July 14, 2013
Discovery, History And Shadow Drama
image by " rel="nofollow Damian Peach, Souni, Cyprus
Does this remind you, as it does me, of the Nasmyth and Carpenter low illumination " rel="nofollow photos of plaster models? We've come a long way since their 1874 book but the Moon remains unchanged in its allure and surprises. The allure is obvious here, a rim that dips towards the Humorum Basin, and massive central peaks that cast shadows over a hilly and ridged floor, cut and cross-cut by many rilles. Gassendi is a classic floor-fractured crater, with the addition of a large landslide caused by the formation of Gassendi A on the north rim. Just east of A is an odd, almost donut-shaped mound about the same diameter as A. Even though I know better I always think of the mound as the rock removed by the formation of A, not widely spread as ejecta but tidely set aside. A real surprise is a short rille I've never noticed before - it is just east of the mound in a little embayment of lava. A " rel="nofollow check of the LRO Quickmap confirms it, including the short perpendicular bit shown in Damian's excellent image.
" rel="nofollow Chuck Wood
Technical Details
April 21, 2013. Celestron 356mm (14") reflector. ASI120MM.
Related Links
21st Century Atlas chart 23.
Damian's 2013 " rel="nofollow images from Cyprus.
