Hitchhiker's Guide to Rukl Chart 55

The Faye Ray (...Akkana)

Not really a sunrise ray, but looks very much like one. Couldn't find any oversized gorillas nearby ...

Arzachel (<freeman _at_ netcom.com> JRF)

Prominent crater with clefts in its floor.

See also the discussion and image links on chart 44.

Purback

Regiomontanus (<d _at_ timocharis.com> David North)

There is excellent tonality in Purbach and Regiomontanus, and in particular their complex shapes and intricate craterings are fascinating in good seeing. Both seem to have very fractured walls with lots of runnels and mass wasting, leading to a remarkable play of light. Purbach has a curious structural anomaly in that a ridge runs across its middle, complete with a ghost crater and several smaller structures; I assume this is the result of two old craters formed at near concentricity, then beat to hell over the aeons.

Lunar "X" (< dthomp29 _at_ columbus.rr.com> Dana Thompson)

The Lunar "X" is a first quarter moon phase apparition present near the terminator (Please see picture attachments), between the craters La Caille, Purbach, and Blanchinus.

As the terminator slowly moves over the crater Werner, light of the lunar sunrise begins to illuminates some of the highest lunar topography in the region which is between the craters La Caille, Purbach, and Blanchinus. The "X" feature is fully formed from the sunlight illuminating specific crater walls and ridges and common topography shared between these craters in approximately two hours and stands out in obvious contrast to the dark side of the terminator. This unique lunar event or should I say, optical event, lasts for about another two hours before being total surrounded by light from the lunar sunrise. At this time the lower topography of the area is illuminated as well and the "X" on the moon begins its transition back into hiding on the surface of the fully illuminated lunar landscape.

I first observed the event when I was just 15 years old, on June 12, 1978. However, at that time, my afocal photographs that I took through my 60mm refractor telescope were not in focus, my correspondence with Researcher, Dr. Daniel H. Harris of P.S.I. (Project Starlight International, Austin TX USA) ended, and I did not follow through with any official organizations or offices at that time.

As the years passed I made a few attempts to observe this reflection again, but never did see it. More years past and my telescope and participation in astronomy temporarily fell by the wayside. Left in my memory and imagination was the unexplained "X" on the Moon; the mystery of what I saw that night, and how it came to be, I thought might never be known. Not such a mystery it turns out, but a rather illusive reflection off some very high lunar topography as light from the lunar sunrise strikes the area at a low angle. However, this is the most striking optical lunar event of its type.

A somewhat elusive illumination, this event seems to have gone virtually unnoticed until recently. Anyone with a telescope can observe the formation of this interesting event as the terminator moves across the moon surface and the sunlight strikes this area of the moons topography. Those fortunate enough to have any one of the lunar software programs available today can use the parameter of 1.2 sun elevation over crater Werner to help predict when the feature will be illuminated.