Lunar Day 17The week of April 27 – May 3 takes us from Day 10 to Day 17. This week we will highlight the moon crater Endymion, visible on Saturday night close to the terminator.

Endymion crater from above the moonEndymion: [NE/D15; L=57°E] This is an older moon crater which somewhat resembles Plato [Day 8; NW/D9] in that it has a smooth, dark-chocolate floor and three-mile-high walls, which cast lovely shadow spires on the flood plain below when the Sun is low. And there is an extra treat: 15 miles south-west of Endymion (about 13 arc-seconds), you might be able to spot a beautiful little concentric moon crater.

OF ADDITIONAL INTEREST IN SPACE

On Sunday, Antares is 0.5° north of the Moon.

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It is highly recommended that you get a copy of Sky and Telescope’s Field Map of the Moon, the very finest Moon map available for use at the telescope. It is available for $10.95 at www.skyandtelescope.com and on Amazon. All features mentioned in this blog will be keyed to the grid on the Field Map and will look like this: Plato: [NW/D9]

Credits:
Courtesy of Gray Photography of Corpus Christi, Texas
Lunar photos: NASA / USGS / BMDO / LROC / ASU / DLR / LOLA / Moon Globe. Used by permission

Andrew Planck
Endymion – Moon Crater
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