Vallis Schroteri: Deep Canyon
The "Grand Canyon" of the moon turned out to be the most challenging target of the entire program.
Observer Comments
| Target Description | Vallis Schröteri is the longest sinuous rille on the lunar surface, snaking for about 100 miles. It is volcanic in origin, averages about 500m depth, and was a major contributor of lava to Oceanus Procellarum. The ridge that parallels south of the rille is fairly prominent: imaging the rille itself is challenging. I spent a fair amount of time analyzing what I could see at extreme enlargements of my capture, compared to a Lunar Orbiter image of this feature. Of course, the lunar orbiter image is looking straight down, whereas my telescope is viewing the same set of features at an oblique angle. I developed 5 points of comparison between two telescope views (light and dark) and the lunar orbiter view. I believe all 5 match up; #5 shows an unambiguous section of the rille in my telescope view. I would love to capture a near-full-moon view of this area using my EdgeHD with lucky imaging and wavelet sharpening. Whether the clouds will permit this before I submit this package to the AL, is an open issue at this time. |
| Image Capture Description | This full moon image was an opportunistic capture with my Seestar on a clear night with good visibility, just because. At the time I was not contemplating the AL Lunar Program. |
| Program Links | <Previous | Lunar Program Listings | Next> |
| Date and Time Observed | 2024-05-22 21:12:00 |
| Phase Age | 14 days |
| Lunar Phase | Full Moon |
| Illumination | 100% |
| Conditions | Transparency: Good. Seeing: Good. |
| Obs. Lat/Long | 42° 17', 073° 57' |
| Capture Software | Seestar |
| Capture Type | Single-image |
| Instrument | Seestar S50 f5.0-250mm FL |
| Camera | Seestar Built-in SONY IMX462 Sensor |
| Capture Details | Auto capture |
| Post Processing | Levels and sharpened in Affinity Photo |