Mitchell: A tiny crater in an obvious place
Named after the first female astronomer in the United States, Maria Mitchell was also the first American scientist to discover a comet.
Observer Comments
| Target Description | Mitchell is the tiny impact crater on the eastern rim of Aristoteles. It was named after the first female astronomer in the United States, Maria Mitchell. She was the first American scientist to discover a comet: 1847 VI (modern designation C/1847 T1), which made her internationally famous. Additionally, she was an early advocate for science and math education for girls and the first female astronomy professor, teaching at Vassar College. This crater is not visible in my 3.8 day view. Given its categorization as "4 day", I wondered if it could be a hint at the "unofficial" Mitchell crater. This was dedicated by an Apollo 17 astronaut to Billy Mitchell, an early advocate of air power. After a fair amount of work, I concluded it wasn't the target. First, the scale of the unofficial Mitchell was too tiny for any of my telescope views, and smaller than any other telescope object in this program. Also, the Apollo 17 landing site is only slightly east of the official Mitchell, and not visible in my 3.8 day view either. Note the location of the Apollo 17 landing is marked on the second image in the gallery. I've also included a detailed map of the Apollo 17 landing site. Mitchell was not originally labelled, but I inferred its location and marked my guesstimate on that map. |
| Image Capture Description | This is another of my "library" photos, captured because it was a nice crisp view of the moon on an evening I was observing with the Seestar from my rear deck. |
| Program Links | <Previous | Lunar Program Listings | Next> |
| Date and Time Observed | 2024-05-16 20:19:00 |
| Phase Age | 8.6 days |
| Lunar Phase | Waxing Gibbous |
| Illumination | 62% |
| 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 |