image by Zac Pujic
Quick- before looking at a map, do you know where this is on the Moon? Except for the give-away crater at upper left this is a pretty generic piece of lunar real estate. There is a nice little (50 km diameter) complex crater with slumped terraces and central peak near the center of the image, but everything else is mostly rugged terrain plastered with smallish impact craters of various ages. The terrain in the top third of the frame is lower in elevation and is less mountainous - it even has a smooth spot near the upper right. And from the center of the image downward there is a cast shadow (duh - what other kinds are there?) showing that the right side is lower and the left is like a plateau. With only this information it is nearly impossible to interpret this scenery. But if I tell you that the crater in the middle is Neander, and the bigger one at upper left is Piccolomini, does that allow you to get a broader, synoptic view? Eastward (to the right) from Piccolomini is the ragged continuation of the Altai Scarp rim of the Nectaris Basin. The area to the north is lower than the area outside the rim and it is smoother because the old highland terrain was removed by the basin-forming impact. The shadow-casting plateau below Neander is actually a lineation that leads to the Rheita Valley.
Technical Details:
August 12, 2006. 31 cm Newtonian. f/28. SkyNyx 2.1M. Wratten 25A filter. Frames stacked using MAP processing. Registax 4beta.
Related Links:
Rükl plate 58 & 68
Zac’s website
Yesterday's LPOD: A Swell Place for Rilles
Tomorrow's LPOD: A Lesson in Impactism
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