April 6, 2020

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Stormy

Originally published October 24, 2010 LPOD-Oct24-10.jpg
image by Peter Rosén, Sweden

The Ocean of Storms has one name, but very different character in different parts. To the north (left) there are many manifestations of volcanism, but almost none are seen in the south. Mare lavas do occur everywhere - that is why it has a single name - but all the small and interesting features are to the north. The Sharp and Mairan rilles and the volcanic cone Mairan T hug the western shore of SInus Iridum's ejecta. Around the corrner are the two giant silicic Gruithuisen domes, the Gruithuisen G concentric crater and nearby twisted rille. In the middle of northern Procellarum is the bumpy pancake of domes called of Rümker. To the south is the oddest volcano-tectonic landform on the Moon - the ash-dusted, uplifted Aristarchus Plateau. who's eastern side contains the greatest concentration of sinuous rilles on the Moon. Just inland from the north-western shore of Procellarum are Repsold, van Braun, Lavosier and its E, F & H, and Dalton and Balboa - a very extensive concentration of large floor-fractured craters. Finally, near 13°N are the 300 or so cones, domes and sinuous rilles of the Marius Hills. And then there are very few volcanic features for nearly 30° of latitude until we reach the Herigonius Rilles north of Humorum. In fact, the southern third of Procellarum is fundamentally different from its central and norther parts. The south is full of large ruined craters near Flamsteed and Wichmann. There are few flooded craters (like Flamsteed P and Wichmann R) in the north, suggesting that the lava thickness is thicker there. Additionally, the cones, rilles, domes and floor-fractured craters of the north each mark a vent that has brought magma from depth to the surface. Northern and central Procellarum are full of vents but there are few in the south. This must mean that the crust of northern and central Procellarum is more fractured than it is in the south. Why?

Chuck Wood

Technical Details
Oct 2, 2010,04:59 UT. CT-10 f/4.8 telescope from OrionOptics-UK + DMK-41AF02 camera from the Imaging Source + a red filter.
I stacked aprox. 250 frames for each image using AstroIIDC and composited the mosaic in Photoshop CS4.

Related Links
Rükl plate 18


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