September 29, 2024
Rarely Seen Genius
Originally published May 7, 2014
image by Damian Peach
The eastern limb of the Moon is often imaged, perhaps because it is readily available in the early evening hours. But the western limb - which at sunrise is also visible at a convenient time, is much less commonly imaged, especially the areas north of Orientale. Damian Peach’s recent image shows what can be seen on this limb when the lighting, seeing and libration all cooperate. At the center is the rarely seen Einstein crater with Einstein A near its center. The formation of A probably removed Einstein’s central peak, for with a diameter of 170 km Einstein is too small to be expected to have an inner ring. The other craters named on the chart below are also infrequently observed, and I’ve never before seen an image of Moseley (I think I’ve identified it correctly) at 90.1° West. The high sun Clementine Atlas image (Plate 37) shows a very bright small crater near the NE rim of Einstein (bc on overlay) that doesn’t look like much in this unrectified low sun view. But at higher illuminations it must be a searchlight! Einstein and most of the larger craters in this area are smothered in continuous ejecta deposits from Orientale (off the image to the left) and most of the small fresh craters are Orientale secondaries.
Chuck Wood
This genius was previously seen in the LPOD of May 19, 2005.
Technical Details
April 24, 2005. C9.25" from a beautiful southern Caribbean vacation isle!
Related Links
21st Century Atlas charts L6 & L7.
Yesterday's LPOD: A Really Big Moon
Tomorrow's LPOD: Ho Hum, Another Earthrise
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