March 23, 2011
Come Out On the Balcony for a Better View
image by K.C. Paul, Hong Kong
K.C. continues to astonish with his high resolution, near terminator images taken from a balcony in Hong Kong.
This picture really needs to be examined at 200% to detect all the wonderful detail. It is centered on Lambert
and its ghost crater neighbor, R. The most spectacular feature is the famous young lava flow - bottom left - that
powers into the center of Imbrium from Mons La Hire. Roughness along the terminator marks other young lavas.
A straight edge of a mare ridge stretches from La Hire to Lambert. A similar trending linear feature bounds part
of the lava flow to the left, and another parallel ridge is even further to the left, just where the flow narrows. What
forces controlled the alignment of these three lineaments is completely unclear. A second remarkable feature
captured here is near the bottom right corner. Look closely to see a wiggly rille that cuts a low ridge. Look above
to see another piece of the Draper Rille. A final example of detail rendered exquisitely here are the elongated
chains of secondary craters along the bright rays from Copernicus. Volcanic rilles and flow, tectonic ridges, and
secondary crater chains - what a wondrous image!
Chuck Wood
Technical Details
March 14, 2011; 11h56m. 10" reflector + 2.5X barlow + DMK camera.
Related Links
Rükl plate 20
Yesterday's LPOD: Red Moon Rising
Tomorrow's LPOD: Quick, Here is the Map
