Unofficial Names (S to Z)

Part 4 of the ABC of Unofficial Lunar Nomenclature, Discontinued Nomenclature, disallowed names, proposed names, and nicknames

• • Part 1 (A to F), Part 2 (G to L), and Part 3 (M to R) are on separate pages

S to Z:

S

- Sacco (H.P.Wilkins' name for Scoresby A).
  - Saddled Donkey (or Shrek's donkey) (SandiBandi's nickname for Lacus Felicitatis and nearby lakes, observed during Full Moon circumstances, see page Lacus Felicitatis and comments section).
  - Saheki (H.P.Wilkins' name for Grimaldi B).
  - Saint Theresa (Apollo 10/ Apollo 11 flight path).
  - Terra Sanitatis/ Land of Healthiness (G.B.Riccioli's name for the cratered region between Mare Tranquillitatis and the Ptolemaeus group).
  - Santacruz (H.P.Wilkins' name for Philips B, or Franz's Abel? Birt's Abel?).
  - Sappho (the LTO's name for Stark V)(?) (see also: the LTO's "Homer").
  - SAR, or S.A.R. (between King and Tsiolkowsky)(a name or acronym (?) which is mentioned in the Apollo 16 Preliminary Science Report).
  - Scattered Hills (L.S.Copeland's nickname for the southern part of Harold Hill's "Euler Group"/ Rand McNally's "Lothrop Hills").
  - Schaber Hill (Apollo 15 site)(in the North Complex, see also: Pluton).
  - Scheele Hills (D.Caes' nickname for the cluster of hillocks west of Scheele).
  - Scheele's arc-shaped companion (D.Caes' nickname for the arc-shaped remains of a crater east-northeast of Scheele).
  - Schiller Annular Plain (remains of a large basin southwest of Schiller, see also: Schiller-Zucchius Basin).
  - Schiller-Zucchius Basin (the same as the Schiller Annular Plain).
  - Schlumberger (F.C.Lamech's name for Lansberg D).
  - Schlumberger Domes (the cluster of domes north of Hortensius, observed by René Schlumberger).
  - Schmitt (northwest of the IAU's Grachev).
  - Schneckenberg (J.N.Krieger's and R.Konig's name for a snail-shaped formation north of Hyginus; adopted by the IAU but later discontinued).
  - Schrodinger Basin
  - Schrodinger-De Forest Valley, or: Vallis Schrodinger-De Forest (D.Caes' name for the pronounced valley between Schrodinger and De Forest).
  - Schrodinger-Zeeman Basin
  - Schroter D's Radial Spokes (D.Caes' nickname for the curious dark radial bands ("spokes") on the inner slopes of Schroter D).
  - Schroter Hills (only on Rand McNally's moonmap).
  - Schupmann (J.P.H.Fauth's name for the crater Hell B in the walled plain Deslandres).
  - Schwabe Valley, or Vallis Schwabe (D.Caes' name for the officially unnamed valley east of Schwabe and west of the trio Strabo L, B, N).
  - Schwanzende (Eimmart T, near Mare Anguis)(a curious nickname by J.H.Franz).
  - Seagull (the seagull-shaped formation south-southwest of Al-Bakri)(part of Rimae Maclear?).
  - Secchi, Fossae (the LTO's name for a region near Secchi).
  - The Sector (on Plato's floor).
  - See (the IAU's Alden).
  - Semlja Nowaja (J.N.Krieger's and R.Konig's name for a region in the Montes Riphaeus).
  - Semlja Sinus (J.N.Krieger's and R.Konig's name for a region in the Montes Riphaeus).
  - Mons Serao
  - Serenitatis Basin
  - Serpentine Ridge (the IAU's Dorsum Nicol, Dorsa Lister, and Dorsa Smirnov, in Mare Serenitatis).
  - Shackleton (H.P.Wilkins' name for Gioja A, a crater near the moon's North Pole. This is a strange case, because today's (the IAU's) official Shackleton is located at the moon's South Pole!).
  - Shannen Ridge (M.Collins's name for a previously unknown radial mountain ridge near Mare Imbrium)(named after M.Collins's daughter Shannen). See also LPOD The Tyranny of an Orbit and LPOD Long Radials.
  - Shea (west-northwest of the IAU's Vavilov).
  - Shepard (the IAU's Racah).
  - Shoeprint (A.Riordan's nickname for a feature in crater Robinson, see also Alser's Alien).
  - Sibelius, Rima (the LTO's name for a rille near Nielsen and the Aristarchus-plateau).
  - Sibericus, Rupes (on the moon's Far Side, a NASA-related name of the Apollo heydays).
  - Terra Siccitatis/ Land of Dryness (G.B.Riccioli's name for the region south of the north pole).
  - Sidewinder Rille (Apollo 10/ Apollo 11 flight path).
  - Sikorsky-Rittenhouse Basin
  - Silberschlag range (T.G.Elger's name for the mountains north of Silberschlag).
  - Silver Spur (Apollo 15 site, part of the Montes Apenninus; SE of Mons Hadley Delta).
  - Simonov (the Sternberg Institute's name for farside crater Sanford T).
  - Sinas Skylight (D.Caes' nickname for the curious Skylight-pit east-southeast of crater Sinas in Mare Tranquillitatis).
  - Sinus Adlunationis (the Sternberg Institute's name for Planitia Descensus, the landing site of Luna 9).
  - Sinus Astronautorum (the Sternberg Institute's name for a region south of farside basin Komarov).
  - Sinus Iridum highlands (T.G.Elger's name for the mountainous region northwest of Sinus Iridum and Montes Jura).
  - Sinus Landing (the Sternberg Institute's name for a region which could be (?) the same as Planitia Descensus).
  - Siredey (F.C.Lamech's name for Cassini E).
  - Sirsalis Beta (Ch.Wood's name for a mountain-like elevation near Sirsalis, als called Mount Sirsalis).
  - Sisebuto (H.P.Wilkins' name for Azophi A).
  - Slayton (the IAU's Chauvenet).
  - Sleepy Dragon/ Draconum Cubiculium (R.Forest's name for the IAU's Montes Teneriffe).
  - Slot, The (the mummy-shaped system of overlapping craters known as Rheita E).
  - Smith, Rob. (J.H.Schroter's name for the officially unnamed crater between Brown D and Tycho D, southwest of Tycho).
  - Smith (H.P.Wilkins' name for Vendelinus C).
  - Smokey Basin (Apollo 10/ Apollo 11 flight path).
  - Smokey Valley (Apollo 10/ Apollo 11 flight path).
  - Smythii Basin
  - Snake Ridge (between Maskelyne and Maskelyne B), see LPOD Monday Morning Quarterbacking, 4 decades later.
  - Snowman (N°2) (the system of craterlets Plato K and Plato KA, nicknamed "The Snowman" by Howard E., see Discussion in LPOD Classic View) -- not to be confused with the IAU-named Snowman at the Apollo 12 Landing Site.
  - Snowman (N°3) ("MidnightMan"/John C's nickname for the cluster of craters Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus, and Arzachel).
  - Soccer Player (P.E.Murray's nickname for the dark mare-regions observed during Full Moon, see also: "Basketball Player", "Juggler", "Volleyball Player").
  - Somerville (W.R.Birt's and J.Lee's name for an unlocated crater)(the name Somerville was reinstated in 1976).
  - Sophocles (the LTO's name for a crater southwest of Diderot)(the southwestern part of Fermi's rim).
  - Sosigenes Bucht (J.N.Krieger's and R.Konig's name for a bay-like formation near Sosigenes).
  - Soulayou (F.C.Lamech's name for an unlocated formation).
  - South AP
  - Southern Farside Mountain (D.Caes's nickname for the solitary mountain at 50°30' South/ 123°30' West, see LAC 134 in the Clementine Atlas of the Moon).
  - Southern Highlands (only on Rand McNally's moonmap).
  - Southpole-Aitken Basin
  - Montes Sovietici, aka Soviet Mountains
  - SP crater (Censorinus A)(Apollo 10/ Apollo 11 flight path).
  - Spinoza (the Sternberg Institute's name for farside crater Wilsing).
  - Squirrel (D.Caes' nickname for Mare Nubium and Mare Cognitum)(both look like a squirrel during Full Moon).
  - Stadius Craterlets (only on Rand McNally's moonmap, but... also mentioned in lots of popular moonbooks).
  - Stag's Horn Mountains (the system of curved hills at the southern end of Rupes Recta).
  - Stamp mountain (a nickname from D.Caes for the system of two "stamp-shaped " hills immediately north of an unnamed bowl-shaped crater, due south-southeast of Mons Rumker). See http://bit.ly/2uILkwi
  - Stanley (W.R.Birt's and J.Lee's name for one of the three craters near Langrenus which are nowadays known as Atwood, Bilharz, and Naonobu) (Birt and Lee wanted to call them Baker, Livingstone, and Stanley).
  - Star Crater (Apollo 10/ Apollo 11 flight path).
  - Star-Tip Mountain (L.S.Copeland's nickname for Mons Herodotus).
  - Steavenson (H.P.Wilkins' name for Reichenbach A).
  - Stephanides (F.C.Lamech's name for Romer A, which was also H.P.Wilkins' "Ataturk").
  - Terra Sterilitatis/ Land of Sterility (G.B.Riccioli's name for the libration-zone at the moon's southwestern limb).
  - Strabo's Triplet (D.Caes' nickname for the trio Strabo L, B, and N).
  - Straits of Fresnel (Ch.Wood's name for the pass between Mare Imbrium and Mare Serenitatis, also called "The Great Pass").
  - Struve/ Mare Struve/ Lacus Struve (officially known as Lacus Spei).
  - Sulpicius-Gallus, Fossae (the LTO's name for a region near Sulpicius-Gallus).
  - Swann Range (Apollo 15 site, part of the Montes Apenninus).
  - Swimming Pool (D.Caes' nickname for Brayley G). There's a wonderful close-up photograph of this "swimming pool" included in NASA SP-362 APOLLO OVER THE MOON; a view from orbit.
  - Sylvester-Nansen Basin
  - Sylvester Valley, or Vallis Sylvester (See LPOD Little Known Polar Valleys).
 
 

T

- Tangor (a formation on the moon's Far Side, mentioned in David Woods' and Frank O'Brien's Apollo 15 Flight Journal, at 81:15:41 GET in the mission).
  - Taruntius, Fossae (the LTO's name for a region near Taruntius).
  - Tasso (the LTO's name for Purkyne U).
  - Tatra (J.N.Krieger's and R.Konig's name for a region in the Montes Carpatus, near their "Sinus Pietrosul").
  - Telemann, Rima (the LTO's name for a rille near Prinz).
  - Telemann Formation, aka Telemann Unit (region near Sinus Roris and Markov).
  - Tennis Racquet (L.S.Copeland's nickname for Natasha).
  - Tetrazzini, Fossa (the LTO's name for a region near Kathleen in Palus Putredinis).
  - Texas (the IAU's Gagarin).
  - Thin Cheese, The (a nickname for Wargentin, mentioned in the book Exploring the Moon through Binoculars and Small Telescopes by Ernest H. Cherrington, page 130).
  - Three Rocks (L.S.Copeland's nickname for the Gruithuisen domes).
  - Thornton (H.P.Wilkins' name for a formation near Desargues, north of Arthur).
  - Thud Ridge (the eastern end of Rima Hypatia, aka U.S.1).
  - Tiling Valley, or: Vallis Tiling (D.Caes' name for the valley north-northeast of Tiling).
  - Timoleon
  - Tiny island (a nickname from D.Caes for the very small officially unnamed hillock in the centre of the more-or-less circle shaped system of wrinkle ridges between Damoiseau E and Damoiseau G).
  - Tiny white island (a nickname from D.Caes for the officially unnamed hillock (or "island") east-southeast of Pytheas K. This tiny hillock shows a high-albedo spot at its northern slope. Its pinpoint location is LAT': 19.00 / LON: -14.45) (see the LROC ACT-REACT QUICK MAP for several NAC close ups of it).
  - Tolstoy (the LTO's name for Hirayama Y).
  - Topchiev (the Sternberg Institute's name for a crater (?) southeast of farside crater Buffon).
  - Topsy-Turvy Bathtub (Mons Gruithuisen Gamma, which looks indeed "Bathtub-like" through powerful telescopes!).
  - The Torch (L.S.Copeland's nickname for Mons Delisle, which is also called "The Baby")(see also: "Fish's Tail" or "Mermaid's Tail").
  - Touchet (F.C.Lamech's name for Maury A).
  - Tranquillitatis Basin
  - Mare Trans Hahn (one of J.H.Franz' names, possibly the dark streak across the floor of Hahn).
  - Transsemlja (J.N.Krieger's and R.Konig's name for the northwestern part of the Montes Riphaeus)(this is the part called Montes Ural on several modern moonmaps such as HALLWAGs).
  - Trapezium (another nickname for the system of wrinkle ridges known as Barker's Quadrangle).
  - Trewman (H.P.Wilkins' name for a formation northeast of Schwabe).
  - The Triangle (L.S.Copeland's nickname for Delisle Alpha).
  - The Trilobite(or: Lobster)(the system of hills northeast of Gassendi, which look very much like a trilobite or lobster through telescope!)(thus nicknamed by A.Peck). See Apollo 16's orbital close-up of it: AS16-119-19178.
  - The Trio (Apollo 10/ Apollo 11 flight path).
  - Tsiolkovskiy-Stark Basin
  - Turitella (C.Wood's nickname for a curious Turitella-shaped formation NNW of Fra Mauro and slightly WNW of Apollo 14's landingsite).
  - Twin Craters (Apollo 10/ Apollo 11 flight path).
  - The Two Headlights (a nickname for the two extremely bright raycraters Furnerius A and Stevinus A, which are already observable with the unaided eye during the days between Waxing Crescent Moon and Full Moon, SE of Mare Nectaris).
  - Two Arcs (Eddington P on the eastern part of Eddington's floor).
  - Two Arcs (between Campanus and Hippalus, in the system of curved rilles of Rimae Hippalus).
  - Tycho's Chain, or Catena Tycho (D.Caes' name for the chain north-northwest of Tycho, which could be the "source" of the western one of the bright double ray toward Weiss).
 
 

U

- U1 basin (centre of basin at d'Alembert).
  - U2 basin (centre of basin at Darwin).
  - U3 basin (centre of basin at Trumpler).
  - U4 basin (centre of basin at Lacus Temporis).
  - U5 basin (centre of basin at Olivier).
  - U6 basin (centre of basin at La Condamine/ Mare Frigoris).
  - Ukert Valley, or: Vallis Ukert (D.Caes' name for the valley southwest of Ukert, which is part of the Imbrium radial sculpture).
  - Undest (the LTO's name for the distinct hillock Lambert Gamma)(which should be called UNDSET instead of "Undest"!).
  - United States Highway Number One (U.S.1)(Rima Hypatia).
  - Montes Ural (near the Montes Riphaeus, see also: Antural).
 
 

V

- Vaisala (H.P.Wilkins' name for a formation near Catena Sylvester and the moon's northern limb)(today's Vaisala is located near the Aristarchus Plateau).
  - Valentine Dome (A.Herring's nickname for the hart-shaped dome Linné Alpha).
  - Vallis Alpha Reed (a formation on the moon's Far Side, near Mare Ingenii, mentioned in David Woods' and Frank O'Brien's Apollo 15 Flight Journal, at 81:15:41 GET in the mission).
  - Vallis North (North Valley/ Vermiform Valley, thus named by D.North)(south of Mare Crisium).
  - Vallis van't Hoff (D.Caes's name for the valley east-northeast of van't Hoff).
  - Vally, or: Wally (F.C.Lamech's name for Langrenus F, which is today's Bilharz).
  - Vanini (the Sternberg Institute's name for farside crater Paschen U).
  - van't Hoff Valley, or: Vallis van't Hoff (D.Caes' name for the valley east-northeast of van't Hoff).
  - Vaporum's Elongated Craterlet (D.Caes' nickname for the "long" depression at 13° North/ 1° East).
  - Vasilchenko (the Sternberg Institute's name for farside crater Klute).
  - Vastitas Occidentale/ Western Plain (D.Caes' "new" name for the cork-dry "Ocean of Storms"/ Oceanus Procellarum).
  - Insula Ventorum/ Island of Winds (G.B.Riccioli's name for the region near and at Kepler).
  - Verdi, Rima (the LTO's name for a rille near Delisle).
  - Vergil (the LTO's name for Stark R)(?).
  - Vermiform Valley (or: North Valley/ Vallis North, thus named by D.North)(south of Mare Crisium).
  - Vernet (H.P.Wilkins' name for Gutenberg G/ Goclenius G?).
  - Terra Vigoris/ Land of Vigour (G.B.Riccioli's name for the cratered region east of Mare Fecunditatis)(sometimes seen as "Goris": this is a curious historical/ typographical error on early moonmaps)(depicted and explained in E.A.Whitaker's book Mapping and Naming the Moon).
  - Virgil (H.P.Wilkins' name for Bessarion E).
  - Terra Vitae/ Land of Life (G.B.Riccioli's name for the cratered region north, east, and southeast of Lacus Somniorum).
  - Volleyball Player (P.E.Murray's nickname for the dark mare-regions observed during Full Moon, see also: "Basketball Player", "Juggler", "Soccer Player").
  - Voltaire (the LTO's name for Pasteur T).
  - Von Braun (the IAU's Doppler)(warning: this is not the IAU's Von Braun on the moon's near side!).
  - Voutzinas (F.C.Lamech's name for Fracastorius B).
 
 

W

- Wagner (H.P.Wilkins' name for Tobias Mayer C).
  - Wagon Road (part of Rima Hypatia/ "US1").
  - The Wall (L.S.Copeland's nickname for the ridge between Diophantus and Mons Delisle).
  - Wallace hillocks (D.Caes' nickname for the cluster of unnamed hillocks west-southwest of Wallace, at 19° North/ 11°30' West).
  - Wally (see: "Vally").
  - Ward (W.R.Birt's name for a crater which could be J.F.J.Schmidt's Protagoras).
  - Wargentin's Quartet (D.Caes' nickname for the quartet/cluster of craters B, D, E, and F).
  - Wasatch Mountains (Hevelius' Montes Alani at Mare Crisium's northern rim, called "Wasatch mountains" by C.Wood).
  - Wash Basin (Apollo 10/ Apollo 11 flight path).
  - The Washbowl (in Cassini, see also: "Plughole").
  - Washington (the IAU's Aitken).
  - Watts (H.P.Wilkins' name for Kastner B/ Kiess?).
  - Weatherford (Apollo 10/ Apollo 11 flight path).
  - Webb (the IAU's Chaplygin).
  - Weka Crater (Maurice Collins's nickname for a curious formation west-southwest of Helicon, see LPOD Small Mystery).
  - Werner-Airy Basin
  - Wet Slip (D.Caes' nickname for Delisle Alpha, looking "wet").
  - Wexler Valley, or: Vallis Wexler (D.Caes' name for the broad shallow valley west-northwest of Wexler).
  - Wheatstone (should be a formation east-northeast of farside crater Engelhardt, according to N° 747 depicted on this map from the Sternberg Institute).
  - Whipple, Mount (H.P.Wilkins' name for La Hire Alpha).
  - Whitaker (H.P.Wilkins' name for a formation near Humboldt).
  - White (the IAU's Levi Civita).
  - W.H.Pickering (J.N.Krieger's and R.Konig's name for Messier A; adopted by IAU, but later discontinued).
  - Wien (the Sternberg Institute's name for farside crater Hertzsprung D).
  - Williams (the IAU's Lucretius).
  - Wing, Vinc. (J.H.Schroter's name for the "crater" between Wilhelm D and Heinsius M, west-northwest of Tycho).
  - Winged Nut (D.Caes' nickname for the western part of Rima Delisle)(see also: "Butterfly Nut" and "Dogbone").
  - Witkowski (the Sternberg Institute's name for a crater (?) east of farside crater Tiling and Dellen or Dollen).
  - Wittram (the Sternberg Institute's name for a crater (?) north-northeast of farside crater Fizeau, near Dellen or Dollen).
  - Wood's Spot (the mustard-colored Aristarchus Plateau, thus named by R.W.Wood)(this is the most colored area on the moon).
  - Worm Rille (Apollo 10/ Apollo 11 flight path).
  - Wright (H.P.Wilkins' name for Licetus F).
  - Wright Brothers (a NASA-related name for the IAU's Kiess and Widmannstatten pair).
 
 

X

- The X (the unique X-shaped system of crossing rilles on the floor of Palmieri).
  - The X-crater (D.Caes' nickname for Mercator A, which has an X-shaped system of dark radial bands on its inner slopes)(see: Clementine's close-up photograph at Map-A-Planet).
 
 

Y

- Ya. Bruce (the Sternberg Institute's name for farside crater Mariotte X).
  - Yangel', Fossa (the LTO's name for a region near Yangel').
  - Young (or J.Young) (a crater in the neighborhood of the landingsite of Apollo 16). John W. Young (1930-2018).
  - Yutu (Chinese name for one of the volcano-like domes in the Marius Hills complex).
 
 

Z

- "Z", or: The "Z": a "zigzag"-shaped cluster of craterlets near the landing target of Apollo 11's LM Eagle (see LPOD Monday Morning Quarterbacking, 4 decades later).
  - Zeeman Valley, or: Vallis Zeeman (D.Caes' name for the valley at the western part of the rim of Zeeman).
  - Zeno (this is an enigma, it seems as if the name "Zeno" was incorporated on J.N.Krieger's map of the Riphaeus range at craterlet Euclides M) (see: page 164 of E.A.Whitaker's Mapping and Naming the Moon).
  - Zinger (F.C.Lamech's name for Cassini C)(today's Zinger is a farside formation).
  - Zola (the LTO's name for a crater south of Houtermans).
  - Zoroaster (G.B.Riccioli's name for Mare Humboldtianum).
  - Zungenspitze (near Alhazen and Mare Anguis)(a curious nickname by J.H.Franz).
 
 
 

Curiosities and remarkable discoveries in literature and on the web (internet/ mails)

Geoffrey Hugh Lindop's possible revolution in lunar nomenclature

On page 47 of the january 1979 issue of Spaceflight (a well-known magazine for rocket and spaceship addicts) appeared a curious letter by a certain Geoffrey Hugh Lindop, who wanted to change the entire catalog of lunar nomenclature into some sort of lettered code system. In his letter, he included two examples of his system: RABAKUW (the IAU's Bianchini W) and RAFELON (the IAU's Plato F). After reading his letter about a dozen times, I still don't understand his method.
  G.H.Lindop's system could be a VERY interesting one (!), but he didn't give much explanation... (or rather: "a much too complicated" explanation).
  (the two examples were not enough to comprehend Lindop's way of thinking).
 - DannyCaes Mar 8, 2008
 
 

NASA-ese nicknames for lunar Farside formations, mentioned in David Woods' and Frank O'Brien's Apollo 15 Flight Journal:

081:15:41 CDR David Scott: "Okay; we got the strips of photos of the Sea of Ingenuity - or Ingenii - and took a look at the light colored swirls in the bottom of the mare. I couldn't tell - no elevation associated with those light-colored swirls, and they're very distinct when you look at them at this angle. Also - looked at the - at the area just adjacent to Ingenii; there is a very definite valley that cuts through the edge of the wall there, and with what looks like a rille in the bottom [AS15-91-12374], what's been described as Vallis Alpha Reed - I guess it is kind of unique; it's the only one we've seen on the back side so far. We took some pictures of the rim deposits and then took a couple of shots going on out to Dumbbell. After that we got set up for a Keyhole, took some convergent stereo on Keyhole, and got a couple of shots of The Bright One, along with some - some general pictures to show the ejecta pattern, although I'm afraid that ejecta pattern on The Bright One is not going to show up too well. It's - it's very bright but it's - it's also such a large area that it's kind of indistinct as to definition. And then - took a couple of what I hope will be convergent stereos of the - of the rooster tail along by Tangor and then got on to Ibn Yunus/Al-Biruni/Goddard complex and took some convergent stereos of the swirls to the - to the west of Ibn Yunus and to north and west of Goddard. And now we're looking for the ones in Mare Crisium".
- Was the name Tangor perhaps a misinterpretation of the name Saenger?

A lunar formation called LE ALDA (?)

Mentioned during the mission of Apollo 16 in april 1972:
 154 02 57 G.E.T. - CMP Ken Mattingly (Command Module Pilot of CSM Casper): "Okay. Maybe we could have drawn a terminator that was a little more over towards the area where we've shown our target, but there may be quite a drop-off in elevation here. It would only take - quite a bit, to the Sun angle wouldn't have to be an awful lot, on a geologic scale I guess. But the actual terminator was running down just to the west of Le Alda [or Mädler?] so I ran a strip down that".
  - See: Apollo 16 Flight Journal, David Woods and Tim Brandt. Day 7: Lunar Orbital Observations, Revs 35 to 45
  Could that have been THE ALTAI ? (the northern extension of Rupes Altai).
 - DannyCaes Jul 23, 2015
 
 

Farouk El-Baz's Lunar Ellipse of Fire

It appeared in the june 1973 issue of Sky and Telescope; an article by Farouk El-Baz about his Lunar Ellipse of Fire, which was some sort of equatorial ellipse on the moon's Near Side, containing regions of dark mantle ejecta, large blobs, halos around low rimmed craters, and small patches around domed hills.
  There were twelve special locations in this ellipse:
  1: Littrow.
  2: Sulpicius Gallus.
  3: Sinus Fidei.
  4: Rimae Bode.
  5: Copernicus C and D.
  6: Fra Mauro.
  7: Alphonsus's floor.
  8: Theophilus's rim.
  9: Langrenus C (Acosta).
  10. Peirce + Picard.
  11. Western part of Mare Crisium's rim.
  12. Macrobius A (Carmichael).
 - DannyCaes Mar 8, 2008
 
 

Danny Caes' "new" name for the largest dark region on the moon's near side

- Vastitas Occidentale (the western plain) instead of Oceanus Procellarum (the cork-dry "Ocean of Storms").
 
 

P. Edward Murray's Basketball Player (aka Juggler, Volleyball Player, Soccer Player)

Some years ago, I purchased the re-published National Geographic's map The Earth's Moon and have had it hanging in my bedroom opposite my bed so I could always see it.
  Now, of course I've seen The Man in The Moon and The Rabbit and The Woman, but sometime last year, I realized that there is also another man...the Basketball Player (aka: the Juggler/ the Volleyball Player/ the Soccer Player).
  At first, I thought; "oh someone must have seen this?". I did a Google search and came up with nothing, so maybe just maybe I've noticed something that no one else has seen?
  My Basketball Player or Juggler/ Volleyball Player/ Soccer Player can be seen at Full Moon.
 Oceanus Procellarum makes his back with Mare Cognitum his right shoulder and Mare Nubium his right elbow continuing into Sinus Aestuum & Sinus Medii his right hand.
  His left shoulder and arm begins at Sinus Roris and continues through Mare Frigoris ending as his hand around the crater Aristoteles.
  His head is Mare Imbrium and left ear is Sinus Iridum. The basketball is Mare Serenitatis.
  If you choose to see him as a juggler of course Mare Serenitatis is one giant ball with others being Mare Vaporum, Mare Tranquillitatis, Mare Nectaris and Mare Crisium.
  Look in the photo section of Lunar Observing and also at sci.astro.amateur moderated under moon matters for a full moon photo with the basketball player outlined.
  Date of discovery : may 12th, 2008.
 
  P, Edward Murray
  Past President,
  Bucks-Mont. Astronomical Assoc., Inc
 
  See also: Man in the Moon
 
 

The Poodle of the First Quarter Moon

During First Quarter Moon there's a remarkable Poodle-dog in the dark mare regions of the moon's eastern hemisphere. This feature is visible with the naked eye or small scopes (source of this nickname: Diane Musewicz).
  John D. Sabia explains:
  - Mare Vaporum : Snoot of the dog.
  - Mare Serenitatis : Head of the dog (rather large).
  - Mare Tranquillitatis : Front (upper body) section of the dog.
  - Sinus Asperitatis : front leg.
  - Mare Nectaris : front paws.
  - Mare Fecunditatis : lower body and hind leg.
  - Mare Spumans and Mare Undarum : tail.
  - Mare Crisium : Puffy tail of the Poodle dog.
 
 

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