Observations>Telescope Objects>Craters ~4 Days OldMessier A / Messier: Long Tail
Two small craters with a long tail west.
Observer Comments
| Target Description | Messier A (left) and Messier are two small impact craters in Mare Fercunitatis. A long, straight ray originates with Messier A and extends west nearly 100km. This is unusually long for such small craters, and caused by an oblique impact. Messier is named after Charles Messier, and the ray is called Rima Messier. Perhaps we should call them M111 and M111A? Just kidding. |
| 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. |
| Program Links | |
Capture Details
| 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 |
