Over
the South Pole
December
22, 2007
Uploaded
12/29/07
South is up in this image, more info below.
An extremely favorable southern lunar libration
occured on December 22-23rd, and this image taken on that date
reveals features seldom seen around the moons south polar region.
Of great interest in the comming decades, is the mountain Malapert.
The top of this mountain is a "Peak of Eternal Light",
which means it is in sunlight nearly all the time. This makes
it the choice of NASA to locate a permanent lunar base on. Just
behind it, is the actual pole, where permanently dark crater
bottoms may contain cometary ices for fuel and water.
Processing: 200/1000
best frames, MAP 35 alignment in Registax, Regulated Van Cittert
Deconvolution in PixInsight Pro, Levels and Contrast Masking
In Photoshop CS3, Focus Magic Plugin.
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Instrument: 12.5" f/5 with 1.5x Barlow
Platform: Astrophysics AP1200
CCD Camera: Image Source DMK 31AU03.AS
Filter: Hoya R72
Exposure: 1/108 sec 15fps
Location: Payson, Arizona
Elevation: 5150 ft.
Sky: Seeing Better than average, Transparency 8/10
Outside Temperature: 32F
Processing: Registax, PixInsight Pro, Photoshop CS3, Focus Magic Plugin
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