I have become more motivated to observe the moon, in a more diligent way. I came across a "Lunar 100" list by Charles Wood, and decided to complete the list as an observational project. The list includes a table of the best age of the moon to observe each feature, and almost all of them have two days, the beginning of the moon's cycle and later in the cycle -- meaning the "best" times to observe are at differing angles of light. So the "100" has become a list of 195 separate observations. It will be interesting to see the effects of the light angles. I'm looking forward to getting to know the moon better.
Yesterday I looked up the chart pages in the Hatfield and the Rukl atlases, but did not complete integrating those with the list. So, I did not have a list prepared for my session. No matter. Since the moon is third quarter now I decided to wake up at 4:30am, as it was predicted to be clear. I woke at 3am but couldn't fall back to sleep, so I went outside a little after 4am. Orion was arching over the meridian tree, and I could even see the lower shield stars despite the moonlight. Other familiar shapes appeared: Pleiades, Hyades, Auriga, and Gemini. I rolled the shed back from the 12.5-inch and set-up, then pointed it up to the moon -- which was hidden by the apricot tree! I went back inside and brought out my 8-inch f/7.25 and set it up in the moonlight, so I could observe a while as the moon cleared the tree for the 12-inch.
The 8-inch mirror was still warm and took about 20 minutes to equilibrate. I spent a fair amount of time along the terminator, and in general all around the moon, at 227x. I really need to clean my barlow; three dust specs appeared as dark mare features on the moon. The Montes Alpes had scattered bright peaks and grainy, rubbly slopes. Mons Piton cast a fairly long shadow. The feature I described as the square on the moon -- actually a rectangle -- turns out to be the well known feature Aristarchus Plateau.
After a half hour and a cup of coffee (which I prepared before bed and put in a thermos), I moved back to the 12.5-inch and found the moon had finally cleared the tree. The view through this scope was much more finely resolved, as to be expected, and it was nice to have it tracking the sky. I spent a fair amount of time studying Arzachel, which has high crater wall ramparts, terracing, a central peak, round craters of various sizes, and a rille winding through it. A very interesting crater. Mons Piton's shadow was appreciably longer -- I'm certain due to the passage of time rather than just the larger scope and higher magnification (340x now). Pluto's craterlets were out of reach but there will be more nights. Well before I expected it dawn started. The highway traffic noise was louder, a couple neighbors had switched on the lights in their kitchens, and only the brightest stars in Orion shown in the lightening blue sky. Our own kitchen light switched on and I knew then it was time to step inside.
I felt happy driving into work, having indulged my hobby before going in to the job. I'm drowsy now but I don't mind. It's supposed to be clear all tonight, so perhaps I'll get up early again. I'll have to use the 8-inch though since the moon won't clear the apricot tree again this morning. Maybe I'll even steal a peek at the Orion Nebula before I blind myself on the moon.
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