The moon : $b a full description and map of its principal physical featuresElger, Thomas Gwyn
Science
The moon : $b a full description and map of its principal physical features
Elger, Thomas Gwyn
Moon
APIANUS.--A magnificent ring-plain, 38 miles in diameter, N.W. of
Aliacensis, with lofty terraced walls, rising on the N.E. to about 9000
feet above the interior, and crowned on the W. by three large conspicuous
craters. The border is broken on the N. by a smaller depression and a
large ring with low walls. The dark-grey floor appears to be devoid of
conspicuous detail.
PLAYFAIR.--A ring-plain, 28 miles in diameter, with massive walls. It is
situated on the N. of Apianus, and is connected with it by a mountain
arm. The rampart is tolerably continuous, but varies considerably in
altitude, rising on the S. to a height of more than 8000 feet above the
interior. On the E., extending towards Blanchinus, is a magnificent
unnamed formation, bounded on the E. by a broad lofty rampart flanking
Blanchinus, Lacaille, Delaunay, and Faye; and on the W. by Playfair and
the mountain arm just mentioned. It is fully 60 miles in length from N.
to S. Sunrise on this region affords a fine spectacle to the observer
with a large telescope. The best phase is when the morning terminator
intersects Aliacensis, as at this time the long jagged shadows of the E.
wall of Playfair and of the mountain arm are very prominent on the
smooth, greyish-blue surface of this immense enclosure.
PONTANUS.--An irregular ring-plain, 28 miles in diameter, S.S.W. of
Azophi, with a low broken border, interrupted on the S.W. by a smaller
ring-plain, which forms one of a group extending towards the S.W. The
dark floor includes a central mountain.
ALIACENSIS.--This ring-plain, 53 miles in diameter, with its neighbour
Werner on the N.E., are beautiful telescopic objects under a low sun. Its
lofty terraced border rises at one peak on the E. to the tremendous
height of 16,500 feet, and at another on the opposite side to nearly
12,000 feet above the floor. The wall on the S. is broken by a crater,
and on the W. traversed by narrow passes. There is also a prominent
crater on the inner slope of the N.E. wall. The floor includes a small
mountain, several little hills, and a crater.
WERNER.--A ring-plain, 45 miles in diameter, with a massive rampart
crowned by peaks almost as lofty as any on that of Aliacensis, and with
terraces fully as conspicuous. It has a magnificent central mountain,
4500 feet high. At the foot of the N.E. wall Madler observed a small
area, which he describes as rivalling the central peak of Aristarchus in
brilliancy. Webb, however, was unable to confirm this estimate, though he
noted it as very bright, and saw a minute black pit and narrow ravine
within it. Neison subsequently found that the black pit is a crater-cone.
It would perhaps be rash, with our limited knowledge of minute lunar
detail, to assert that Madler over-estimated the brightness of this area,
which may have been due to a _recent_ deposit round the orifice of the
crater-cone.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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