The Moon (Luna)

Acquisition Details SGO-H002

Date: October 5, 2025

Location: Shank Gym Observatory (SGO), (≈ 35.4089° N, –80.5816° W)

Conditions: Mostly clear skies, 60 °F, light cloud cover, estimated Bortle 6 (bright suburban)

Exposure: 2 hours of stackable frames, with a total of 250 pictures taken and reviewed, 50 processed, and ten determined to meet standards

Gear (Imaging): Seestar S50 smart telescope on a stock tripod with fluid head, tripod leveler stand, and anti-vibration suppression pads

Gear (Finding/Reference): Seawatch 8″ Dobsonian for initial target acquisition

Backend & Networking: Shank Gym Observatory uses a mesh network for WAN/LAN connectivity between the telescope and processing computer; all post-processing completed on a Mac workstation.

Target Description

The moon has a mean distance from Earth of 384,400 km and orbits the Earth every 27.3217 days. It has an average diameter of 3,474.8 km and a mean density of 3.34 g/cm³.

In this picture, several prominent features are worth noting:

Near Center / Slightly South

• Tycho Crater — the bright, circular feature with dramatic ray systems radiating outward. These rays are ejecta from an ancient impact and are some of the youngest visible surface features (about 108 million years old).

• Clavius Crater — a large, gently curved crater below Tycho with several smaller craters inside it. It’s a favorite for lunar observers due to its graceful chain of smaller impacts.

Upper Left Quadrant (Western Hemisphere)

• Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains) — the large dark circular “sea” in the upper left. It’s one of the largest impact basins on the Moon.

• Copernicus Crater — near the bottom-right edge of Mare Imbrium; it’s another bright crater with ray patterns, distinct but smaller than Tycho’s system.

Upper Right Quadrant (Eastern Hemisphere)

• Mare Serenitatis (Sea of Serenity) and Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility) — the two darker maria near the top-right. The Apollo 11 landing site lies on the southwestern edge of Tranquillitatis.

• Mare Crisium (Sea of Crises) — a darker, isolated oval “sea” farther right; its raised rim gives it a bowl-like appearance.

Scientific Notes

• The darker regions (maria) are basaltic plains formed by ancient volcanic flows, whereas the lighter highlands (terrae) are older, anorthositic crust.

• Those long streaks (rays) extending from Tycho and Copernicus are ejecta — pulverized rock thrown during massive impacts.

Capture & Processing Notes

This section provides transparency for fellow hobbyists about how the image was created and processed

• Data Acquisition: Raw FITS frames saved with “Save Each Frame” enabled in the Seestar app

• Transfer: FITS files copied from Seestar to Mac via USB

• Stacking: No stacking used in this image, 250 total individual photos taken, 25 saved to processing software and 5 ultimately saved. This final image was selected for publishing.

• Post-Processing:

• Auto histogram stretch followed by manual slider adjustments (black/mid levels)

• Brightness, contrast, and saturation tuned to highlight nebulosity and star color

• Export: JPEG preview exported for sharing; master TIFF archived for reprocessing in ASI or Siril

References

Glenn Research Center. (2023). The Moon: Beginner’s guide to aeronautics. NASA. https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/beginners-guide-to-aeronautics/moon/

International Astronomical Union & U.S. Geological Survey. (2023). Gazetteer of planetary nomenclature – Moon (Luna). IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature. https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/

International Astronomical Union. (2019). IAU 100 Montmerle workshop report: The IAU Centenary and planetary nomenclature. Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris. https://www.iap.fr/vie_scientifique/ateliers/IAU_Centenary_2019/IAU100-Montmerle.pdf

NASA. (2009). The ABCs of the Moon fact sheet (Publication No. 180556main_etm.moon_.abcs_.fact_.sheet_.pdf). NASA Education. https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/180556main_etm.moon_.abcs_.fact_.sheet_.pdf

NASA Science. (2023a). Moon – By the numbers. NASA Science Solar System Exploration. https://science.nasa.gov/moon/by-the-numbers/

NASA Science. (2023b). Moon composition. NASA Science Solar System Exploration. https://science.nasa.gov/moon/composition/

NASA Solar System Exploration. (2023). Earth’s Moon: By the numbers. NASA. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/earths-moon/by-the-numbers/

NASA Technical Reports Server. (1979). Naming the Moon’s features (NASA TM-78133). NASA. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19790066211

National Space Science Data Center (NSSDCA). (2023). Moon fact sheet. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/moonfact.html

U.S. Geological Survey. (2023). Moon (Luna): Target description and nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Science Center. https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Page/MOON/target