Secret Still Observatory

'Star, star teach me how to shine, shine'

The Crater Gassendi

Sketch made on Moon day 11

Mark

1 minute read

Sketched with white and black charcoal on black paper at the eyepiece over 30 mins between 20h and 21h UT. Again, the sketch was started before the fall of darkness which makes the initial outlining of the main elements on the paper somewhat easier. It was a dramatic sight in the low, slanting light at the Terminator. The terraces on the the crater walls were visible at times though no detail on the surface of the central plain was evident in the conditions.

The Crater Archimedes

Sketch made on Moon day 8

Mark

1 minute read

Sketched with white and black charcoal on black paper at the eyepiece over 30 mins between 20h and 21h UT, so the sketch was in fact started before the fall of darkness. Archimedes lies exactly on the illuminated side of the terminator.

Mark

1 minute read

Photographed with the Moon at first quarter at precisely the day/time that this transient effect is visible. I was looking along the terminator and attempting to identify some of the prominent craters when all of a sudden this jumped out at me. I swear that if I had tried to find it it would have taken hours! The effect is actually only visible for approx four hours or so on one day a month when the Moon is at first quarter (lunar day 6.9). The next date it is visible is the 17th March by my…

Mark

1 minute read

I thought it was worth trying sketching again considering the diabolical weather. This is done with white charcoal pencil on black cartridge paper (and so isn’t reversed in the scan). This I found actually much easier than sketching in pencil. It shows the craters Orontius, Saussure, Huggins, Nasireddin and Miller and is drawn from a photo taken at 21h15 on 28th April this year.

Mark

1 minute read

A sketch made from an image taken on 28th April 2023 when the Moon was eight days old. The last few weeks have been so cloudy and the Moon so low as to make direct observation impossible.

Mark

1 minute read

A sketch made over two evenings, taking about one hour in total. Sketching was made easier by being possible before nightfall and the sketch pad therefore being visible without a torch.

Recent posts

Categories