Mons Pico and Piton, Two Isolated Mountains

Observations>Telescope Objects>Research Best Time

Pico and Piton rise directly from Mare Imbrium, 2,450m and 2,300m elevation, respectively

Target Description	These two mountains rise over 8,000 feet directly from Mare Imbrium. A surprising discovery for me is that lunar mountains appear soft and rounded (see image of Mons Pico taken by Apollo 15). While there is no water or wind erosion to soften sharp edges, there is a constant bombardment of tiny meteorites which has a similar effect. Who knew?
Image Capture Description	Technically, this is the best lunar observation in this submission (at least so far). It takes advantage of the EdgeHD at full 2032mm focal length and 294 camera. This was my first experience with using SharpCap's real-time lucky imaging. I had turned to it out of desperation because wildfire smoke had ruined multiple observing nights for much of the summer. Smoke turned the original image bright yellow (I converted it to grayscale). Despite the poor transparency, the combination of much longer focal length, lucky-image stacking, and wavelet sharpening delivers a much more detailed image than any of the Seestar captures.
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Date and Time Observed	2024-09-13 21:56:00
Phase Age	10.5 days
Lunar Phase	Waxing Gibbous
Illumination	78%
Conditions	Transparency: Poor. Seeing: Good.
Obs. Lat/Long	42° 17', 073° 57'
Capture Software	SharpCap
Capture Type	Real-time lucky imaging with wavelet sharpening
Instrument	EdgeHD 8" f10-2,032mm FL
Camera	ASI294MC-Pro
Capture Details	Approximately 20 images stacked 50ms exposures
Post Processing	Leveled and sharpened in Affinity Photo