Lunar
Montes Apenninum
Montes Apenninus, the Moon's 600 km Apennine mountain range and site of the Apollo 15 landing, photographed by Pete Lawrence.
Target details
Montes Apenninus is a rugged mountain range on the northern part of the Moon's near side, named after Italy's Apennines and about 3.9 billion years old. Around 600 km (370 miles) long, with peaks up to 5 km (3.1 miles) high, it forms a steep wall along the south-eastern edge of Mare Imbrium. The range starts beside the prominent crater Eratosthenes and curves round to the north-east, ending at Promontorium Fresnel, where a gap joins Mare Imbrium to Mare Serenitatis, with Montes Caucasus beyond. Near that northern end, the Apennines form the valley where Apollo 15 landed to explore Mons Hadley Delta and Hadley Rille – one of the most scientifically successful Apollo missions.
Capture details
Data captured 2nd March, 2020.
124x 0.07sec through Ha filter.
Equipment details
Skywatcher Quattro 200 CF
NEQ6 Pro
Atik 460EX Mono
Processing details
This image was processed in Registax, Pixinsight & Lightroom.
Alignment & Stacking completed in Registax, best 40% of images, exported as 32bit FIT.
Stacked image imported into Lightroom.
Histogram Transformation - To stretch the image, it was a bit too bright.
Deconvolution - To sharpen, with range mask to protect background.
Local Histogram Equalisation - To sharpen very slightly, with range mask to protect background.
Curves Transformation - To deepen shadows sligthly, with range mask to protect background.
Export as JPEG and import into Lightroom.
Multiple graduated filters to reduce exposure by 1 stop around outer disc to get even exposure across surface.
Reduce Highlights (-25)
Export final JPEG for upload.
Quick facts
- What is Montes Apenninum?
- Montes Apenninus is a rugged mountain range on the northern part of the Moon's near side, named after Italy's Apennines and about 3.9 billion years old. Around 600 km (370 miles) long, with peaks up to 5 km (3.1 miles) high, it forms a steep wall along the south-eastern edge of Mare Imbrium.
- When was this photo taken?
- 2 March 2020
- What equipment was used?
- Skywatcher Quattro 200 CF, NEQ6 Pro, Atik 460EX Mono
- Where was it taken from?
- Lisburn, Northern Ireland.