February 5, 2012
The Best Ever
north up image by Pete Lawrence, Selsey, England.
As soon as I saw this image I thought, This is the best ever image of Clavius. And then I thought, Is it really? So I looked through LPOD and the Moon-Wiki and found some other great images, including one that is also the best image ever of Clavius. Hmm. I realized that the best ever business was becoming tricky. For the Clavius image I used a couple of factors to evaluate image quality. Resolution is important (but not paramount); the two small crater chains on the eastern floor of Clavius that are radial to Rutherfurd (big crater on Clavius' southern rim) are good measures of resolution. Tonal gradiant is critical, too. Notice the smooth grays on the floor of Clavius and surrounding ponds, the albedo variations defining the terraces on Rutherfurd's wall, and the existence of detail in the bright wall scarps of craters. A final element of best everness is the composition - this image is beautifully centered on the object of interest and shows relevant surrounding features. The other best image ever of Clavius by François Emond is similar in characteristics that mark excellence, but its dramatic lower lightening makes a direct comparison with Pete's difficult. So for now I am happy to have TWO best images ever of Clavius. I have started a Best Ever page on the Moon-Wiki to begin to identify excellent examples of lunar imaging. Please nominate the best ever Plato, Gassendi, Posidonius and anything else that has great images.
Chuck Wood
Technical Details
C14
Related Links
Rükl plate 72
Pete's beautiful website
Yesterday's LPOD: A Holy Grail?
Tomorrow's LPOD: Pole Moon
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