The week of July 6-12 takes us from Lunar Day 17 to Day 22. This week we will highlight the craters Endymion and Geminus viewable on Monday and Tuesday nights.
Endymion: [NE/D15; L=57°E] This is an older crater which somewhat resembles Plato [Day 8; NW/D9] in that it has a smooth, dark-chocolate floor and three-mile-high walls which cast lovely shadow spires on the flood plain below when the Sun is low. And there is an extra treat: 15 miles south-west of Endymion (about 13 arc-seconds) you might be able to spot a beautiful little concentric crater.
Geminus: [NE/F15] Roughly 200 miles north of Mare Crisium you will find the moderately complex 55-mile crater Geminus. It has terraced walls and small central peaks.
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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
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