Aristarchus & the Cobra's Head

[Dave882]

Some very nice stable conditions last night allowed me to get probably my best shot of Aristarchus and surrounding areas. I love the the diverse topography in this area - from the super bright Aristarchus crater, impact rays, sinuous rilles and wrinkles crossing the valley floor. I particularly love the rille in Schroter's Valley - known as the Cobra's Head. I think the illumination was almost ideal for the shot.

This was my first time processing an imaging using WaveSharp2 instead of Registax. I have to say i've still got little idea how to fully utilise the program, but was happy with the result and found a significant reduction in edge artefacts which imho gave a more natural appearance.

The setup:
c14 non edge
asi178mm & IR685
AS!3 / WaveSharp2


Thanks for looking!

[Tinderboxsky]

Fabulous image, Dave. Thanks for sharing. It certainly is an interesting and diverse area.

[Dave882]

Thanks Steve. It was really nice to be under the stars finally- and the conditions were really excellent. The views through the eyepiece were wonderful too. I’m stoked how this one turned out!

[bkm2304]

In nice and close with the terracing, Dave. Aristarchus is the most "controversial" place on the moon with its alleged Transient Phenomena - except of course for the alien base in the far side....:ship2:

Richard

[Dave882]

Thanks Richard. lol and I thought those signal flashes from deep within the crater was just my imagination :P

[Startrek]

Dave,
Another excellent lunar image
That new software has worked well
Well done !!
In regard to flashes , some of the Apollo astronauts noticed flashes on the lunar surface from orbit. The media back then would have had a field day reporting Aliens on the moon.
Probably just reflections from their high gain antenna on the CSM ??

Cheers
Martin

[Dave882]

Thanks Martin - nah I was just poking fun at the folk who get all wound up over differential illumination in this crater. Aristarchus does indeed seem to change its illumination but this is certainly due to the angle of the sun on it's terraced walls. A challenging target but rewarding when the lighting is juuust right!