October 16, 2013
A Little History Peeking Out
image by Jordi Ortega
Do you recognize this area? Perhaps the secondary craters at the top remind you of Copernicus - if so, you are correct. But this isn't about Copernicus or its debris but a series of very, very faint linear features - do you see them?
Between Fauth and Reinhold B are two very faint lines, indicated in white in the small version of the image. Two other similar but even less certain parallel linear features occur to the south, east of Reinhold, seen enshadowed to the left. The fact that these features are linear and parallel to each other suggests that they could be artifacts. But looking closely at the LRO QuickMap shows that the top two linear features are real. The solar illumination is too high on the QuickMap mosaic to clearly see what the top two linears are, or even to detect the lower ones, but the top ones appear to be old rilles that formed in the mare that existed before the Copernicus impact. That event scattered debris around the rilles reducing their depth and placing secondary craters over parts of them. Rilles are common in maria so it is not surprising that there are remnants of rilles here. A little history preserved, just barely.
Technical Details
October 13, 2013. Celestrón 11" at f 10 and DMK 21 AU camera with red filter.
Related Links
21st Century Atlas chart 22.
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