Check out Chris Go’s latest sensationally sharp image of the Ringed Planet, the very thing that got me into astronomy when I first saw it in a telescope. Enjoy!
The Aristarchus Plateau: A Lunar Landscape Like No Other
Another lunar image from the July 9th morning of very good seeing. Aristarchus was on prime viewing position, and unlike my earlier colour view from two years ago, this time the region was much more tilted toward us, and under better seeing conditions.
This elevated region rises above the dark plains of Oceanus Procellarum and is crowned by the bright Aristarchus crater. Estimated to be around 450 million years old, Aristarchus is one of the youngest large craters, its fresh rays and high-albedo surfaces glowing brilliantly even from Earth.
The plateau is also crossed by Schroeter’s Valley, the Moon’s most impressive sinuous rille, which winds for about 168 km starting from the Cobra Head vent near Herodotus crater. Visually striking is the region’s complex coloration stems from differing surface compositions of the lunar surface in the region.
This one-of-a-kind Hubble image from 2009 features Saturn with its rings edge-on and both poles in view, offering a stunning double view of its fluttering aurorae! 1/2