Later in the evening we were treated to sunrise over Gassendi, the cracked and pockmarked monster at the northern cusp of Humorum. At first, all that showed was the rims, but as time went by the interior peaks began to show, then the floor in spots, and eventually the celebrated complex of cracks that make one of the most aesthetically pleasing rille sites on the moon. The entire crater appears flattish, with low rims (mostly melting into the mare at the south). This gives a feeling of great age, of a sage old giant staring calmly at eternity.

The Rimae Ramsden (R-63) are a crosshatch rille system that take up almost half of Palus Epidemiarum at the western end of Rima Hesiodus. The first time I hunted these rilles down was through the aforementioned 4.5-inch, over the course of about an hour of tough observing. Through the 10-inch off/axis, they were huge. You could have driven a truck through them without scraping the mirrors (this was also true of Rimae Plato in the north). They reminded me in pattern very much of the rimae Triesnecker, with the various parallel rilles crossed by a few more chaotic crinkles. Placed on the floor of a minor mare area, they are easily spotted and very pretty.

Just a bit south is the curious double crater Hainzel and Hainzel A. Just at sunrise, "A" had the most spectacular example of terracing I've noticed on the moon. The impression was well expressed by Wm Phelps as looking exactly like the terracing in a hillside rock quarry. It was easily that distinct in the opportunistic light. The structure of the crater makes one wonder, in fact, why this specacular "A" is named subordinant to the more subdued Hainzel.

We did pause a bit at Schiller, and here the APs strutted their stuff, showing me a distinct line of craters -- possibly a genuine (if unnamed) catena -- in the flat area just beyond the southeast edge of that curious long formation. It shows as a scribble on Rukl page 71, but more clearly in the Times Atlas... it certainly is a crater chain. I have looked at that area quite a few times in lesser instruments, and am convinced it would be visible in the 4.5-inch, but am just as convinced that noticing something is often dependent on how easy it is to see. In the big APs, it was easy.

So, enough of this. We saw a lot more than that, had a fine warm evening under the moon and stars, hunted a few doubles, and saw Jupiter later in the morning. About every important subject known to man was discussed, the problems of the world resolved, and a bunch of tired astronuts slept well the night of July 4.

Independent of spirit, we left the cities and instead soaked in the fireworks in the shallow sky -- and were well paid in aesthetic light paintings, the quiet rustling sounds of the explosion of comprehension, and downright good company... well, if I hadn't been there.