January 18, 2023

Camouflage Moon

Originally published February 24, 2013
left image by Philippe Tosi, and right from Larouse Encyclopedia of Astronomy

As soon as I saw Phillipe's delicate pastel image I immediately thought of Lucien Rudaux' map of lunar colors. The map appears in the 1967 volume, Larouse Encyclopedia of Astronomy and is also online; the earliest version I've seen is from 1928. Rudaux, like today's Bill Hartmann, was an astronomer as well as a talented artist. He apparently had extremely sensitive color vision for his map depicted hues that are remarkably consistent with modern color saturated images - see for example the details along the western edge of Mare Serenitatis. Radaux' most intense color is the Aristarchus Plateau, which even I once saw with a mustard hue. It must be some trick of the eye but I find that if I look closely at Rudaux's map and then switch quickly to the same area on Phillipe's image that the color momentarily seems more conspicuous.

Chuck Wood

Technical Details
Self made newton 410mm F/5.6 + eos 5DMII. Exposures: 1/100; 1/200; 1/400; 1/800; 1/1600; 1/3200; 1/6400 sec;
process by photomatix 4.2 pro developed by HDRsoft (fusion of exposures)

Yesterday's LPOD: Railway Tracks

Tomorrow's LPOD: The Truth

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