Fra Mauro: Ancient Wall filled with Clues
Barely visible ancient crater wall delivering lots of insights into lunar geology
Observer Comments
| Target Description | This didn't seem like much, at first. But as I researched it online, I discovered it has a lot to teach me. Fra Mauro itself is barely visible, and mostly filled with the same basalt that fills Mare Insularum. This was originally the landing site for the ill-fated Apollo 13 flight, and it tells me something that NASA reassigned Apollo 14 to land here. Gallery image #2 shows what's come to be known as the "Fra Mauro Complex": it consists of a complicated rille system (suggested by the arrows) provided pathways for volcanic fill to 3 more craters. I learned that Mare Insularum is itself a massive impact crater filled by the melting of the lunar mantle, and filling the Mauro complex as well. |
| 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 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 |