Oh, satellite moon

This evening, as I walked home for work I glimpsed, between gathering bands of cloud, sight of a bright waxing crescent Moon hanging low in the southern sky. I decided to take the opportunity to try out combining my camera with my small telescope to get a shot of it. The telescope is a Vixen 80mm apochromatic scope.

The upper half of the view is dominated by the two large lunar "seas". Serenity is half hidden in the shadows whilst you can see most of darker Tranquility (where Apollo 11 landed). Below this is a chain of three large craters which are, from top to bottom, Theophilus, Cyrillus and Catherine. The terminator (which is effectively sunrise on the Moon) brings out many details as the low sun casts long shadows.

I am always awestruck by the complex topology of the moon. It is an aged and weathered rock that has suffered greatly over the years. It is also humbling to think that 40 years ago we stood on that surface and looked back down to Earth.