Telescope Reviews: Observing Copernicus 08.11.2008, 03:00 UT

Due to being out of town on work assignment for much of the summer, and not having my scope, I've not done too much observing. But, I returned home last week and have had a couple nice lunar observing sessions.

Last night I started by using my 20mm Plossl (62.5x) to scan the terminus, and Copernicus caught my attention for a closer look. So, I increased my power to 417x (6mm TMB Planetary barlowed). WOW! The view was just

!

First thing I noticed is the crater floor was nearly divided equally between shadow and light. I could easily resolve two "small" peaks on the floor, but a small jutting in the shadow caused me to wonder if there was a third peak hiding in the shadow. Does anyone know?

Next thing I noticed was the western wall. It showed a very obvious step or layered structure, easily giving a perception of depth. This and the shadowing also showed the entire rim of the crater to be significantly raised above the surface of the surrounding maria.

I was also impressed with several nearby evidences of the stress from the initial Copernican impact. I wondered if some of the nearby Carpathian Mtns. could have resulted from that impact, both from ejected matter and from a pushing force in the lunar crust. But, if there is any legitimacy to this observation, it is interesting the Carpathians are primarily west of Copernicus with a few peaks to the north.

I also noticed two or three rilles on the immediate exterior of the crater rim, and wondered if they could be stress cracks or fractures from the initial impact.

It was also interesting to note the several small, shallow craterlets outside the crater. My thought is at least some of these are "secondary" craters, created by ejecta from the bigger impact.

In summary, Copernicus and it's immediate environment appeared like a great place to explore several facets of lunar geography and geological history.

--------------------
Kenneth

Zhumell 10" Dobsonian (f/4.9)
2" 32mm WA eyepiece
9mm, 12.5mm, and 20mm Plossls
6mm TMB/BO Planetary
2" 2x ED Barlow
Nikon 10x50 binocular (6.5 deg FOV)