The week of November 11-17 takes us from Lunar Day 11 to Day 17. This week we will highlight the moon crater Furnerius, visible on Sunday night.
Furnerius: [SE/N16; L=61°E] This is the southernmost of the moon craters that make up the Great Eastern Chain and it is very old, having formed before the impact that created the Nectaris basin 3.9 billion years ago. Although the walls have been battered down and show their age, there are still many complexities remaining which will reward careful observation. There are several craterlets of varying sizes on the floor of Furnerius, including a 30-mile rille extending from the north rim toward the southeast. Patrick Moore reported that there are fourteen large craters and several craterlets in its interior. (A more reasonable assessment would be there is one large crater and several craterlets.) Make a rough sketch of how many you can see, then come back next month (and on Day 17) to see if you can add to the count. Can you match Patrick Moore’s observing skills?
OF ADDITIONAL INTEREST IN SPACE
On Tuesday after midnight, the Taurid meteor shower peaks.
On Saturday, the Pleiades are 0.1° south of the Moon.
On Sunday, Jupiter is 6° south of the Moon and the Leonid meteor shower peaks. Look east after midnight.
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
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