The week of January 26 – February 1 takes us from Day 8 to Day 14. This week we will highlight the moon crater Plato, visible on Tuesday night close to the terminator.
Plato: [NW/D9; L=9°W] Wait until the terminator is a little to the west of Plato (toward the end of Day 7 or beginning of Day 8, depending on libration) and you will witness one of the Moon’s loveliest sights. At such a time, the early morning Sun will be filtering through the mountain peaks and casting long spire-like shadows onto Plato’s floor. Within a short time, it will look like the skyline of an entire city has been outlined on the interior plains of Plato. The process begins quite magically as small areas on Plato’s floor start to glow eerily. If you’re not prepared for it, you’ll be mystified by what is happening, but within a short time the outline of the eastern rim peaks will take shape and become apparent. If you’re lucky enough to catch this process at the beginning, come back every 15 minutes or so to watch the scene unfold.
There are a few instances where craters are seemingly complex, such as Plato and Archimedes (below), but they are lacking the requisite central peaks. So what happened? The peaks are still there; they are actually 1.2 miles high, but they’ve been entirely buried by torrential lava flows! Plato’s original floor is actually 1.5 miles deeper than it appears here.
Just to the east of Plato there is a conspicuous sinuous rille, which cuts through some of Plato’s rubble. There are smaller rilles in the area, but they are difficult to see.
ADDITIONAL INTEREST IN SPACE
On January 28, 1986, Space Shuttle Challenger explodes killing a crew of seven.
On Friday, Jupiter is 4° south of the Moon.
January 25, 2004 – the land rover Opportunity lands on Mars.
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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
- Sinus Iridum – The Bay of Rainbows Located in the Northwest Sector of Mare Imbrium - February 9, 2026
- Moon Crater Endymion - February 2, 2026
- Moon Crater Plato - January 26, 2026