Plato & Alpes, VALLIS


Date & Time: Mar 15 2008, 20:01 JST(+0900), 1/15sec. Exp.
Optical: TAKAHASHI 12.5cm(4.9") fluorite, afocal method with Televue Radian10mm eyepiece
Synthesized focal length f=2290mm (equivalent f=11000mm in 35mm film format)
Auto-guided with VIXEN ATLUX Equatorial
Digital Camera: OLYMPUS C-5060WZ
Location: Ooizumi , Hokuto city, Yamanashi pref.

Camera Settings: Mode.....SHQ (2592×1944 12bit CCD-RAW, converted to 16bit TIFF)
Lens.....f=22.9mm (equivalent f=110mm in 35mm film format), Stop: F4.8
CCD sensitivity.....ISO200, White Balance.....Auto


This is a shot around arctic region of moon that shows us a bit wider area than an image in previous page. You can see two noticeable craters of Plato in shadow and Archimedes in upper part. Both craters have clear outer rim with their interiors being filled with dark basaltic matter.
And you will notice a characteristic feature looks like a bruise just east of Plato. This is a lunar rift valley called "Alpes, VALLIS", with a scale of 130km in length and 10km in width. The valley is filled with lava inside, so it's fairly noticeable because the valley looks darker than mountainous region in the outskirts. You can detect an extraordinary meandered ditch stretching inside of the valley, but it might be needed greatly stable seeing condition to appreciate it through telescopes.

Gazetteer
Index Map
INDEXNAMECrater's Diameter
1Plato101km
2Archimedes83km
3Autolycus39km
4Aristyllus55km
5Cassini57km
6Eudoxus67km
7Aristoteles87km
AAlpes, VALLIS-
BImbrium, MARE-
CFrigoris, MARE-
DAlpes, MONTES-
ECaucasus, MONTES-
FNebularum, PALUS-
GSerenitatis, MARE-



Around Arctic area
Around Apenninus, MONTES

Copyright(c) 2008 by Naoyuki Kurita, All rights reserved.
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