| Reports | TAC | Join mailing list |
5/21 and 5/25 - Two great "Shoot The Moon" sessions using my DOB and prime focus camera adapter. Took a whole series of pictures unguided and amazingly, most came out. You'll have to see them at Mark's Party. I already showed them to Larry and Carl at work and they seemed to enjoy them. I think the pictures convinced Larry that the Moon isn't made of Cheese after all, but now he thinks it might be made of Mushrooms! Oh boy!
5/27/99 Observing, Tonopah, conditions poor, Moon Almost Full, sky glow moderate to severe,moisture content high, temperature warm 58 degrees. 10" DOB. Note: Conditions deteriorated quickly at 2255 because of the fog. Finished 2255.
Began about 2145 hours 5/27. All Lunar objects confirmed using Norton's Star Atlas (yeah, I know there are better charts but Norton's is all I have for now).
Wanted to scan the outside limb, western edge as viewed through the telescope. Used 54X to start. Located Sinus Iridum as a starting point. I seemed to think this is a good place to start as I can find it fairly easily. First crater, Aristarchus near western limb. BRIGHT! Then to Herodotus next to it. Swung east a bit to Copernicus. BIG. Dropped a bit north to Pytheas, Lambert, and Euler. They form sort of a triangle in Mare Imbrium.
Headed a bit south back toward Copernicus to Eratosthenes. It sits on the edge of Mare Imbrium. Explored Southwest of Copernicus and found Reinhold. Real curious if I could see Grimaldi as that's the image I have on my computer here and at work for "wallpaper". On my way there, stopped at Cavalerius and Hevelius. Could just make out the edges of these two. I guess I needed to wait for the next night or maybe more "libration" to see Cavalerius and Hevelius. Anyway, confirmed it was them on the chart.
Tried Grimaldi. Couldn't get only but the eastern wall, and at high power (104X) could see some reflections of wall tops. Looked like tiny "sparkly" spots of light against the black background shadows. Real interesting. I wonder how the guy who made the wallpaper got such a good view of Grimaldi for the computer wallpaper? He shows the whole crater! Anyone know how that was done? Maybe he cheated and used Apollo pictures or something?
Moving south westward, I stopped at Gassendi. Its pretty big and is near Mare Humorum. On to Mare Humorum then to Mersenius. Moved a bit south to Schickard. I was trying to look at stuff near the terminator at this point because the shadows made things much more dramatic. Hopped over to Schiller and found that this appears as a narrow ellipse. I looked at it at 104X and it really looked kinda neat!
Moved further south and started to run out of chart and moon. Stopped at Bettinus. Further south, there is a string of craters - plop, plop, plop the ends at Casatus. A bit north of there, found Klaproth. Went inside to make a cup of tea and when I returned, the fog had rolled in!
Anyway, the Moon makes an excellent target to explore. It just proves my point that there is ALWAYS something interesting to observe in the night sky and that astro enjoyment can be had all month long!
Enough for now.
Peggy
PS: Maybe I ought to get a Moon Filter - the bright light from the Moon makes me see spots (hahahahaha - J.K.)