LUNAR SOUTH POLE OCTOBER 9, 4:30 PDT SHOWING LCROSS IMPACT POINT

SEEING @ TIME OF OBSERVATION

10/4/09 ABOUT 3:30 UT

Here's the latest image ( RIGHT ) (LEFT image courtesy of NASA ) made under very poor seeing 1-2/10 @ 5000mm EFL F 20. The impact site is much easier to see now that libration has taken hold. The two ridges in the first image that were overlapping are now 2 separate entities, Libration will increase by impact time. I might have a better image by later on today.

Dr. Wood states on LPOD :

"The most interesting features are the massive mountains near the top of the frame, which are thought to be parts of the rim of the 2500 km wide South Pole - Aitken impact basin. The most prominent mountain is right on the 0° longitude meridian at about 86°S. This is the famous Mt. Malapert, often mentioned as a peak that could be covered in solar cells to provide continuous power to a polar base. Bruce says that they have also collected very high resolution data for Aristarchus, Reiner Gamma and the Smart-1 crash site.

2500mm F 10

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