On November the 5th 1605, a group of English Catholics were foiled in their attempt to assassinate King James I of England and VI of Scotland. Their plan had been to blow up the Houses of Parliament during the state opening, using 36 barrels of gunpowder, which would have killed the King and most of the Protestant nobility in the process. The man responsible for executing what became known as the Gunpowder Plot, because of his military and explosives experience, was Guy Fawkes.
Fortunately the conspirators’ plot unraveled and Guy Fawkes, who helped conceal the gunpowder barrels in a cellar beneath the Houses of Parliament, was arrested a few hours before he planned to detonate them. Had he been successful in igniting the gunpowder, the explosion would have destroyed the Old Palace of Westminster completely and shattered the windows of the surrounding buildings within a 1 kilometer circumference. All of those involved in the conspiracy were quickly hunted down and dispatched one way or another.
The Gunpowder Plot passed from history into folk lore, but it’s defeat has resonated down through the centuries and has always been commemorated every year since by burning bonfires along with the setting off of fireworks. It was against this setting, with the scent of smoke from fading bonfires and spent fireworks, that I produced the rough graphite sketch of the Moon that you can see below.
Waning Gibbous Moon 05.11.09: Mouseover the image for more information.
If I’d been more organised I would have taken the time to make the disc of the moon far neater by using a template, but all in all the sketch still turned out okay. As this was a quick observation I decided to record the most obvious features across the surface of the Moon rather than get mired in the almost infinite details, but I’ll certainly be aiming for a far more in-depth study next time around. It’s just a pity that there won’t be any fireworks!
Tags: Apennine Mountains, Aristarchus, Aristoteles, Atlas, Bessel Ray, Brenner, Burg, Colombo, Copernicus, Cyrillus, Dawes, Eudoxus, Fabricius, Fracastorius, Grimaldi, Gutenberg, Hercules, Janssen, Kepler, Macrobius, Manilius, Mare Humorum, Mare Imbrium, Mare Nectaris, Mare Nubium, Mare Serenitatis, Mare Tranquillitatis, Menelaus, Metius, Moon, Oceanus Procellarum, Plato, Plinius, Posidonius, Riccioli, Santbech, Sinus Iridium, Strathspey 25x100, Theophilus, Tycho
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Up till now the weather conditions over Central Scotland during MoonWatch week have been reasonably decent. Sunday and Monday night were lost to partial cloud cover while I reluctantly let Tuesday night slip by so I could fulfill a minor, but pressing task. However, all was not lost as Wednesday served up another slice of sunshine and clear skies that brought the stars out to play later that evening.
With the Moon almost at it’s quarter phase, the view in and around the terminator was wonderful. There was also still a hint of some Earthshine, but it was less obvious than my last observation. Looking northwards the high crater walls of Eudoxus and Aristoteles looked imposing against the bright lunar surface while the rugged edges of the Mare Serenitatis and the diffuse Bessel ray just to the south were outstanding. Looking north east from here I could also easily pick out the prominent, almost circular outlines of Hercules and Atlas as they sat beyond the northern shore of the Mare.
Allowing my gaze to fall southwards I could just discern the Promontorium Agarum (a high mountainous cape) as it nestled against the east coast of the Mare Crisium whilst the Palus Somni (a large area of level, uneven terrain) could also be seen standing out against the dark grey basalt of the eastern Mare Tranquillitatis. As my eye’s wandered westwards I also observed the dark silhouettes of Plinius, Ross and Arago — a string of three isolated, minor craters — before I landed on the south west fringes of the Mare and the impact crater Delambre.
As I continued my descent ever southwards, the outline of the crater trio Theophilus, Cyrillus and Catharina was fairly obvious as they huddled together along the edge of the Mare Nectaris. Just west from Cyrillus I could see the smaller crater Abulfeda skirting quite close to the shadowy terminator.
Drifting across the hodgepodge craters of the southern highlands I could clearly see the impressive Maurolycus and the smaller Gemma Frisius just to the north, etched into the lunar surface like black jet. Barocius and Clairaut were visible just below as were the smaller craters: Breislak, Baco B and the slightly more prominent Baco. South east from here I could also see the contours of Pitiscus, Hommel, Vlacq and the smaller Rosenberger C as they clung to the lunar limb.
Besides observing the more evident lunar features, I also spent the time producing another rough drawing that I could use to help create a digital sketch of this marvelous scene. Here’s hoping the weather holds out so I can produce a few more.
Tags: Abulfeda, Arago, Aristoteles, Atlas, Baco, Baco B, Barocius, Bessel Ray, Breislak, Catharina, Clairaut, Cyrillus, Delambre, Earthshine, Eudoxus, Gemma Frisius, Hercules, Hommel, Mare Crisium, Mare Nectaris, Mare Serenitatis, Mare Tranquilliatis, Maurolycus, Moon, MoonWatch, Palus Somni, Pitiscus, Plinius, Promontorium Agarum, Rosenberger C, Ross, Strathspey 25x100, Theophilus, Vlacq
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