image by Bruno Daversin
The shadow filled crater at upper right is 30 km wide Horrocks but the rest of the frame is the floor of Hipparchus. You have probably never before seen so much detail in Hipparchus unless you saw this image from the 24" cassegrain reflector in Ludiver, France when it first appeared in the fall of 2003. When photographer Bruno Daversin published a series of his images on a French astronomy website they caused a sensation because of their extraordinary high quality. Some people thought they were copies or forgeries, but what could have been the source – nothing else was anywhere near as good. The fact is that Bruno applied the amateur technique of combining web cam images with a large scope – and apparently good seeing and excellent processing – to demonstrate a new level of imaging from Earth. This image reveals subtle depressions, buried craters and a delicate rille, all covered by a veneer of material, possibly fluidized ejecta from the formation of the Imbrium impact basin. And it does look like the view as your spacecraft comes in for a landing.
Technical Details:
Date unknown to CAW, Ludiver Observatory 600 mm (24″) Schmidt-Cassegrain & B&W webcam.
Related Links:
Rükl charts 44 & 45
Ludiver’s Moon photos
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