Apollo 16: This is what the lunar surface would have looked like
when Apollo 16 touched down on the Moon. Aim for the area
North of Descartes. The illumination and the shadows are
exactly the same. There is no scientific value in imaging
this, but from the nostalgic point of view it might be interesting
to observe. Feel free to send your observation in to the BAA or
ALPO and we will put it in our archives, but as we have
a lot of these images already, we may not publish it, unless it is
exceptionally high in resolution. Minimum diameter scope to use
would be 20cm, but larger apertures are preferred:
Plato's Hook: a hook like effect in one of the shadow spires in Plato,
near a rim - this is a Clair-Obscur effect. It was first seen by
H.P.Wilkins in 1952. Clair-Obscur have no scientific importance and
are just tricks of the light that make us think we see something
like a letter of the alphabet or a shape or face. Clair-Obscur
effects are scientifically pointless to observe. However, if you want
to be thrilled, or obtain an image to impress someone then give them
a go. If you do observe, or image this, by all means send your
observation into ALPO or the BAA, but we probably won't publish,
but will nevertheless retain in our archives, just in case
features elsewhere in the image are of interest to future
researchers.