The waning gibbous moon taken on 1/11/2023 by PROMPT-6 at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Chile.
Photo-Taking/Making Process
This photo of the moon as seen from the Northern Hemisphere (but taken in the Southern Hemisphere!) was observed on January 11, 2023 using the PROMPT-6. The remote telescope took 27 images, 9 for each filter, with a 3×3 tiling pattern. Each image taken by the PROMPT-6 had a 0.2 second exposure time. The Halpha filter (see image A) observed the moon through the red part of the spectrum. The OIII filter (see image B) observed in the green/blue part of the spectrum, and the U filter (see image C) in the ultraviolet. The images for each filter have been color mapped. The three color mapped images were stacked to create a composite image of the moon (see image D).
A. HAlpha FilterB. OIII FilterC. U Filter D. Unedited Composite Moon
Regions of Interest
Using photo editing and Adobe Lightroom, I was able to bring out some of the colors of the moon. The colors tell us about the moon’s minerology.
A. Aristarchus, Copernicus, and Kepler A. The crater on the leftmost side of the highlighted region is the region known as Aristarchus. Bright blues and dark yellows can be seen surrounding the crater. The yellows (also known as Wood’s Spot), are glass deposits, formed when rock heated by the impact of a meteoroid with the moons surface were cooled by the impact’s ejecta. The blues are also glass deposits, the blue caused by the deposits being rich in titanium. The white spots surrounding Aristarchus are Copernicus and Kepler. They were formed by ejecta from the meteoroid impacts settling over areas with lava flow.
B.
B. Mare Imbrium, Serentatis, and TranquillitasisB. The dark spots on the moon are known as marias, and were made by a period of lava flow earlier in the moon’s history. They were once believed to be oceans, and derive their name from the Latin word for “seas.” The mare on the leftmost side of the moon is Mare Imbrium. This mare features both blues and browns, with the blues being titanium-rich basalts, and the browns being rich in iron. Next to Imbrium is Mare Serentatis, which has a lava-filled brown. Mare Serentatis flows into Mare Tranqullitasis (also known as the Sea of Tranquility). This Mare hosts a dark blue, with titanium-rich basalts that can be seen around the bottom rim of Serentatis as well.C. Tycho and ByrgiusC. Some other cool craters. The big one on the right is Tycho, and the smaller is Byrgius.
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