Crater Darwin and Ri...Sirsalis, 05-21-2005
Rukl 50, L 77. I had great difficulty with this sketch, which came out more schematic than realistically depicting the formations. Only one end of the Rimae Sirsalis shows in this sketch.
Aristarchus Plateau, 11-23-2004
Rukl 18. L 11, 17, 22. One of the more enigmatic formations on the Moon. Schroter's Valley is the largest sinuous rille on the Moon. This is a much larger region than I normally draw, and it is wildly varying terrain — not just craters. Need to practice more on shading.
Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus, Arzachel 11-19-2004
Rukl 44, 55. A great night for sketching these craters! Situated nicely on the terminator. High clouds made view hazy but didn't really interfere. I caught a nice wrinkle ridge running through the floor of Alphonsus, as well as the craterlet Ammonius on the floor of Ptolemaeus. Even got Herschel along for the ride. Sadly, Rimae Alphonsus was in shadow.
Theophilus, Cyrillus, Catharina 09-04-2004
Rukl 46. L 8. The three craters are lit by an approaching third-quarter moon. Theophilus is half-lit, with a shadow covering most of the floor. Cyrillus is mostly visible, Catharina is fully in shadow.
Walter, 02-27-2004
Rukl 65. Southern portion of moon, in a cratered area near the central meridian. Best seen at half phases. The view actually got much more interesting after I completed the sketch, as the lunar sunrise hit the floor of the crater, illuminating the floor and creating dark shadows from the central peak (pictured here) to the W side of the crater.
Mersenius, 01-03-2004
Rukl 51. L 44. Crater near the western shore of Mare Humorum.
Mare Orientale, 11-17-2003
Rukl 50, Libration chart VII. L 80. This feature on the extreme west limb is normally on the lunar far side. It is visible only on rare occasions when lunar "libration" brings it into view. Libration is sort of a "nodding" motion we see where the Moon tips one side a little bit toward us, then another. It is caused mainly by the Moon's non-circular orbit.
Macrobius and Tisserand, 11-11-2003
Rukl 26. At this point I had started focusing on just one or two features covering a much smaller area.
Sinus Iridum, 10-05-2003
Rukl 10. L 14. Another early sketch. Round border is the edge of the eyepiece field.
Copernicus, 10-05-2003
Rukl 31. L 5. Another early sketch. Round border is the edge of the eyepiece field.
Mare Crisium, 08-15-2003
Rukl 26, 27, 37, 38. L 10. An early sketch made before I learned not to take in too much of the Moon's surface at once. Round border is the edge of the eyepiece field.