Contains:  Solar system body or event
Sinus Iridium - The Bay of Rainbows, Niall MacNeill

Sinus Iridium - The Bay of Rainbows

Acquisition type: Lucky imaging
Sinus Iridium - The Bay of Rainbows, Niall MacNeill

Sinus Iridium - The Bay of Rainbows

Acquisition type: Lucky imaging

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Description

I made video captures in RGB & IR of the iconic Sinus Iridium, setting the limit for each capture to an 8GB files size, to maximise the data capture from the full sensor. In processing I used the IR image as Luminance, which brightened the image considerably and improved the definition somewhat. Nevertheless it is a colour image and I trust you can see the subtle and beautiful colours of the lunar surface here. It is interesting that the relatively smooth basaltic floor of Sinus Iridium has a more blue-grey colour, whereas on the left and right side of the promontories, in the Mare Imbrium the colour has a distinctly brown hue.

Sinus Iridium is the remains of a large impact crater that was subsequently flooded by basaltic lava and clearly the crater walls were breached by lava flow from Mare Imbrium to the southeast.

The left hand promontory is named Promontorium Heraclides and the one at right Promontorium Laplace. The latter casts a beautiful shadow onto the floor of the crater remnant and shows the relatively low angle of the Sun. At the time, this area of the lunar surface was at the terminator and quite dark.

The Montes Jura surround Sinus Iridium from the northeast to the southwest and crater Bianchini is the large crater near the edge of Sinus Iridium.

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Sinus Iridium - The Bay of Rainbows, Niall MacNeill