by Dave Mitsky

This photograph of a very interesting area of the Moon was accomplished via eyepiece projection using a Pentax K1000 SLR camera and the 17" classical Cassegrain at the Astronomical Society of Harrisburg's Naylor Observatory, which is located two miles northwest of Lewisberry, Pennsylvania.  Aristarchus is 40 kilometers in diameter and is the brightest crater on the Moon, having an albedo nearly two times that of most lunar features.  Schroter's Valley or Vallis Schröteri is commonly known as the Cobra Head Rille and is the largest sinuous rille on the Moon.  It may an extinct lava flow or collapsed lava tube.  These two surface features are located in the middle of Oceanus Procellarum in an area called the Aristarchus plateau.