Astronomy Picture of the Day 9-12-02

NASA ^ | 9-13-02 | Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell

[petuniasevan]

Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2002 September 13

Aristarchus Plateau
Credit & Copyright: Russell Croman

Explanation: Anchored in the vast lava flows of the Moon's Oceanus Procellarum lies the Aristarchus Plateau. Recorded from a backyard observatory on planet Earth, this sharp, amazingly colorful view nicely captures the geologically diverse area, including the brownish plateau, Aristarchus and Herodotus craters, and the meandering Vallis Schroteri. The bright impact crater at the corner of the plateau is Aristarchus, a young crater 42 kilometers wide and 3 kilometers deep, surrounded by a radial system of light-colored rays. Only slightly smaller, lava flooded Herodotus crater is above and to the left. A valley or rille feature likely carved by rapidly flowing lava or a collapsed lava tunnel, Vallis Schroteri begins just to the right of Herodotus and winds across the plateau for about 160 kilometers, eventually turning toward the top of the picture and the shadow of the lunar terminator. Aristarchus Plateau itself is like a rectangular island about 200 kilometers across, raised up to 2 kilometers or so above the smooth surface of the lunar Ocean of Storms.

[petuniasevan]

Astronomy Fun Fact:

Yes! This great photo is courtesy of a backyard astronomer! Here's the details and a link to his setup (a must-see):

Technical Details
Optics	Meade 10” f/10 LX200GPS UHTC at f/28 with 18mm eyepiece projection.

Camera	Canon D60.
Date	20 August 2002.
Location	my backyard observatory in Austin, Texas.
Exposure	17x1sec.
Processing	MaxImDL (align, combine), AIP4WIN (deconvolution), Photoshop (levels, curves, etc.).

[petuniasevan]

[sleavelessinseattle]

That's an amazingly sharp amateur photo! Meade scopes are the best beginner scopes because of their automation software...although you can go too far...They have a voice recognition feature and I've heard tell of a guy who started swearing at his telescope and it was asking him to restate his request!!! LOL! Open the POD DOORS, HAL!

[MeekOneGOP]

Very nice thanks !

[2Trievers]

When making photos, make sure you note your light source and make adjustments accordingly ... I learned that in Nikon School. &;-)

[MozartLover]

bump

[BossyRoofer]

Great picture and he did a fantastic job on his observatory! Great job APOD!