The week of September 2-8 takes us from Day 29 to Day 6. This week we will highlight Mare Nectaris, located in the SE quadrant of the Field Map at L13 and viewable on Saturday and Sunday nights.
Mare Nectaris: SE/L13; L=36°E] The Nectaris basin was excavated 3.9 billion years ago. The oldest features on the Moon formed prior to this event. Mare Nectaris is a classic example of a multi-ring basin. Tonight or tomorrow night will reveal Rupes Altai, a high cliff that is a conspicuous fragment of one of the original rings. As daylight moves across the region, try to locate hints of other ring features surrounding Mare Nectaris.
OF ADDITIONAL INTEREST IN SPACE
New Moon is on Monday.
On Thursday, Venus is 1° north of the Moon.
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
- Altai Scarp (Rupes Altai) – How Shock Waves from a Major Impact can Compress the Surrounding Terrain - January 13, 2025
- Most Spectacular Feature on the Moon – Apennine Mountain Range - January 6, 2025
- Trio of Moon Craters, Theophilus, Cyrillus,and Catharina - December 30, 2024