Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2003 15:34:43 -0700 From: Jane Houston Jones Subject: Sunset ray seen in crater Endymion ...on August 14th, 2003 Mojo was touring the lunar terminator with our f/9 AP180EDT, and he hollered out that there was a triple sunset ray visible. This was at 10:45 p.m.or 6:45 UT 8/15/03. We were at Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park, Latitude 37 43.741 N, Longitude 119 34.330 W, elevation 7,200 feet. We all took a look and sure enough, three bright wedges of light were sharply piercing the pool of dark shadow filled basin of a large crater. Try as I might, I couldn't figure which crater it was, so I sketched the entire terminator and other nearby craters so I could do the research later. I spent an hour with Mr. Rukl's Atlas back at the campsite the next day. The triple sunset ray was in the crater Endymion, identified on Rukl 7. I must say the Rukl paragraph on this crater is wonderful. Jane and Mojo

Using The Lunar Observer's Toolkit v1.1.18:

Site Longitude = +119.572
Site Latitude = +37.729
Site Elevation = +1828.000

Reproducing Lighting For: 2003/8/15 at 06:45 U.T.

Desired Solar Altitude =  +1.883(Setting),  Azimuth = +270.118

Feature = Endymion
Feature Longitude: = +56.500
Feature  Latitude: = +53.600

Average Co-longitude =  120.326

Moon's Altitude Restricted = Y Altitude = +10.000 degrees

In the Time column, D=Daylight, T=Twilight

                      ---- Moon's ----    -- Earth's --
                        Topocentric        Topocentric      -------- Sun's --------
   UT Date    Time     Alt°   Semi-Diam''  Long°   Lat°     Colong°     Lat°    Azim°

 2003/08/15  06:45   +23.366    918.67    +5.135  +6.243    122.477   +1.585  +270.118

Endymion - +492,+803: A great crater, 78 miles in diameter, with loft, peak-surmounted walls, rising 15,000 feet on the west and still higher on the north. The floor is dark, which makes the formation easy to detect under any illumination. In general the floor is remarkably smooth, but there is some delicate detail...on the southern portion are a distinct craterlet, three mounds, also probably craterlets, and a landslip from the south-eastern wall...there is also a craterlet at the northern end of the floor. D.W.G. Arthur found a valley on the ourter north-east wall, ending on the north in two confluent irregular depressions. - Wilkins and Moore, The Moon, Faber & Faber, 1955