IWLOP #122 – Aristarchus Plateau & Vallis Schröteri

IWLOP #122 – Aristarchus Plateau & Vallis Schröteri

Aristarchus is a bright, complex crater that is a little older than Tycho, and is located near the edge of a unique plateau that rises 2 km over Oceanus Procellarum. Vallis Schröteri was a lava tunnel that carried lava from the highland plateau to the adjacent basin.

Objects: Aristarchus, Mare Procellarum, Oceanus Procellarum, Vallis Schröteri, Montes Agricola, Rupes Toscanelli, Toscanelli, Rimae Aristarchus, Herodotus, Mons Herodotus
Others Identified: Angstrom, Bessarion, Bessarion A, Brayley, Dorsa Burnet, Kepler, Krieger, Montes Carpatus, Montes Harbinger, Prinz, Schiaparelli, Väisälä, Wollaston

Reference: Rukl 18

Location: Home
Date: 2021-04-24
Time: 9:53 PM ADT
Equipment: 10" Meade SCT
Eyepiece: Explore Scientific 4.7 mm with 82° FOV
Magnification: x530
Transparency: Good (3)
Seeing: Good (3)

R1: Aristarchus was quite bright. Bright rays of ejecta to the south and west. The diamond-shaped plateau was darker than the surrounding Oceanus Procellarum. Ejecta may have gone as far as Montes Carpatus and meets those of Kepler in the south. 
R2: Vallis Schröteri starts on Oceanus Procellarum, meanders N, then NW, then South. The rille ends in a cobra head north of Herodotus.
R3: Montes Agricola well lit on the eastern slopes. It formed a border of the diamond plateau.

C1: The Rupes Toscanelli was found near the crater Toscanelli. However, the 3 rilles of Rimae Aristarchus were not observed at this time.
C2: Saw and sketched the cobra head NE of Herodotus.
C3: Mons Herodotus was a singular bright spot between the Vallis and Montes Agricola. Two other bright "spots" to the North but too far to be related (?).

This was my first observing of this feature. It was seen again on July 10, 2022 (General Session - July 10, 2022 (Sleepover)) with our youngest granddaughter.