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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Sunday (05.04.09) marked the end of MoonWatch week, which for me has been a fun event to celebrate even if the weather has not always cooperated. On this occasion the promising blue evening sky had given way to the fog like veil of cirrostratus cloud later that night, which I would have cursed at any other time if it weren’t for the hazy lunar corona that it was helping to create.
With Regulus in Leo sitting just above the Moon I decided to use the Bresser 10×50s mounted on the tripod to make a wide field observation. Trying to identify the number of lunar objects that I could see at this magnification was also quite fun. Near the southern terminator I could partially discern the Mare Nubium while to the north I could easily make out the giant ray crater Copernicus and the Mare Imbrium. The vast bay of the Sinus Iridium and the dark, lava filled crater Plato were also clearly visible in and around this area.
Looking eastwards I had no problem observing the dark stains of the brightly lit Maria — this included the Mare: Serenitatis, Vaporum, Tranquillitatis, Crisium & Foecunditatis — while the bright rays of Langrenus and the outlines of Petavius as well as Furnerius were all visible. I also managed to catch (with some added scrutiny) the smaller ray craters Manilius, Menelaus and Proclus, all of which looked like minute pin-pricks of light against the lunar surface.
By the time I had finished making a preliminary sketch the cloud cover had grown just that little bit thicker. It looked more and more likely that a blanket of stratus would begin to roll in from the west quite soon so I was happy to have made the observation when I did. All in all I have to say that this short lunar jaunt was the perfect way to end the first MoonWatch week. The second MoonWatch week won’t take place until late October, just after Jupiter SkyWatch week — both of which I’m really looking forward to. In between then and now I’m hoping to complete the Binocular Messier Club list and make some headway with the Lunar 100, which is more than enough to keep this amateur astronomer busy for some time.
[Post edited: 07.04.09]
Tags: Bresser 10x50, Copernicus, Langrenus, Leo, Lunar Corona, Manilius, Mare Crisium, Mare Foecunditatis, Mare Nubium, Mare Serenitatis, Mare Tranquillitatis, Mare Vaporum, Menelaus, Moon, MoonWatch, Petavius, Plato, Proclus, Regulus, Sinus Iridium
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November has been a fairly non existent month as far as observing goes. The weather has offered no real respite over the past two weeks and I seriously began to wonder if I’d ever see the stars again. So when the clouds finally broke up early this morning and allowed the crystalline sky to shine through I was pretty bowled over. I was so happy that I spent the best part of fifteen to twenty minutes just gazing up at the heavens unaided.
The waning moon was high in the south east and it’s glow curbed any kind of real DSO hunting, but I was more than happy to gaze at the variegated craters and Maria of the lunar surface. I was also looking forward to taking in a long awaited view of Saturn.
I always find something quite hypnotic about observing the moon - it has a phantasmal quality that always leaves me wondering if what I’m seeing is actually real. The 25×100 binoculars that I use are better suited to DSO hunting but they still serve to give good wide field views of the moon and bring out some remarkable detail. Concentrating my efforts on the Mare Imbrium in the northern hemisphere I began my observations above the Imbrium lava flows where I could see the large rimless crater Sinus Iridium. From here I traveled over to the north east to observe the ancient and mysterious crater Plato. The 17th Century astronomer Johannes Hevelius referred to this magnificent crater as ‘The Greater Black Lake’.
Moving a little further south from the Mare Imbrium, towards the terminator, I could see the large crater Archimedes with it’s two smaller companions Autolycus and Aristillus flanking it in the north east. Interestingly enough, the stretch of lunar surface between Autolycus and Archimedes is the final resting place of Luna 2 after the Soviet probe crash landed there in 1959. Just north from Aristillus, I could make out the small crater Piazzi Smyth and Mons Piton, a lone mountain that rises 2.3Km from the Mare Imbrium.
Lying just a little further east I could see the impressive Apennine Mountain range that extends a huge 600Km perimeter around the south eastern rim of the Mare Imbrium. Some of the peaks here rise 5Km from the lunar surface - the last two in the chain, Mons Hadley Delta and Mons Hadley form the valley where the Apollo 15 crew made their historic landing.
West from Apennine Mountains and Archimedes I observed the small but prominent impact crater named after the Greek astronomer and philosopher Timocharis of Alexandria (320BC - 260BC). A minor ray system surrounds Timocharis that places the age of the crater around one billion years old.
Traveling south west towards the eastern edge of the Oceanus Procellarum, the beautiful ray crater Copernicus, as always, offered a stunning sight. It’s complex ray system extending 800Km across the lunar surface. Turning north east of Copernicus, lying at the beginning of the Apennine Mountains sits the moderate sized crater Eratosthenes. The crater was believed to have formed around 3.2 billion years ago which marks the beginning of the lunar Erastosthenian epoch, hence the name of this crater.
Having contented myself with a short tour of the Mare Imbrium I cast my gaze on to a more distant world - Saturn. As I said earlier, my 25×100 binoculars are better suited to DSO observing than viewing planetary bodies but I thought I’d take the chance to observe the jewel of the solar system. While the view was not the best one that I have ever seen, I can at least say that I have managed to take in this year’s first Saturnian observation.
As this graceful giant rose over the eastern horizon, I could just make out the faint traces of the rings that encircle the planet and are presently almost facing edge on to us at the current time. As for viewing any of Saturn’s moons, the orange sodium haze that comes from living near an oil refinery, several large towns and the incoming misty clouds combined to reduce the percieved sky transparency. So I was bang out of luck - this time.
Tags: Apennine Mountains, Archimedes, Aristillus, Autolycus, Erastosthenian Epoch, Eratosthenes, Luna 2, Mare Imbrium, Mons Hadley, Mons Hadley Delta, Mons Piton, Moon, Oceanus Procellarum, Piazzi Smyth, Plato, Saturn, Sinus Iridium, Strathspey 25x100, Timocharis
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