3towers Observatory Lunar 100/Lunar Features

The Lunar 100 was created by Charles A. Wood who states: "The Lunar 100 list is an attempt to provide Moon lovers with something akin to what deep-sky observers enjoy with the Messier catalog: a selection of telescopic sights to ignite interest and enhance understanding. [It is]... a selection of the Moons 100 most interesting regions, craters, basins, mountains, rilles, and domes."

Woods challenges "...observers to find and observe them all and, more important, to consider what each feature tells us about lunar and Earth history."

To find out more about the Lunar 100 see the Sky & Telescope web site at: http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/moon/article_1199_1.asp.

The Lunar 100 features are arranged from the easiest to view to the most difficult. The Moon itself is L1. L2 is Earthshine, and L3 represents the dichotomy between the Lunar highlands and the Lunar Maria. While the Lunar 100 are concentrated all on the nearside of the Moon, they can not be seen in a single night or a single month. Some of them require special lighting conditions or phases of the Moon, and others, in addition, require very favorable librations of the Moon to bring them into view. The Lunar 100 is an observing list. However, the equipment at the 3towers Observatory was used to image the Lunar 100, mainly using the web cam techniques detailed.

Lunar Features|Lunar 100|Moon Halos|Lunar Webcam Imaging|Lunar Eclipses

Lunar Feature	Lunar Age in days (rounded down)	Thumbnail Image	Comments
41. Bessel Ray	9.3 days		Bessel is the crater sitting in the middle of the ray.  The crater at the South edge of Mare Serenitatis is Menelaus.
41. Bessel Ray	9.7 days
41. Bessel Ray	12 days
41. Bessel Ray	12.3 days
42. Marius Hills	12.33 days
42. Marius Hills	25.7  days		Marius Hills are evident just to the North of the crater Marius.
43. Wargentin	13 days		The large crater left of center is Schickard. Just South of it is the lava filled crater Wargentin.
43. Wargentin	13.1 days
43. Wargentin	13.33 days
43. Wargentin	25.7 days		The large crater is Schickard. Just South of it is the lava filled crater Wargentin.
44. Mersenius	11.6 days		Mersenius is the large crater just West of Mare Humorum.
44. Mersenius	12.3 days
44. Mersenius	12.33 days
44. Mersenius	25.7 days
45. Maurolycus	6.7 days
45. Maurolycus	7 days		Maurolycus lies just left of center. West of it in shadow is the complex crater Stofler with Faraday overlying its Southwest rim.
45. Maurolycus	8 days		Maurolycus lies just left of center. West of it is the complex crater Stofler with Faraday overlying its Southwest rim.
46. Regiomontanus Central Peak	9.3 days		Regiomontanus is the flat crater below and to the right of center having a possible central volcano peak. Purbach is the large crater bordering on the Northern edge of Regiomontanus.  Notice the Straight Wall in the upper left hand corner.  Deslandres is the large flat crater bottom center.
47. Alphonsus Dark Spots	8 days		Alphonsus is the crater below center with a central peak. Above Alphonsus is the large crater Ptolemaeus with a small inner crater.
47. Alphonsus Dark Spots	9.3 days
47. Alphonsus Dark Spots	9.5 days
47. Alphonsus Dark Spots	21.7 days
48. Cauchy Region	5.7 days
49. Gruithuisen Delta & Gamma	11.7 days		Gamma and Delta are the two rounded mounds close to each other near bottom center of the image. The prominent crater North and West of them is Mairan. Gruithuisen is the small crater directly South of Gamma and Delta.
49. Gruithuisen Delta & Gamma	12 days
49. Gruithuisen Delta & Gamma	12.3 days
49. Gruithuisen Delta & Gamma	13 days
49. Gruithuisen Delta & Gamma	22 days
50. Cayley Plains	6.7 days		The large flat crater filled with lava is Julius Caesar. Below it runs the Ariadaeus Rille and below that is the Cayley Plains. Mare Tranquillitatis lies along the right hand side.
50. Cayley Plains	8 days		The large flat crater filled with lava is Julius Caesar. Below it runs the Ariadaeus Rille and below that is the Cayley Plains. The Hyginus Rille runs to the West of the Ariadaeus Rille. Mare Vaporum lies along the left hand side and Mare Tranquillitatis along the right hand side.