Craters near the western edge of the Moon, just beyond the edge of Oceanus Procellarum.
Origin: impact Size: 54 km, 43 km Rukl: 8 Type: Craters
Objects: Ulugh Beigh, Astoni
Others Identified: Aristarchus, Briggs, Eddington, Herodotus, Lichtenberg, Lavoisier, Lavoisier A, Russell, Seleucus, Struve, von Braun
Date: September 18, 2024
Time: 1:10 AM - 1:45 AM ADT
Equipment: Telescope
Eyepiece: Antares Plössl 15mm, Explore Scientific 4.7mm with 82° FOV
Magnification: x167
These craters weren't the easiest to find. The RASC Observer's Calendar depicted the favourable libration and to my surprise it meant L9 could be searched for.
Using my S&T Field Map of the Moon, I determined that if I went to Aristarchus & Herodotus (very easy craters to find) and looked to their west on Oceanus Procellarum (OP) to the crater Lichtenberg, the dark-floored Ulugh Bay should be west of it and just a bit inshore in the mountainous area. Using the Explore Scientific 12mm eyepiece, it took at least 5 minutes to visually navigate within the FOV to find them.
But I wanted a closer look so with Ulugh Beigh/Aston centred in the FOV, I changed the eyepiece to the Explore Scientific 4.7mm. Completely lost them!! Total white-out! For the next 15 minutes or more, neither Jerry or I could focus it to see any crater let alone the target. Back to the 12mm it was and after a few minutes had it back on target and in focus.
I recognized Struve, Briggs, Eddington and Russell. Other craters (new to me) were noted as well on the shoreline and in the west border of OP - Lavoisier, Lavoisier A, Seleucus (with a white halo), and von Braun (quite white and caught your eye). Lichtenberg in the OP was interesting to note because it appeared to have a small ejecta field to its northwest.
