The Moon: A Popular TreatiseServiss, Garrett Putman
Science
The Moon: A Popular Treatise
Serviss, Garrett Putman
Moon
“I am sure you are, for who could fail to be interested by things so
remarkable in themselves, and so vastly beyond all human experience, as
those that this photograph shows? We stopped at Gemma Frisius. Let us
use that for a new starting point. A considerable distance south, say
about a hundred miles, is an old friend of ours, Maurolycus. It is the
large ring plain, with another half obliterated, on its southern side,
in the upper part of the picture. Notice the row of wrecked rings,
beginning at a great crater on its northeast wall and running westward.
The broad, flat plain directly east of Maurolycus is Stöfler, whose name
you will also recall. I shall not trouble you with the names of all the
rings south of Stöfler and Maurolycus, but simply ask you to observe
that they form a winding row which leads to a very grand ring almost
entirely buried in night, the inside of its western wall alone being
bright with sunshine. This wall, and some mountain peaks near it,
resemble brilliant islands lying in the edge of the Cimmerian ocean
whose ethereal waves wash the broken coast of the moon. Follow the
ragged sunset line downward, and all along you will see these islands of
light in the darkness; tips of mountains still shining while the sun has
set upon all the valleys around, somewhat as you have seen the snowy top
of Mont Blanc and the pinnacles of its attendant giants glowing after
the shades of night have fallen deep upon Chamounix.
“Look next, if you please, at the right-hand side of the photograph.
Somewhat above the center, three conspicuous dish-shaped ring plains are
seen, two near together, the third farther away toward the left and
downward. The largest of these is Aliacensis, its near neighbor is
Werner, and the third is Apianus. They are from 40 to 50 miles in
diameter. Still lower, and nearer the middle line of the picture, is a
row of four or five ring plains, varying from 30 to 40 miles in
diameter. The uppermost, or most southerly of these is double, or, in
fact, partly triple, for the lower member of the pair has a broken plain
attached to its southeastern side. This one, with a small central peak,
is named Abenezra. Its close neighbor on the southwest is Azophi. You
notice the singularity of the names. The next one below, with a small
crater on its east side, is Geber. Then comes Almamon, and finally,
largest of all, Abulfeda, which I pointed out to you as marking the end
of the curious row of little crater pits, running eastward from the
Altai Mountains. There is just one other formation to which I wish to
call your attention in this remarkable photograph, and then we shall
turn to the next in the series. West of Abenezra and Azophi, about half
way to the Altai Mountains, you will notice a very irregular depression
with three strongly marked craters within it. This bears the name of
Sacrobosco, an old-time astronomer. Its eastern wall with its shadow
looks like an elongated letter W standing on end. Sacrobosco and its
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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