I set up my 6 inch F/5 refractor, Red Dwarf tonight in hopes of catching the occultation of a double star on the north limb of the moon tonight. I just used two eyepieces tonight - a 6 and 12 mm Vixen lanthanums, giving me either 125 or 63 power, seeing was not that good and there was alot of wind, so most of my observing was with the 12. Well, I didn't see the double star at all, but I think I began looking a little too late. There was my telescope and there was the moon. I have been enjoying views of Mercury and the crescent moon, from my back deck these last three nights, after a monster marathon weekend of nearly all night observing at my favorite nearby observing location, Fremont Peak State Park - my favorite targets on the weekend (not mentioning the faint fuzzies and Omega Centauri and Centaurus A) were tracking Pluto's movement over the two nights thru 30, 17.5 and 12.5 inch reflectors, and glimpses of Neptune and Uranus - a most spectacular blue marble through the 30 inch Challenger. These two looked nice in binos, too. But that's another story. Red Dwarf got left behind in favor of bigger glass and a smaller refractor on the weekend, and I wanted to give it some attention tonight.
I started out looking at the dark limb in hopes of seeing the double star, and did let my eyes wander a little. Grimaldi was a lovely dark oval surrounded by lighter darkness. A dark feature in shadow, a shadow in shadow, so to speak.
Speaking of lighter darkness, Palus Somni -- the Marsh of Sleep -- was a light grey ovalish region in between the darker Mare Crisium and Mare Tranquillitatus. It looked like a land mass surrounded by black sea. It loooked like an island - a raised area, to me. The two craters Macrobuis and Tisserand (RUKL 26) were especially striking tonight.
The names of the features in this area of the moon are really great! Sinus Amoris, the Bay of Love flanked by the Taurus Mountains was dark and rectangular. The Crater Romer separated the two different geologic structures, smooth bay and rugged mountains, cracked like crazy with faultlines everywhere! I thought of the Apollo 17 crew and how excited they must have been to get to walk through and study this geologic playland up close. I want to go there, too!
The crater Cauchy with the steep fault Rupes Cauchy running on one side and the smaller thinner Rima Cauchy on the other were easy to see tonight. I saw the domes, Omega and Tau, not sure what they were ar first. A check in RUKL (page 36) gave me the information I needed.
The only other feature I spent time on was a favorite, Taruntius, to the south of the Marsh of Sleep, Palus Somni. That and the undulating surfaces of Mare Tranquillitatis. I think this was more fun than waiting for an occultation, over in a blink! I watched the moon, even watching the horn of light at the northern crescent tip as it lengthened. Time well spent, I think. I love collecting rocks, and that was what I did tonight through my little red telescope.