The Lunar 100 Plus Gallery |
Shoestring Astronomy by Doug Anderson |
In the April 2004 issue of Sky & Telescope magazine, author Charles A. Wood sets out of list of 100 objects on the moon in his article The Lunar 100. Most of these objects were selected to illustrate the geological history of the moon. Some of the objects are significant from the standpoint of man's exploration of the moon. Most of these features require some planning to observe in terms of timing the observation to take advantage of favorable illumination near the terminator (the line where light and dark meet on the face of the moon). Some features near the edge also require timing with respect to the libration of the moon. A few of the objects are so small that they challenge our ability to see detail from the surface of the Earth due to our distance and our atmosphere. The list is arranged in order of easiest to most difficult to observe. |
While searching for the objects of the Lunar 100, I have 'discovered' other interesting objects. I decided to keep my own list of the Lunar 100 Plus objects. They are listed at the bottom of the table, in roughly the order I have stumbled across them. Not being as well versed in the geology and history of the moon as Mr. Wood, most of my list items were just things that caught my eye. |
Many astronomers regard the moon as simply the largest source of light pollution. I was certainly one of those. I'm sure Mr. Wood's article has changed that viewpoint for many amateurs. I now look forward to those clear nights when the moon is out. Since photography of the moon using a digital camera or webcam is relatively simple, I decided to challenge myself to try and capture all 100 objects in photographs. I may never get all 100, but I keep in mind that the journey is usually more interesting than the destination. |
I have summarized the list below. Click on feature names that have active links to see the pictures I have taken of that object. |
One amazing tool I use to help in planning is the Virtual Moon Atlas software written by Patrick Chevalley and Christian Legrand. They use the proper Latin naming convention for lunar features, so I have included VMA database names in the table as well. If you decide to download their excellent software, you can locate these objects yourself. I also used their software to pick the lunation dates when each feature should be near the terminator. Another nice feature about their software is that it links you to lunar orbiter photos of the region around most of the objects in their database, providing additional aid in locating these objects. |
The Lunar 100 |
L # | Feature name | Significance | VMA Name |
1 | Moon | Large satellite | |
2 | Earthshine | Twice reflected Sunlight | |
3 | Mare/highland dichotomy | Two materials with distinct compositions | |
4 | Apennines | Imbrium basin rim | MONTES APENNINUS |
5 | Copernicus | Archetypal large complex crater | COPERNICUS |
6 | Tycho | Large rayed crater with impact melts | TYCHO |
7 | Altai Scarp | Nectaris basin rim | RUPES ALTAI |
8 | Theophilus, Cyrillus, Catharina | Crater sequence illustrating stages of degradation | THEOPHILUS, CYRILLUS, CATHARINA |
9 | Clavius | Lacks basin featrues in spite of its size | CLAVIUS |
10 | Mare Crisium | Mare contained in large circular basin | MARE CRISIUM |
11 | Aristarchus | Very bright crater with dark bands on its walls | ARISTARCHUS |
12 | Proclus | Oblique-impact rays | PROCLUS |
13 | Gassendi | Floor-fractured Crater | GASSENDI |
14 | Sinus Iridum | Very large crater with missing rim | SINUS IRIDUM |
15 | Straight Wall | Best example of a lunar fault | RUPES RECTA |
16 | Petavius | Crater with domed and fractured floor | PETAVIUS |
17 | Schröter's Valley | Giant sinuous rille | VALLIS SCHROTER |
18 | Mare Serenitatis dark edges | Distinct mare areas with different compositions | MARE SERENITATIS |
19 | Alpine Valley | Lunar graben | VALLIS ALPES |
20 | Posidonius | Floor-fractured crater | POSIDONIUS |
21 | Fracastorius | Crater with subsided and fractured floor | FRACASTORIUS |
22 | Aristarchus Plateau | Mysterious uplifted region mantled with pyroclastics | ARISTARCHUS |
23 | Pico | Isolated Imbrium basin-ring fragment | MONS PICO |
24 | Hyginus Rille | Rille containing rimless collapse pits | RIMA HYGINUS |
25 | Messier and Messier A | Oblique ricochet-impact pair | MESSIER |
26 | Mare Frigoris | Arcuate mare of uncertain origin | MARE FRIGORIS |
27 | Archimedes | Large crater lacking central peak | ARCHIMEDES |
28 | Hipparchus | Subject of first drawing of a single crater | HIPPARCHUS |
29 | Aridaeus Rille | Long, linear graben | RIMA ARIADAEUS |
30 | Schiller | Possible oblique impact | SCHILLER |
31 | Taruntius | Young floor-fractured crater | TARUNTIUS |
32 | Arago Alpha and Beta | Volcanic domes | ARAGO ALPHA, ARAGO BETA |
33 | Serpentine Ridge | Basin inner-ring segment | DORSA SMIRNOV (?) |
34 | Lacus Mortis | Strange crater with rille and ridge | LACUS MORTIS |
35 | Triesnecker Rilles | Rille Family | RIMAE TRIESNECKER |
36 | Grimaldi basin | A small two-ring basin | GRIMALDI |
37 | Bailly | Barely discernible basin | BAILLY |
38 | Sabine and Ritter | Possible twin impacts | SABINE, RITTER |
39 | Schickard | Crater floor with Orientale basin ejecta stripe | SCHICKARD |
40 | Janssen Rille | Rare examle of a highland rille | RIMAE JANSSEN |
41 | Bessel ray | Ray of uncertain origin near Bessel | BESSEL |
42 | Marius Hills | Complex of volcanic domes and hills | MARIUS |
43 | Wargentin | A crater filled to the rim with lava or ejecta | WARGENTIN |
44 | Mersenius | Domed floor cut by secondary craters | MERSENIUS |
45 | Maurolycus | Region of saturation cratering | MAUROLYCUS |
46 | Regiomontanus central peak | Possible volcanic peak | REGIOMONTANUS |
47 | Alphonsus dark spots | Dark-halo eruptions on crater floor | ALPHONSUS |
48 | Cauchy region | fault, rilles and domes | CAUCHY, RIMA CAUCHY, RUPES CAUCHY |
49 | Gruithuisen Delta and Gamma | Volcanic domes formed with viscous lavas | MONS GRUITHUISEN DELTA, MONS GRUITHUISEN GAMMA |
50 | Cayley Plains ; | Light, smooth plains of uncertain origin | CAYLEY |
51 | Davy crater chain | Result of comet-fragment impacts | CATENA DAVY |
52 | Crüger | Possible volcanic caldera | CRUGER |
53 | Lamont | Possible buried basin | LAMONT |
54 | Hippalus Rilles | Rilles concentric to Humorum basin | RIMAE HIPPALUS |
55 | Baco | Unusually crater floor and surrounding | BACO |
56 | Mare Australe | A partially flooded ancient basin | MARE AUSTRALE |
57 | Reiner Gamma | Conspicuous swirl and magnetic anomaly | REINER GAMMA |
58 | Rheita Valley | Basin secondary-crater chain | VALLIS RHEITA |
59 | Schiller-Zucchius basin | Badly degraded overlooked basin | between SCHILLER, ZUCCHIUS |
60 | Kies Pi | Volcanic dome | DOME KIES PI |
61 | Mösting A | Simple crater close to center of lunar near side | MOSTING |
62 | Rümker Hills | Large volcanic dome | MONS RUMKER |
63 | Imbrium sculpture | Basin ejecta near and overlying Bscovich and Julius Caesar | BOSCOVICH, JULIUS CAESAR |
64 | Descartes | Apollo 16 landing site; putative region of highland volcanism | DESCARTES |
65 | Hortensius domes | Dome field north of Hortensius | HORTENSIUS OMEGA |
66 | Hadley Rille | Lava channel near Apollo 15 landing site | RIMA HADLEY |
67 | Fra Mauro formation | Apollo 14 landing site on Imbrium ejecta | FRA MAURO |
68 | Flamsteed P | Proposed young volcanic crater, Surveyor 1 landing site | FLAMSTEED is within |
69 | Copernicus secondary craters | Rays and craterlets | near PYTHEAS |
70 | Humbodtianum basin | Multi-ring impact basin | MARE HUMBOLDTIANUM |
71 | Sulpicius Gallus dark mantle | Ash eruptions northwest of crater | SULPICIUS GALLUS |
72 | Atlas dark-halo craters | Explosive volcanic pits on the floor of Atlas | ATLAS |
73 | Smythii basin | Difficult-to-observe basin scarp and mare | MARE SMYTHII |
74 | Copernicus H | Dark-halo impact crater | near COPERNICUS |
75 | Ptolemaeus B | Saucerlike depression on the floor of Ptolemaeus | near AMMONIUS |
76 | W. Bond | Large crater degraded by Imbrium ejecta | W BOND |
77 | Sirsalis Rille | Procellarum basin radial rilles | RIMAE SIRSALIS |
78 | Lambert R | A buried "ghost" crater | near LAMBERT |
79 | Sinus Aestuum | Eastern dark-mantle volcanic deposit | SINUS AESTUUM |
80 | Orientale basin | Youngest large impact basin | MARE ORIENTALE |
81 | Hesiodus A | Concentric crater | near HESIODUS |
82 | Linné | Small crater once thought to have disappeared | LINNE |
83 | Plato craterlets | Crater pits at limits fo detection | PLATO |
84 | Pitatus | Crater with concentric rilles | PITATUS |
85 | Langrenus rays | Aged ray system | LANGRENUS |
86 | Prinz Rilles | Rille system near the crter Prinz | RIMAE PRINZ |
87 | Humboldt | Crater with central peaks and dark spots | HUMBOLDT |
88 | Peary | Difficult-to-observe polar crater | PEARY |
89 | Valentine Dome | Volcanic Dome | near LINNE |
90 | Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins | Small craters near the Apollo 11 landing site | ARMSTRONG, ALDRIN, COLLINS |
91 | De Gasparis Rilles | Area with many rilles | RIMAE DE GASPARIS |
92 | Gylden Valley | Part of the Imbrium radial sculpture | near GYLDEN |
93 | Dionysius rays | Unusual and rare dark rays | DIONYSIUS |
94 | Drygalski | Large south-pole region crater | DRYGALSKI |
95 | Procellarum basin | The Moon´s biggest basin? | OCEANUS PROCELLARUM is part of |
96 | Leibnitz Mountains | Rim of South Pole-Aitken basin | near MALAPERT |
97 | Inghirami Valley | Orientale basin ejecta | VALLIS INGHIRAMI |
98 | Imbrium lava flows | Mare lava-flow boundaries | near CARLINI |
99 |
Ina caldera | D-schaped young volcanic caldera | near LACUS FELICITATIS |
100 |
Mare Marginis swirls | Possible magnetic field-deposits | near AL BIRUNI |
My Lunar 100 Plus
L # | Feature name | Significance | VMA Name |
101 | Mons Piton | A large, lonely mountain | MONS PITON |