Abingdon Astronomical Society Website

Members' Observations - Crater Langrenus

Crater Langrenus and Mare Fecunditatis, imaged on 4 December 1998 at approximately 21:45 UT by Ian Smith. Ian used a 20 cm aperture Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and a Starlight Xpress MX516 CCD camera at a focal ratio of f/10.

Mare Fecunditatis (Sea of Fertility) is a large and irregularly shaped mare near the eastern limb of the Moon's near side. In the image it is the apparently smooth area along the left edge. In September 1970, the Russian Luna 16 probe landed at a site just north of the part of the mare in the image and returned to Earth bearing 100 g of soil.

The large crater in the upper part of the picture is Crater Langrenus. Located at a latitude and longitude of 9° S 61° E, the crater has a diameter of 137 km.

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