Plato and surrounds

[John K]

Took this image with a 2 x Barlow on my 12.5 f/5 and SPC900 webcam.

350 frames stacked in Registax, 17 alignment points in Registax, mild VC Deconvolution and unsharp masking.

It's a nice area of the moon.

Enjoy.

John.

[rumples riot]

Nice image John. The rilles stand out really well.

[erick]

Lovely John, I like Plato - so easy to find for a beginner like me! I'm going to keep observing until I can pick out at least one craterlet on its floor!

When was this taken please - tonight (23rd) or yesterday (22nd)?

[iceman]

Beautiful image, John. Would've been great to capture the Alpine Valley as well and make a mosaic!

[Stephen65]

Nice image shot of Plato there, can see 5 of the big 6 craterlets and it shows up the fan shaped lighter floor area well.

Erick, I find the craterlets easiest to see when Plato is near the terminator because the shadows give relief, and also at Full Moon when they show up as white dots on the crater floor. Here's an image I took at Full Moon that shows at least six white specks that match up with craterlet positions.

[erick]

Thanks Stephen. I might be pushing it, but I want to try to see some craterlets with my little 8"! I've been reading up and have gathered that close to the terminator is best (as would be expected). I've collected various photos - several from IIS and like to understand how close to terminator they were taken. I will try full moon in case the white specks are visible under good conditions. However I'm detracting from the enjoyment of John's image. Back to compliments from everyone!

[DougAdams]

Eric, the craterlets of Plato were a white whale of mine too. I managed to see them a few months ago when the moon was past full and waning again. It was very late, and the atmosphere had steadied a lot which made viewing them much easier. I bagged 3 and a bit with my Dob. :)

[iceman]

The craterlets can be quite easy to see with:
a) enough aperture (at least 8")
b) good lighting
c) above average seeing (it's almost impossible in bad seeing)
d) good collimation

The rille in the alpine valley is a very difficult target, both visually and photographically and requires the above, too.

[erick]

Thanks guys, glad to know there is hope! :) Yes, DougAdams, I've been thinking to be up late on Day 22 is the best bet.

But this moon stuff can be a challenge - there might only be a couple of days a month when the lighting is satisfactory. :sadeyes:

[DougAdams]

And then you have to hope the seeing is cooperative :)

[Stephen65]

Based on this nomenclature system:

http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/520616/page/0/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1

with my 132mm refractor I've seen the A, B and C/D (the last two appearing as one object) when the seeing is good and Plato near the terminator.

At Full Moon I've seen the A craterlet a couple of times as a white dot, but none of the others.

[John K]

Hi guys,

thanks for all the comments.

Mike - yep, have also taken a shot of the alpine valley, will process and see if I can stich

Erick - image was taken Aug 22nd

Stephen - image attached below was taken in March this year with my set up but 5 x Powermate. Compare it with the cloudy nights link image if you like

[Stephen65]

That's a sweet shot John, about 20-25 craterlets visible.

Inspired by this thread and the good seeing tonight over Melbourne I went out and tried a new TMB 4mm Supermono (gives 231x in my 5" refractor) and I could see A, B, C and D as faint white spots and was able to distinctly split C and D which is a first for me visually.

[bird]

Hi john, that's a nice image!

cheers, bird

[davidpretorius]

beautiful John, I really like it