November 19, 2012
Oranges And Mustard
image by Дмитрий Кананович (Dzmitry Kananovich), Tallinn, Estonia
I hope you aren't viewing today's LPOD on a smartphone. This is a giant image because the resolution is excellent and the color is very well defined.
Even so, I have enhanced the color compared to Dzmitry's original because there are so many interesting variations. Although lunar scientists have
mapped color variations across the maria and tied them to differences in mare rock chemisty, there has been little progress in doing the same for the
highlands. But Dzmitry's mosaic suggests that physically meaningful differences exist across the highlands. For example, although the highlands are
generally depicted in orangish hues the ejecta of the Orientale Basin beyond Schickard is more intense than most other places. Similar levels of intensity
also occur around Pythagoras near the north pole. Highlands south and west of Tycho have a definite blue cast, while the area northeast of Tycho has
a mustard cast, with the deepest yellows around the rims of craters such as Arzachel, Herschel, Manilius, and especially Theophilus. It seems like the
mustard zone has a different composition of ejecta than other highland regions. Careful and calibrated measurements of highland color have yet to be
done, but the LRO color WAC images will provide the materials to do it. We will be learning a lot new about highlands soon, and Dmitry is giving us an
advance look.
Chuck Wood
Another observation: Is the ruddy hue of western Mare Crisium due to dusting by Proclus ejecta?
Technical Details
November 1, 2012, approximately between 00:15-00:45 UT. L(IR)RGB composite.
Luminance channel (IR): TAL-250K telescope at prime focus (2130 mm), Baader IR-pass (685 nm+) filter, Basler acA 640-100gm CCD (8 bit, 58 fps).
Best 150 of 1000 frames were stacked in Autostakkert!2 for each of 63 fragments.
Color data (RGB): TAL-250K telescope with focal reducer (1500 mm), Canon 1000D. 39 of 65 frames were stacked in Autostakkert!2.
Related Links
Today's LPOD is 50% of the size of the original, full resolution image at Dzmitry's gallery.
Yesterday's LPOD: No Longer Secret
Tomorrow's LPOD: 11-11-11
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