Astronomy

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east of the V and Ukert Crater to a shadow
feature nicknamed Aries’ Hoofprint. First
mentioned by name a decade ago in an
edition of Astronomy’s email newsletter,
Aries’ Hoofprint is formed from an intri-
cate combination of brightly lit mountains
and dark lava channels. Some call this
striking chiaroscuro the Horseshoe, while
others prefer the Lunar Lips. If we want to
assign a letter to it, I suppose the Lunar U
might be the closest approximation. But I
favor the hoofprint analogy. On older lunar
maps, you may find the area labeled Mount
Schneckenberg, which translates to “Snail
Mountain.” That odd name, bestowed by
the International Astronomical Union, has
since been retired.

LUNAR L

(Lunar Day 7.3) Continuing our game of

lunar alphabet soup, return to our satellite

about an hour past the X’s peak time and

scan southward along the terminator. Can

you spot a slanted L just beyond Stof ler

Crater? The Lunar L was first noticed

— to my knowledge anyway — by Steve

Bellavia of Mattituck, New York. The L is

formed from a combination of the eastern

walls of craters Deluc, Deluc H, and Deluc

D combined with a ridge to their south, all

just coming into light.

NESSIE

(Lunar Day 7.3) You’re familiar with the

Loch Ness monster and the infamous

This image of the First Quarter Moon

shows the positions of the Lunar V

(top), the Lunar X (center), and

the Lunar L. The best time to

observe these three clair-

obscur effects is when

the Moon is seven

days old (that is,

seven days past

New Moon).

STEVEN BELLAVIA

This shadow falling on the floor of

Ptolemaeus Crater may not have come from

the Loch Ness monster, but that didn’t stop

this photographer from dubbing it “Nessie.”

JOE ADLHOCH