2023-12-17
17:40-19:20 CST
The 30% waxing crescent Moon was high in the twilight sky. The weather was nice again very calm, clear, and 64° F and falling. I brought my usual AT80ED out to check it out. Seeing was about 8/10.
The most striking feature was the crater Theophilus and its two central peaks. Mons Argaeus looked humongous just inside the day lit side of the terminator.
At 00:07:45
I noticed a nearby star just to the east of the Moon and found it was HIP 110518 and that it was going to be eclipsed by the Moon at about 0045
Saturn was only a few degrees from the Moon so I took a cursory look at it with my 4 mm (140x) eyepiece. I could see the usual features, though Saturn seemed slightly smaller than my recent observations as expected as we move away from it. The rings are getting more edge on every time I look at them but the Cassini Gap is still discernible. Titan was easy to see and I could see Rhea with averted vision. The North Equatorial Belt (NEB) was visible.
I went back to the Moon to see the occultation. I watched HIP 110518 blink out at 00:43:11
Another cool feature that was becoming more visible as I watched was a giant serpentine ridge called Dorsa Smirnov. Normally, it just looks like a slight ripple in the smooth surface of the “Sea of Serenity”. Below is my iPhone capture of it.
It was now supper time and 58° so I quit for the night since I had to go to work in the morning.