Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 06:00:59 -0500
From: "David Mitsky" 
Subject: Re: Babbage and Lacroix Lunar Rays - Revised Report

On Monday night (2002/12/17) I joined my friend Tony Donnangelo to
observe the Babbage Lunar Sunrise Ray.  Knowing Tony I was not suprised
when he told me he had detected what may be an unreported ray in the
crater G northwest and adjacent to Lacroix at approximately 02:15 UT.  I
had a look at the latter through Tony's 102mm f/8 Takahashi FS-102
apochromat using a 5.2mm Pentax SMC XL (158x) and a 3.8mm Orion
Lanthanum Superwide (216x).  Upon closer inspection I could see a thin
shaft of light more or less bisecting the 38 km sized crater.  Then it
was on to the much larger (144 km) Babbage.  That ray was a bit past its
peak.  It had been predicted to occur at 1:55 UT but actually started
much earlier, at approximately 00:00 UT according to Tony. 
Nevertheless, after a bit I noticed a pie shaped wedge missing from a
shadow in the southwestern end of the crater.  We then used the 5.2mm
 with a 2x Meade Barlow (316x) to have a closer look at the Lacroix Ray.

Later I happened to notice that the 70 km long Mons Rumker was rather
oddly illuminated.  This mountainous area that is rich with lunar domes
was highlighted so it appeared quite three dimensional.  Another
striking trick of the light was the way the "peace symbol" 
wrinkle ridges of crater Wargentin (84 km) were blackened yet at the
same time accented by shadow.  It was the first time that I had ever
seen this "filled to the brim" crater look quite that way.

Observer: Tony Donnangelo
Date/time of observation: 2002/12/17 00:00 UT
Location of site: Hummelstown RD 3, PA, USA (40.26° N., 76.75° W.) 
Site Elevation: 479 feet (146 meters)
Site classification: Suburban
Sky darkness: Moon was 92% illuminated and clear, good sky conditions
Instrument: Takahashi FS-102
Magnification: 102.5x(8mm Vixon Lanthanum SW), 158x(Pentax 5.2 LX)
Object: Babbage (Crater), Rukl Chart #2
Lunar Light Ray s Coordinates: 59.5°N., 53°W.

I began observing the lunar sunrise ray well before its predicted occurrence of 1:48 UT. I suspected this would be possible when Dave Mitsky and I made our first observance of this ray. It was a moderately broad pie-shaped swath of light that illuminated the crater floor, which was almost in total darkness at the time. Dave joined me in observing this ray later in the evening. By ~02:30 UT when we quit observing it, the crater was almost totally illuminated except a small swath along the rim. The ray was still visible at this time. The ray maintained its same pie shape throughout my observations. On Rukl s Chart #2, you can see a peak with two V-shaped notches in the southeast wall of the crater.