Hi! I got a chance to do some mooning Sunday night. It was too cloudy to do much of anything else.

I was using Mike's 4" Vixen Fluorite. We were looking at the straight wall (Rupes Recta) and the crater Birt. The straight wall looks so out of place! It looked more like a little hair on the lens than a feature on the moon. I wonder how that was formed? Then I wanted to see the Rima Birt. The seeing was steady at times at 368 diameters. (When Mike wasn't walking around shaking the ground!) But I searched and stared and could see nothing. Mike could see it even at 153 diameters, and I know my eyes are better than his because we were testing some mag 6 and greater stars in the little dipper once at Eagle Rock. I figured I must be doing something wrong. After some time I finally saw a little line of color difference. It didn't seem to match the map exactly, but that must be it!

Then I was ready to look at some other craters. The seeing had diminished, so I was down to 153 diameters. Somehow, nothing seemed to match the map. I was very confused! I tried lining up the wall Birt and Birt A exactly, and, wait a minute! This is all backwards! I looked to the right, and there was that freaking Rima Birt, clear as a bell!

Just then the sky completely clouded over. I am so glad that I figured out my stupid mistake just in time!

Oh well, I had great fun anyway!