Tuesday, August 29, 2017

4k wallpaper - Partial Moon




Want some high resolution moon wallpaper? This image is free for noncommercial use.

This picture is a composite from video, taken with a 127SLT and ZWO ASI290MC taken at prime focus. The video was composited with Microsoft's Image Composite Editor (ICE), edited in Gimp to place it on a black background of the right proportions, sharpened with Registax Wavelets, and level adjusted in Gimp.

Download the full resolution image from my Dropbox. In the upper right corner, you'll find a button with two dots. Click it and a dropdown box will open - an option there will let you download the full resolution file.

If you want a similar shot with a fuller moon, I have one here. I personally prefer this one, since it shows features in 3D a bit better due to the more oblique lighting.

Lunar 100 Target 4: Apennine Mountain Range


Image Details: 127SLT w/ 1.5x Barlow and ASI290MC, stacked from one minute of video



Somewhere around 3.75 billion years ago, during the Late Heavy Bombardment, a large asteroid or protoplanet hit the northern hemisphere of the moon. The impact caused an enormous impact crater known as the Imbrium Basin, bordered by high steep walls of rock.

Later lava partially filled in the basin, and hardened to a smooth dark surface known as Mare Imbrium (sea of showers). The Mare Imbrium The Apennine mountains are part of the remainder of the high crater edges. Even though partially buried by lava, the highest peaks are 5 km / 3.1 m high.

The mountain range is about 600 km / 370 m long. It is easily visible with binoculars and is a pretty stunning sight when the terminator line is near it, bringing the 3 dimensional structure into view.

The Apollo 15 mission landed here - the position is marked on the photograph.