ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY – Daytime Moon

First light for the 224MC from ZWO controlled by the ASI Air plus. Shot through the tiny FS-CB60 refractor at a whopping f/20 on a Teegul III mount.

Exceptionally bad seeing made focus quasi-impossible. Contrast very poor as it was shot during the day. This is a stack of a 90s AVI that I find surprisingly good, considering.

Libration was at maximum for the month of February with the Eastern side of the Moon tipped into view. Mare Australis is visible in the SE.

Among the interesting features south of Mare Nectaris are the Rupes Altai range and the Vallis Rheita.

Rupes Altai is a slightly arcuate escarpment bordered by craters Piccolomini to the SE and Catharina to the NW, spanning some 440km. Pictured above is the southern region of the range and the crater Piccolomini with is curious parallel double peaks. The escarpment is a portion of the outer wall of the Nectaris Basin and reaches 4000m heights with respect to the surrounding terrain, considerably more than similar structures such as Rupes Recta and Rupes Cauchy.

Concentric rings forming the Mare Nectaris Basin

Vallis Rheita is 450km long and widest at 30km, formed from a series of overlapping craters that radiate to the center of Mare Nectaris. It is thought to have arisen from secondary events following the Nectaris impact.

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