February 17, 2009
New Data From Old Pics
Apollo 8-13-2243 south up image from Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center, by way of the Apollo Flight Journal
Danny Caes, the intrepid explorer of ancient lunar spacecraft images, has found this remarkable and unfamiliar view from Apollo 8. Danny identifies the large crater whose rim is illuminated at lower right as Daguerre and the bigger crater at upper right with a large curved rim shadow as Fracastorius. You can use the Lunar Orbiter IV image to confirm Danny's interpretation by crater-hopping across Mare Nectaris. The odd structure in the mare just left of Daguerre was already depicted in Wes Higgins' image. The mare ridges in Nectaris are not seen better than this anywhere, showing more complexity than previously known; all mare will be discovered to be more interesting as we get high res, low Sun views. Danny rightly points out the remarkable mountain on the horizon and surmises, probably correctly, that it is a peak at 38°E and 29°S, shown on Rükl's Atlas of the Moon plate 58. This peak is the continuation of the Altai Scarp basin rim.
Chuck Wood
Related Links
Rükl plates 47 & 58
Yesterday's LPOD: 14 Rilles, not Counting Gassendi
Tomorrow's LPOD: Wow!
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