Observations>Telescope Objects>Craters ~7 Days OldGemma Frisius: Light Angle is King
A challenging crater to locate, where I discovered the importance of lighting angle
Observer Comments
| Target Description | This is a challenging target to find, located as it is in the rugged southern highlands. Many of our other targets are located within or close to a Mare, so they're easy to find in a wide range of light. Here, big parts of the highlands disappear in later light, which makes finding this crater -- located by "crater hopping" -- doubly challenging. To top it off, early in this quest I was trying to locate everything on my 10.5 day capture because it's the highest resolution. And somehow I did manage to locate Gemma. But when it came time to write up the report, I thought it looked ridiculous: even with an arrow pointing right at it, I could barely make out the crater rim. So, I looked for it in my other library captures. I struggled at first with this quarter moon view, and wasn't 100% sure it wasn't in shadow. So I switched to the 8.6d, found it quickly, but still didn't like its appearance. Returned to the quarter moon, and found it by hopping from the Pitiscus/Homel pair in the SE corner of the rectangle. I've provided all 3 views in the gallery, roughly matching the rectangles. |
| Image Capture Description | This was an unexpected break... the weather forecast was for clouds, and earlier in the evening it had been completely clouded over. But as I was turning off the lights to go to bed, I discovered it was clear. So, out came the Seestar, and I was able to capture a nearly precise Quarter Moon. We've been in a terrible, cloudy pattern this spring, making this one of only two new images I've captured since making the decision to pursue the Lunar Program. |
| Program Links | |
Capture Details
| Date and Time Observed | 2025-04-04 22:45:00 |
| Phase Age | 6.8 days |
| Lunar Phase | First Quarter |
| Illumination | 50% |
| 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 adjusted in Affinity Photo |
