APOD: Alphonsus and Arzachel (2021 Jul 17)

Comments and questions about the APOD on the main view screen.
User avatar
APOD Robot
Otto Posterman
Posts: 5575
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2009 3:27 am

APOD: Alphonsus and Arzachel (2021 Jul 17)

Post by APOD Robot » Sat Jul 17, 2021 4:05 am

Image Alphonsus and Arzachel

Explanation: Point your telescope at tonight's first quarter Moon. Along the terminator, the shadow line between night and day, you might find these two large craters staring back at you with an owlish gaze. Alphonsus (left) and Arzachel are ancient impact craters on the north eastern shores of Mare Nubium, the lunar Sea of Clouds. The larger Alphonsus is over 100 kilometers in diameter. A low sun angle highlights the crater's sharp 1.5 kilometer high central peak in bright sunlight and dark shadow. Scouting for potential Apollo moon landing sites, the Ranger 9 spacecraft returned closeup photographs of Alphonsus before it crashed in the crater just northeast (left) of its central mountain in 1965. Alpetragius, between Alphonsus and Arzachel, is the small crater with the deeply shadowed floor and overly large central peak.

<< Previous APOD This Day in APOD Next APOD >>

Steve Randall
Asternaut
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Jun 11, 2010 6:58 am

Re: APOD: Alphonsus and Arzachel (2021 Jul 17)

Post by Steve Randall » Sat Jul 17, 2021 6:28 am

Both of these craters seem to have grooves near the northern rim. Alphonsus has several other lesser grooves too. How do we explain the grooves?

wolfie138
Ensign
Posts: 31
Joined: Sun Jul 13, 2008 6:52 am

Re: APOD: Alphonsus and Arzachel (2021 Jul 17)

Post by wolfie138 » Sat Jul 17, 2021 9:07 am

i was just comng to ask the same. maybe fractures caused by the impact that have filled w/ dust over time?

User avatar
XgeoX
Science Officer
Posts: 215
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 12:57 pm
AKA: Uncle Rico

Re: APOD: Alphonsus and Arzachel (2021 Jul 17)

Post by XgeoX » Sat Jul 17, 2021 10:15 am

Steve Randall wrote: Sat Jul 17, 2021 6:28 am Both of these craters seem to have grooves near the northern rim. Alphonsus has several other lesser grooves too. How do we explain the grooves?
Those are lunar rilles. The cause of their formation is in dispute. They could be collapsed lava tubes. They could also be tectonic in nature where the crust broke apart under pressure with one side falling or they were pulled apart.

Here are two examples…

Image

Image

There are rilles on mars but they are said to be inhabited…

Image
:D

Eric
Ego vigilate
Ego audire

User avatar
JohnD
Tea Time, Guv! Cheerio!
Posts: 1587
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2005 2:11 pm
Location: Lancaster, England

Re: APOD: Alphonsus and Arzachel (2021 Jul 17)

Post by JohnD » Sat Jul 17, 2021 10:28 am

Both of those are "Rille", a German word for 'groove' that seems to be given a Latin name in the plural, "Rimae", for some reason. They may be straight or more usually 'sinuous'.

There are many rimae on the Moon and other bodies of the Solar System, and many explanations for them, all of which may be true. One of the most prominent on the Moon is Hadley Rille, visited by the Apollo 15 crew, so we probably know more about that than any other. This report summarizes all that is known, and suggests that it is a collapsed lava tube. https://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/USGS ... o-0041.pdf

Of different interest is the oblique line above the craters in the ApoD and tangential to Alphonsus. Obscured by later impacts, including Alphonsus, such straight lines have raised suggestions of intellegent intent, especially when seen on Phobos (https://www.wired.co.uk/article/phobos- ... ry-created) but are the relic of ancient crater chains.

XgoeX jests!

John

De58te
Commander
Posts: 584
Joined: Mon Sep 30, 2013 6:35 pm

Re: APOD: Alphonsus and Arzachel (2021 Jul 17)

Post by De58te » Sat Jul 17, 2021 11:46 am

Interesting observation because these two craters are so close together. The larger crater seems to be shallower than Arzachel. The walls of Arzachel appear to be at least twice as tall and if an astronaut were to slip and fall into it he probably couldn't climb out without help, whereas there seems to be a valley on the side of Alphonsus at around 3 o'clock where the astronaut could potentially walk out. Could this be because the larger asteroid hit with a much gentler force and speed, or that it hit with the same force but was originally just as deep but it was filled up with much more molten lava?

User avatar
orin stepanek
Plutopian
Posts: 8200
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2005 3:41 pm
Location: Nebraska

Re: APOD: Alphonsus and Arzachel (2021 Jul 17)

Post by orin stepanek » Sat Jul 17, 2021 12:43 pm

AlphonseArzachelOwl_Donnard.jpg

To me Arzachel seems to have struck when the
moons surface was like a thick gooey paste before
hardening! IMO :shock:
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Orin

Smile today; tomorrow's another day!

tf1212

Re: APOD: Alphonsus and Arzachel (2021 Jul 17)

Post by tf1212 » Sat Jul 17, 2021 1:21 pm

Lovely image, but you have it tilted 90 degrees. Northeast is upper right

tf1212

Re: APOD: Alphonsus and Arzachel (2021 Jul 17)

Post by tf1212 » Sat Jul 17, 2021 1:22 pm

my error, lower left.

User avatar
JohnD
Tea Time, Guv! Cheerio!
Posts: 1587
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2005 2:11 pm
Location: Lancaster, England

Re: APOD: Alphonsus and Arzachel (2021 Jul 17)

Post by JohnD » Sat Jul 17, 2021 1:23 pm


User avatar
JohnD
Tea Time, Guv! Cheerio!
Posts: 1587
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2005 2:11 pm
Location: Lancaster, England

Re: APOD: Alphonsus and Arzachel (2021 Jul 17)

Post by JohnD » Sat Jul 17, 2021 1:47 pm

And to prove that great minds think alike, see:
https://epod.usra.edu/blog/2019/07/the- ... moon-.html

User avatar
Fred the Cat
Theoretic Apothekitty
Posts: 975
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2016 4:09 pm
AKA: Ron
Location: Eagle, Idaho

Re: APOD: Alphonsus and Arzachel (2021 Jul 17)

Post by Fred the Cat » Sat Jul 17, 2021 3:59 pm

This owl has a nice supercilium! :wink:
Supercilium.png
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Freddy's Felicity "Only ascertain as a cat box survivor"

User avatar
neufer
Vacationer at Tralfamadore
Posts: 18805
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:57 pm
Location: Alexandria, Virginia

Super silly us.

Post by neufer » Sat Jul 17, 2021 5:22 pm

Fred the Cat wrote: Sat Jul 17, 2021 3:59 pm
This owl has a nice supercilium! :wink:
https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=supercilious&ref=searchbar_searchhint wrote:
<<supercilious (adj.) 1520s, "lofty with pride, haughtily contemptuous," from Latin superciliosus "haughty, arrogant," from supercilium "haughty demeanor, pride," literally "eyebrow" (via notion of raising the eyebrow to express haughtiness), from super "above" (see super-) + second element akin to cilium "eyelid," related to celare "to cover, hide."

Since cilium is more recent than supercilium, the former can be interpreted as a back-formation to the latter .... If indeed derived from the root *kel- 'to hide', we must still assume that a noun *kilium 'eyelid' existed, since the eyelid can 'hide' the eye, whereas the eyebrow does not have such a function. Thus, supercilium may originally have meant 'what is above the cilium'.>>
Art Neuendorffer

User avatar
Fred the Cat
Theoretic Apothekitty
Posts: 975
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2016 4:09 pm
AKA: Ron
Location: Eagle, Idaho

Re: APOD: Alphonsus and Arzachel (2021 Jul 17)

Post by Fred the Cat » Sun Jul 18, 2021 6:13 am

APOD Robot wrote: Sat Jul 17, 2021 4:05 am Image Alphonsus and Arzachel

Explanation: Point your telescope at tonight's first quarter Moon.
Well I only used the camera and the skies were a little hazy from our surrounding fires but the moon did reveal some nice detail. Now where was that owl? :roll:
IMG_1868 (2).JPG
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Freddy's Felicity "Only ascertain as a cat box survivor"

User avatar
johnnydeep
Commodore
Posts: 3199
Joined: Sun Feb 20, 2011 8:57 pm

Re: APOD: Alphonsus and Arzachel (2021 Jul 17)

Post by johnnydeep » Sun Jul 18, 2021 12:24 pm

Fred the Cat wrote: Sun Jul 18, 2021 6:13 am
APOD Robot wrote: Sat Jul 17, 2021 4:05 am Image Alphonsus and Arzachel

Explanation: Point your telescope at tonight's first quarter Moon.
Well I only used the camera and the skies were a little hazy from our surrounding fires but the moon did reveal some nice detail. Now where was that owl? :roll:
IMG_1868 (2).JPG
That was from a camera alone? I see from the image data that it was a Canon EOS 80D. What lens did you have and were you zoomed in at all? Did you use a tripod?
--
"To B̬̻̋̚o̞̮̚̚l̘̲̀᷾d̫͓᷅ͩḷ̯᷁ͮȳ͙᷊͠ Go......Beyond The F͇̤i̙̖e̤̟l̡͓d͈̹s̙͚ We Know."{ʲₒʰₙNYᵈₑᵉₚ}

User avatar
JohnD
Tea Time, Guv! Cheerio!
Posts: 1587
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2005 2:11 pm
Location: Lancaster, England

Re: APOD: Alphonsus and Arzachel (2021 Jul 17)

Post by JohnD » Mon Jul 19, 2021 10:15 am

Several members above have posted images. I see from the FAQ page that image posting is allowed if so enabled for that thread (which clearly has been done) and if that member has the priviledge. May I post images, please?
JOhn

User avatar
XgeoX
Science Officer
Posts: 215
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 12:57 pm
AKA: Uncle Rico

Re: APOD: Alphonsus and Arzachel (2021 Jul 17)

Post by XgeoX » Mon Jul 19, 2021 10:46 am

JohnD wrote: Mon Jul 19, 2021 10:15 am Several members above have posted images. I see from the FAQ page that image posting is allowed if so enabled for that thread (which clearly has been done) and if that member has the priviledge. May I post images, please?
JOhn
With the vast amount you have posted I can’t believe you don’t have that privilege. I have only a 100 posts and I have never had to ask.
Question: do you use the advanced editor and the picture tag?

Eric
Ego vigilate
Ego audire

User avatar
JohnD
Tea Time, Guv! Cheerio!
Posts: 1587
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2005 2:11 pm
Location: Lancaster, England

Re: APOD: Alphonsus and Arzachel (2021 Jul 17)

Post by JohnD » Mon Jul 19, 2021 10:54 am

XgeoX,
I'm looking at the 'Full Editor' now. It has an "Insert Image" button which generates pairs of square backets, with 'img' and '/img' in them.
But pasting anything into the space in the middle gets nothing.

There's something in the FAQ about posting images that are online, not on one's hard disk, but are all the above, and elsewhere, pics online somewhere? EG Fred's Moon pic, which he took himself.

What am I doing wrong?
John

User avatar
johnnydeep
Commodore
Posts: 3199
Joined: Sun Feb 20, 2011 8:57 pm

Re: APOD: Alphonsus and Arzachel (2021 Jul 17)

Post by johnnydeep » Mon Jul 19, 2021 11:36 am

JohnD wrote: Mon Jul 19, 2021 10:54 am XgeoX,
I'm looking at the 'Full Editor' now. It has an "Insert Image" button which generates pairs of square backets, with 'img' and '/img' in them.
But pasting anything into the space in the middle gets nothing.

There's something in the FAQ about posting images that are online, not on one's hard disk, but are all the above, and elsewhere, pics online somewhere? EG Fred's Moon pic, which he took himself.

What am I doing wrong?
John
There are several ways to post images that show up as pictures in posts. The "picture" button gives you the [ img ] ... [ /img ] tags between which you put a url link to an online image. There are also the "img2" and "img3" buttons and tags that are variations of that. I find "img3" most useful because you can include caption text with the image. Just hover over a button to get some format help on how to use it.

Then, for uploading pics from your local PC (or iPad, or smart phone), you can use the often overlooked "Attachments" tab below the full editor text entry frame. I don't recall ever being prevented from posting an image except due to exceeding size restrictions. It is recommended to keep your images below 1 MB if possible
--
"To B̬̻̋̚o̞̮̚̚l̘̲̀᷾d̫͓᷅ͩḷ̯᷁ͮȳ͙᷊͠ Go......Beyond The F͇̤i̙̖e̤̟l̡͓d͈̹s̙͚ We Know."{ʲₒʰₙNYᵈₑᵉₚ}

User avatar
JohnD
Tea Time, Guv! Cheerio!
Posts: 1587
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2005 2:11 pm
Location: Lancaster, England

Re: APOD: Alphonsus and Arzachel (2021 Jul 17)

Post by JohnD » Mon Jul 19, 2021 11:53 am

IMG_20210716_200810.jpg
AaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaH! The "Attachments" button!! Thank you, johnny!
Just to check, a quick shot by mobile of the half moon in my sky.

JOhn

And it works! I promise not to abuse!
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

User avatar
johnnydeep
Commodore
Posts: 3199
Joined: Sun Feb 20, 2011 8:57 pm

Re: APOD: Alphonsus and Arzachel (2021 Jul 17)

Post by johnnydeep » Mon Jul 19, 2021 12:13 pm

JohnD wrote: Mon Jul 19, 2021 11:53 am IMG_20210716_200810.jpg

AaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaH! The "Attachments" button!! Thank you, johnny!
Just to check, a quick shot by mobile of the half moon in my sky.

JOhn

And it works! I promise not to abuse!
Yes, it worked. But note that this is an 8.3 MP image and will likely be flagged and removed by the moderator(s). Not sure why it even allowed it to be uploaded, but ideally, it should prevent it in the first place.

[ EDIT: oops - never mind. Though the image is indeed 8.3 Megapixels, it's still well under 1 MB in actual size. So, it should be fine. ]
--
"To B̬̻̋̚o̞̮̚̚l̘̲̀᷾d̫͓᷅ͩḷ̯᷁ͮȳ͙᷊͠ Go......Beyond The F͇̤i̙̖e̤̟l̡͓d͈̹s̙͚ We Know."{ʲₒʰₙNYᵈₑᵉₚ}

User avatar
bystander
Apathetic Retiree
Posts: 21592
Joined: Mon Aug 28, 2006 2:06 pm
Location: Oklahoma

Re: APOD: Alphonsus and Arzachel (2021 Jul 17)

Post by bystander » Mon Jul 19, 2021 2:54 pm

JohnD wrote: Mon Jul 19, 2021 10:15 am ...
May I post images, please?

See: How to post images

While these are instructions for posting to the Submissions threads, they apply to the rest of the forum as well.
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk.
— Garrison Keillor

User avatar
Fred the Cat
Theoretic Apothekitty
Posts: 975
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2016 4:09 pm
AKA: Ron
Location: Eagle, Idaho

Re: APOD: Alphonsus and Arzachel (2021 Jul 17)

Post by Fred the Cat » Tue Jul 27, 2021 11:00 pm

johnnydeep wrote: Sun Jul 18, 2021 12:24 pm
Fred the Cat wrote: Sun Jul 18, 2021 6:13 am
APOD Robot wrote: Sat Jul 17, 2021 4:05 am Image Alphonsus and Arzachel

Explanation: Point your telescope at tonight's first quarter Moon.
Well I only used the camera and the skies were a little hazy from our surrounding fires but the moon did reveal some nice detail. Now where was that owl? :roll:
IMG_1868 (2).JPG
That was from a camera alone? I see from the image data that it was a Canon EOS 80D. What lens did you have and were you zoomed in at all? Did you use a tripod?
Sorry. I hadn't noticed your question. Had it mounted on a tripod with a shutter release on the Canon. The 55-250mm lens was at its highest magnification. :thumb_up:
Freddy's Felicity "Only ascertain as a cat box survivor"

User avatar
johnnydeep
Commodore
Posts: 3199
Joined: Sun Feb 20, 2011 8:57 pm

Re: APOD: Alphonsus and Arzachel (2021 Jul 17)

Post by johnnydeep » Tue Jul 27, 2021 11:10 pm

Fred the Cat wrote: Tue Jul 27, 2021 11:00 pm
johnnydeep wrote: Sun Jul 18, 2021 12:24 pm
Fred the Cat wrote: Sun Jul 18, 2021 6:13 am
Well I only used the camera and the skies were a little hazy from our surrounding fires but the moon did reveal some nice detail. Now where was that owl? :roll:
IMG_1868 (2).JPG
That was from a camera alone? I see from the image data that it was a Canon EOS 80D. What lens did you have and were you zoomed in at all? Did you use a tripod?
Sorry. I hadn't noticed your question. Had it mounted on a tripod with a shutter release on the Canon. The 55-250mm lens was at its highest magnification. :thumb_up:
Impressive!
--
"To B̬̻̋̚o̞̮̚̚l̘̲̀᷾d̫͓᷅ͩḷ̯᷁ͮȳ͙᷊͠ Go......Beyond The F͇̤i̙̖e̤̟l̡͓d͈̹s̙͚ We Know."{ʲₒʰₙNYᵈₑᵉₚ}