The week of November 25 – December 1 takes us from Lunar Day 24 to Day 1. This week we will highlight the moon crater Humboldt, visible on Sunday night.
Humboldt:1 [SE/M18] This moon crater is best viewed when there is a pronounced libration; tonight it is caught just inside the leading edge of the Moon. Because of foreshortening, appears to be extremely elongated north to south. It has a cluster of central peaks, and if you’re lucky, you might spot a long catena (crater chain) extending from the northeast rim of the crater.
OF ADDITIONAL INTEREST IN SPACE
On November 26, 2018, NASA’s Mars InSight mission lands on Mars.
1 William von Humboldt (22 June 1767 – 8 April 1835) was a Prussian philosopher, linguist, government functionary, diplomat, and founder of the Humboldt University of Berlin.
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
- Moon Crater Schickard - December 9, 2024
- Moon Crater Rima Hyginus – Line of Linked Craters - December 2, 2024
- Moon Crater Humboldt – Cluster of Central Peaks - November 25, 2024