by Bill Arnett
The Hesiodus sunrise ray did indeed happen this evening. I saw virtually the whole progression from a small triangle on the western wall of Hesiodus to a very tall triangle covering most of the floor (with a tiny dot at the western end, probably a little hilltop) to the full blown ray covering the whole floor. A perfect apparition of this unusual event. And a nice way to get back into observing after all this rain!
When I first went out it was about 8pm PDT and the ray was on the far wall and about 1/2 way across the floor of Hesiodus. When I came in a little after midnight the ray was complete but the event was certainly not over; I would guess that it would have had the PacMac look for another hour or two.
The seeing was only so-so most of the evening. I could see Rima Birt easily but the rille in Vallis Alpes escaped me again. Clavius was so close to the terminator that it was impossible to make out individual small craters amidst the other topographic detail :-)
Copernicus was just peeking up above the terminator. Tomorrow should be fine. But I'll be at the ATM workshop at Chabot getting my new mirror checked.
I took a peek at Mars, too, but all I could see was a boiling orange mess :-(