Contains:  Solar system body or event
Mineral Moon Jan 28 2021, Scott Denning

Mineral Moon Jan 28 2021

Mineral Moon Jan 28 2021, Scott Denning

Mineral Moon Jan 28 2021

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Mineral Moon at Midnight

Full Cold Moon 1/28/2021 Back Yard

C8 EdgeHD f7 on 10Micron GM1000 unguided

Luminance image from AstroVideo (Best 1% of 3000 frames)

FireCapture on KingDel ubuntu linux 20.04.2 LTS

Color from R, G, B in Kstars/Ekos (30x0.001s each filter)

Combined & Sat boosted in PixInsight

When the moon is full, a color photo of it can be oversaturated to reveal its surface geology!

The brown and black is basalt: a volcanic rock composed mostly of pyroxene and olivine. Blue-black areas are basalt with a lot of titanium (in a mineral called ilmenite). They're also called "KREEP" terranes (for potassium, Rare-Earth-Elements, and phosphorous). They contain an unusual amount of radioactive isotopes that helped the near side of the moon to melt billions of years ago and release all that dark-color lava which flooded the impact basins.

The rusty-brown colored plains are a different (less KREEP-y) form of basaltic lava that contains less titanium.

The bright blue, almost teal areas are fresh anorthosite -- nearly pure calcium-rich feldspar. Look in the black lava plains of the northern hemisphere for the teal lines of debris from the incredible blast emanating from the fresh crater Tycho in the deep south.

I know I've posted these before, but the full moon is just way cool both in person and in the camera!

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Mineral Moon Jan 28 2021, Scott Denning