The German lunar observer Philip Fauth (1867-1941) was one of the most accurate visual Moon-mappers of all time. At his observatory in Landstuhl he made intricate studies of the Moon's features using his 160mm and 175mm refractors. Despite his obvious genius, Fauth had some unusual ideas about the solar system. He supported the wacky "Welt Eis Lehre" (WEL) theory of universal ice, first put forward in the late nineteenth century. The theory proposed that most of the solar system's bodies are composed chiefly of ice; the Moon was said to possess an icy shell around 200km thick.
Now, since Neil Armstrong wasn't wearing size 11 skates when he left the Eagle, nor did he make "one giant skid for mankind" to the music of Ravel's Bolero, we may safely conclude that Fauth's faith in WEL was misplaced. However, it has long been known that some parts at the Moon's north and south poles never see the light of the sun; these constantly shadow-filled craters of -190°C would be perfect candidates to harbour traces of lunar ice. Last year the US spaceprobe Clementine made detailed maps of the Moon, and the results of its radar surveys suggest that our satellite does indeed have some icy deposits in these regions. Is it possible that a future Eddie the Eagle lunarnaut will ski-jump off some crater's steep central mountain in the Winter lunalympics of 2038?
Roy Billington, using his 215mm f10 reflector at Nether Alderley and also the ADAS observatory's 350mm reflector at Timperley in Cheshire, made the following lunar observations (IE - Intensity Estimations):- Alphonsus & IE / region from Eratosthenes to Mösting & IE / region from Ptolemaeus to Eratosthenes (dark spots) & IE / Straight Wall & IE (all Feb 20); Posidonius (Apr 16); Atlas & Hercules (Jul 17); Atlas & Hercules & IE (Jul 22); Kepler region & IE (Aug 17); Proclus region & IE (Oct 12); region north of Ptolemaeus & IE (Oct 14); Palus Somni (observing with Andrew Gold, Oct 18); dark areas & IE in Schroter region (Oct 24 & Nov 20).
Roy's telescopic observations of the detail visible on the dark side of the Moon, courtesy of the earthshine, were made as far back as the evenings of Feb 20 and Apr 16. Roy pointed out two of the features visible in the earthshine on the second occasion - the dark floored walled plain of Grimaldi and the bright area around Aristarchus. Roy also noted the limb brightening (more intense at the limb to the west of Grimaldi) of the highlands west of Oceanus Procellarum and the darkening around the Sinus Roris region.
James Clarke (Warrington) observed Tycho (Dec 18), noting the dark halo around the crater and the extensive ray system, and made a sketch of Langrenus (Dec 19) as it lay on the terminator. Peter Craven (Nummela, Finland) made observations of the terminator east of Langrenus (Jun 24) and Mare Humorum (Jul 19). With a 100mm Maksutov Peter Grego observed:- Gassendi / Mersenius / Reiner & Reiner Gamma - near terminator / Vieta (all Sep 17); Mare Crisium - south wall detail / Petavius & Vallis Palitzsch / Plato / Steinheil & Watt (all Sep 21); Mare Crisium - west floor & wall detail / Sinas & environs (both Sep 22); Sinas & environs (Oct 9); Mare Crisium / Mare Frigoris (1995 January 11).
Nigel Longshaw (Oldham) made an excellent study of the crater Flammarion on the morning terminator (Oct 12), revealing a group of low domes and subtle shadings on its floor. On Dec 14 Nigel made a detailed observation of the Aristarchus region to complement Topographic Project 1. He mentions another area worthy of scrutiny, first brought to his attention in correspondence with Harold Hill (of "Portfolio of Lunar Observations" fame) in April. The area lies west of Copernicus, a few kilometres immediately west of the craterlet Tobias Mayer D. Like the area to the north and east of Sinas E (see News Circular 182) which Nigel observed on 1995 Jan 6, the features are not recorded adequately in lunar atlases and I welcome any observations when either region is situated near the sunrise or sunset terminator.
Bob Paterson (Newbury) made excellent studies of:- Bailly & adjoining craters (Jul 20); Newton & Moretus (Aug 14); Stöffler (Aug 28); Faraday & Stoffler / Werner & Blanchinus (terminator studies, Oct 11); Mare Smythii (Oct 17); Longomontanus (terminator study, Nov 12). Bob also noted a fine lunar halo on the evening of Nov 17. Finally, Edward Polehampton (Wymeswold, Leicestershire) observed the craters Pythagoras (Apr 23) and Walter (Jul 16).
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