illumination: 62.3 %

Frank McCabe

Lights Out for Eratosthenes

   At the southern end of the lunar Apennines on the border between the Bay of
Billows (mostly in darkness) and Sea of Rains lies 60 km. crater Eratosthenes. I
was off and on observing over most of the night. By morning twilight when the moon
was high in the east, Eratosthenes crater was experiencing sunset. The deep, dark
caldera-like aperture was undergoing sunset at the beginning of my sketch. This
3.2 billion year old land mark crater is the defining feature of the Eratosthenes
time period. While sketching I could clearly see much of the ejecta pitting of
Copernicus and its ray material which crossed the region 2 billion years after
Eratosthenes formed. I did not include much of the Copernicus crater impact
features because they are in my opinion more suitable for high resolution
photography or direct visual examination at high power. In this sketch I tried to
briefly capture the overall eyepiece view.


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: 7-8-2007, 9:15-10:30 UT
Temperature: 22° C (73° F)
Clear to partly cloudy, light winds
Seeing: Antoniadi II
Colongitude 190.2 °
Lunation 23.25 days
Illumination 42.2 %

Frank McCabe

Cleomedes in the Waning Light

Just north of Mare Crisium and formed during the Nectarian period more than 3.7
billion years ago is the 128 km. walled plain crater Cleomedes. This crater has a
high but worn margin and was nicely catching the last rays of sunlight overnight.
The large flat floor may have been flooded by lava that reached the crater floor
through fractures from the molten lava of Mare Crisium. What remains of the
central peak is a low wall oriented north-south and somewhat off center. A hint of
60 km. long ‘y’ shaped Rima Cleomedes was just detectable north of the central
wall running off to the southeast. To the northwest of Cleomedes is 57 km. crater
Burckhardt straddled by its close partners E and F. To the east of Cleomedes is
crater Delmotte (32 km.) and off to the northwest is crater Tralles (43 km.)
hugging the rim. On the floor from north to south are A and larger E which
together damaged the wall of Cleomedes upon formation. Crater B can be seen
south of the central wall and then J to the southeast on the floor. Resting on the
south rim is crater C. This region of the lunar surface was fascinating to observe
in this part of the lunation.

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: 7-2-2007, 4:10-5:30 UT
Temperature: 18° C (65° F)
Clear, light winds
Seeing: Antoniadi II
Colongitude 116.6 °
Lunation 17.25 days
Illumination 96.4 %

Frank McCabe