Here is a pic of Theophilus, Cyrillus and Catharina craters taken on 8 November.
Named by Riccioli in honour of:
Saint Cyril: 5th Century AD Egyptian theologian, chronologist.
Saint Catharine of Alexandria: 4th Century Greek theologian, philosopher.
Saint Theophilus (possibly): 4th century theologian and patriarch of Alexandria and a Christian apologist.
Of interest are the Rimae Cyrilus (RC) 1 and 2 showing fine details. RC 2 runs parallel to several other linear features on the Eastern (top) wall of Cyrilus. These emerge from Catharina P and extend well into Theophilus.
Wading out into the Sea of Nectar, we find Madler crater, named for Johann von Madler (1794-1874) who, with Wilhelm Beer (1797-1850), produced accurate maps of both Mars and the moon. They also realised that lunar features are static and concluded also that there was no atmosphere there.
These conclusions were in stark contrast to Harvard astronomer William Pickering (1858-1938) who decades later described in great detail the growth of insect life in the crater Eratosthenes which flourished on vegetation over the lunar cycle, ate it from one side to the other then, running out of tucker, perished only to renew every new moon and repeat the cycle. Not exactly Ockham's razor, Bill.
ZWO 178mm camera, Celestron Edge HD 14", Bintel Red Filter. Approx. 3,500 frames stacked in Autostakkert!3 and sharpened in Registax and Photo Magic.
Damn fine image Richard, of one of my favourite regions, nice and sharp and an excellent lighting angle. Plus the additional information about who they were named after etc. No need for me to consult my Rukls' .
Wonderful image Richard. Superb resolution and fine detail topped off by some very pleasing natural processing. Conditions must have been very good. Nothing but clouds here. Great work!!
