December 2, 2010
A Week Earlier
image by Howard Eskildsen, Ocala, Florida
Yesterday's LPOD celebrated a classic quarter Moon view, and today, Howard's image shows
the same real estate a week earlier. But often few observers point their telescopes Moonward
when the lighting is like this. That is hard to understand when looking at this high contrast image,
but the Moon in the eyepiece is much brighter and less contrasty. Howard's Photoshop wizardry
accounts for this dramatic image, but visual observers can see something similar by using high
magnification (to spread the light over a larger area) or polarizing or neutral density filters (to cut
the light). And there are many treats to see, all related to albedo effects. For example, the two
or three dark halo craters around Copernicus, the rays around Kepler, the really bright interior of
Aristarchus (Herschel's erupting volcano), the zebra-striped floor of Schickard, the otherwise very
hard to see Herigonius Rilles, the stain of Reiner Gamma, the bent ray near Seleucus, the slivers
of mare inside the rings of Orientale and many other remarkable features. Where's my scope?
Chuck Wood
Technical Details
Nov 25, 2010, 10:37-11:27 UT. 6" f/8 refractor + 2X barlow + DMK 41AU02.AS + W-15 yellow filter.
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