The week of February 17-23 takes us from Lunar Day 24 to New Moon, so the Moon is viewable only in the early morning hours. This week we will highlight the crater Timocharis in Mare Imbrium.

Moon Crater Timocharis in Mare ImbriumTimocharis: [NW/G8] Located below the center of Mare Imbrium you will find Timocharis, a complex crater that stands conspicuously isolated in the Imbrium Sea. It is 21 miles in diameter, 2 miles deep, and has a number of complexities that include a sharp rim, terraced walls, and an ejecta blanket. At one time in its past, Timocharis received a dead-center meteor impact that totally obliterated its central mountain!

OF ADDITIONAL INTEREST IN SPACE THIS WEEK:

For early risers, on the morning of Tuesday, February 18, at 5:44AM Mountain Time, Mars will be occulted by the Moon. (The time will vary considerably depending on your location1). This can be seen throughout the United States.


1 Download Sky Safari from the App store and you can see exactly when the occultation takes place from your area. This is an extremely valuable app for all things astronomical.

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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
Moon Crater Timocharis in Mare Imbrium

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