February 24, 2008
Eleven More Domes
image by Gerardo Sbarufatti, Caselle Landi, Italy. Lower image strongly enhanced and labeled by CAW
The northern shore of Mare Tranquillitatis, leading up to Sinus Amoris, is one of the richest areas for domes on the Moon. This image by Gerardo, like each of the previous LPODs of this area by Lazzarotti, Wirths, Bosman and Pau, shows something new. Here the lighting and processing reveal a number of domes. Extending the numbering system of Wöhler and colleagues (pdf) I have labeled the domes with the letter C (for the nearby Cauchy crater) and a number, starting with 13. C5 and C6 are the only domes in Gerardo's image studied by Wöhler's group, who found them, respectively, to have diameters of 11.1 and 7.7 km, and heights of 100 and 50 m. C14 is similar to C5 and C6 in having a summit pit, and C18 may have a small one. It is not clear if the crater Jansen U is a normal impact or a volcanic pit on the C14 dome. Most of the other domes fall into two morphologies. C20-C23 are small nubs, like little hills covered by lava - there are a number of similar features to the north in the area imaged by Lazzarotti, and C17 could be a larger version. C19 is a subtle, pitless dome or swell, and C13 and C16 could be similar except they seem steeper. The prize here is C18 which is the widest dome but seems very low in slope, it may not have been previously commented on (although it is visible in Wirths' image).
Chuck Wood
Technical Details
Oct 1, 2007, 02:40 UT. Celestron 11" + barlow 2X + red filter + Philips Vesta Pro. AVI 180 s @ 10fps, 1300 best frames
Related Links
Rükl plate 36
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Yesterday's LPOD: Hanging with the Moon
Tomorrow's LPOD: Out On a Limb
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