25 August 2007

Observing Location	MetOval
Observational Period	2145-2230 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Hazy Temperature 82°F Wind Calm Humidity High Feels Like Muggy Varying degrees of mostly transparent cirus clouds and haze. Transparency Fair Seeing I
Instruments	Golden Gate 8x35 binocular
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Moon Constellation Cap Category Lunar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070825.2145 EDT Comments Lunation 1047 Phase Waxing Gibbous Age 13.11 Distance Light Time (from earth) 377,454 km s Elongation ° % Illuminated 92.9% Morning Terminator Colongitude (λ E) 64.9 Evening Terminator Colongitude (λ W) 244.9 Libration in Latitude 4°49’ Libration in Longitude -5°38’ Magnitude -12.67 Angular Size 31.66' Altitude 24° Virtual Moon Atlas graphic Mare Frigoris looks like a thin ribbon across the left half of the top of the Moon over Mare Imbrium. The terminator appears to be passing through Grimaldi There is a dark spot above Mare Serenitatis to the right of the dunce cap that would be the eastern half of Lacus Somniorum I can see some rays coming out of Tycho to the NE toward Mare Tranquillitatis and Mare Nectaris. Mare Crisium and Mare Humorum both look very round. Mare Nubium appears to have a pair of diverging upward projections like the ears of the Playboy bunny silhouette. I see white spots where Aristarchus, Eratosthenes, Copernicus and Reinhold are. I see a white spot next to Mare Crisium where Proclus is. There is a white spot on the SE exterior of the rim of Mare Tranquillitatis that fans out separating Mare Tranquillitatis from Mare Fecunditatis and Mare Nectaris. There are two white spots beneath Mare Serenitatis that are probably Plinius and Menelaus. Mare Imbrium and Mare Humorum appear brighter than the test of the marea. I had trouble picking out Plato because of the binocular motion and low contrast between it and its surroundings. The southern wall of Mare Serenitatis (Haemus Mountains) is white. I can’t identify the mountain ranges around Mare Imbrium as raised features but there are two sections of them that are a different color than the breaks between them. One break segments the Carpathian Mountains and Apennine Mountains and the next the Caucasus Mountains and the Alpine Mountains. That means there must have been a third break between the Apennine Mountains and the Caucasus Mountains. I Can’t make out any eastern limb features but there is a bright spot on the limb below Mare Fecunditatis in the neighborhood of Langrenous or Vendelinius. There is very little in the way of fine detail; the highlands appear a fairly uniform light gray.