August 16, 2019

Hidden Ancient History

Originally published May 5, 2010
image by Jocelyn Sérot, France

Is this a corner of the Moon you overlook? Have you specifically observed any of these craters? I thought not. The north eastern limb is an area lacking in remarkable craters, has only the smallest patch of mare lava, and generally looks tired. There are no detected basins right here to provide interesting rilles and wrinkle ridges. Its not as highly cratered as the farside so at some point the really old craters were erased. About the only way to erase things is a large impact, so perhaps Spei does mark the location of an ancient |basin, gone except for crustal weaknesses that later allowed a little magma to reach the surface. This area was apparently much more interesting 3-4 billion years ago. We came too late for the best view.

Chuck Wood

Technical Details
Apr 29, 2010 around 0:15 UT. Mewlon 210 at prime focus, Astronomik red filter, DMK 31AF03, 9 images assembled, 250/1000 images stacked for each. Processing Avistack + Registax.

Related Links
Rükl plate 16
Jocelyn's updated lunar website

Yesterday's LPOD: Not Much Red

Tomorrow's LPOD: Flows of a Different Kind

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