Tycho is probably one of the most famous craters on the entire Moon. Between first quarter and third quarter Tycho is likely the crater the naked eye immediately goes to. Tycho is the obvious crater located on the southern reaches of the Moon that has the long ejecta lines. The nearly Full Moon in the image below showcases this crater.
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| Tycho on a nearly Full Moon |
The diameter of the crater is 86km, smaller than the previous craters examined in the Explore the Universe certificate. It reaches nearly 5km deep and has prominent central peaks. The walls are terraced and ejecta lines are easily visible later in the lunar cycle. Tycho is a very young crater with an estimated age of only 108 million years. Compare this to Plato which dated back nearly 4 billion years.
The crater is named after the famous Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. Brahe (1546-1601) was one of the last astronomers to not use a telescope. He is known for what is now known as a Tychonic Cosmological Model. This model has both the Moon and Sun orbiting the Earth while the rest of the planets orbit the Sun. Tycho was a devout Lutheran and interpreted the Bible literally that the Earth shall not be moved (1 Chr 16:30, Psa 93:1, Psa 96:10). Even though Brahe did not have the technology of a telescope he made the most accurate naked eye measurements in history. His published measurements had errors not typically larger than 3 arcminutes. His observation notes had some errors less than a single arcminute. He improved the sextant and most other measurement devices of the period. He is also famous for being involved in a duel with a distant cousin where he lost most of his nose. He wore a silver/gold prosthetic for the rest of his life.
The image below showcases this amazing crater, its central peaks and its terraced rim. It is a composition of the top 10% of 2000 frames taken over 20 seconds.
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| Tycho |
A wide field view showcases some of Tycho's conspicuous neighbours including the 163km wide Maginus to its South (up in this photograph). The terminator can be seen to the West (right) in the image.
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| Tycho Wide Field |
The next time you look at the Moon take a gander at Tycho and see how far you can see the ejecta lines spread across the surface. Enjoy the Spring sky before the mosquitoes claim the outdoors to begin their evil reign over the twilight.
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