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
BOSCOVICH.--This is not a very striking telescopic object under any
phase, on account of its broken, irregular, and generally ill-defined
border. It is, however, remarkable as being one of the darkest spots on
the visible surface: in this respect a fit companion to Julius Caesar,
its neighbour on the W. Schmidt shows some ridges within it.
RHAETICUS.--A very interesting formation, about 25 miles in diameter,
situated near the lunar equator, with a border intersected by many
passes. A deep rill-like valley winds round its eastern _glacis_,
commencing on the S. at a small circular enclosure standing at the end of
a spur from the wall; and, after crossing a ridge W. of a bright little
crater on the N. of the formation, apparently joins the most easterly
cleft of the Triesnecker system. A cleft traverses the N. side of the
floor of Rhaeticus, and extends across the plain on the E. as far as the
N. side of Reaumur.
TRIESNECKER.--Apart from being the centre of one of the most remarkable
rill-systems on the moon, this ring-plain, though only about 14 miles in
diameter, is an object especially worthy of examination under every
phase. At sunrise, and for some time afterwards, owing to the superior
altitude of the N.W. section of the wall, a considerable portion of the
border on the N. and N.E. is masked by its shadow, which thus appears to
destroy its continuity. On more than one occasion, friends, to whom I
have shown this object under these conditions, have likened it to a
breached volcanic cone, a comparison which at a later stage is seen to be
very inappropriate. The rampart is terraced within, and exhibits many
spurs and buttresses without, especially on the N.W. The central mountain
is small and not conspicuous. The rill-system is far too complicated to
be intelligibly described in words. It lies on the W. side of the
meridian passing through the formation, and extends from the N. side of
Rhaeticus to the mountain-land lying between Ukert and Hyginus on the N.
Birt likened these rills to "an inverted river system," a comparison
which will commend itself to most observers who have seen them on a good
night, for in many instances they appear to become wider and deeper as
they approach higher ground. Published maps are all more or less
defective in their representations of them, especially as regards that
portion of the system lying N. of Triesnecker.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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