Oh, goodie! The Moon!
Our closest neighbour is one of my favourite objects. Ever changing shadows bring up so many different details that change quickly over a couple of hours. Then there are wonderful combinations of terrain and shadows that create magical apparitions of alphanumeric characters, animals, symbols, and many other figures. And then there is the storybook of its history that is on display.
There are so many different areas that are wonderful. Some are stark, in-your-face obvious like Copernicus. Others are very subtle that are totally reliant on a very shallow angle of incident light to reveal them, like the co-centric rings of secondary impacts that surround Copernicus.
Combinations of features, the trio of Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus and Arzechel. Not only is there a contrast of features between the three, but these are a result of the impacts occurring at very distinct times of lunar history. Ptolemaus is the oldest, totally flooded with lava having occurred when the Moon was very hot and the crust thin. Arzechel is the youngest, it has next to no flooded floor, a totally exposed central peak and extensive terracing from landslides. Alphonsus sits in-between. The Moon was still hot, but the crust was thicker, so it is partially flooded. But, Alphonsus holds another surprise - volcanos! There are numerous pyroclastic deposits within Alphonsus, a tell-tale sign of cooling but still hot Moon as lava was flowing less readily, and volcanic vents slowly spewed out material instead of raging torrents of liquid lava.
One single favourite feature is not easy for me. Spending so many hours on a single area during a sketch reveals so much more than a fleeting glance. I guess that is the thing for me - time. Time is the master of detail.
