Arzachel, southern end of the Ptolemaeus Chain

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Photographer:

Ken Vaughan

Location of Photo:

Cattle Point, Victoria, BC, Canada

Date/Time of photo:

22 Jan 21

Equipment:

12" Meade LX200GPS, ZWO ASI178MM, Astronomik 642 filter

Description:

It lies at the southern end of the "Ptolemaeus Chain". At about 3.9 billion years old, Arzachel still looks pretty sharp. It has steep walls that show signs of slumping in the past. The crater floor is fairly smooth, except where marked by the cluster of central peaks and a few craterlets. Arzachel A (10 km) is to the northeast of the central peaks, overlain by small crater, with Arzachel K (4 km) to the southeast. Rimae Arzachel is also visible on the eastern half of the crater floor. To the northwest of Arzachel is Alpetragius (40 km), looking like an egg in a nest, and to the southwest is Thebit (58 km), joined with Thebit A (20 km) and Thebit L (11 km)