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Updated: June 16, 2025
There are some other formations, Langrenus and Petavius, for example, which, if they were equally well situated, would probably be fully as striking; but, as we see it Copernicus is par excellence the monarch of the lunar ring-mountains.
BRIGHT RAY-SYSTEMS. Reference has already been made to the faint light streaks and markings often found on the floors of the ring-mountains and in other situations, and to the brilliant nimbi surrounding some of the smaller craters; but, in addition to these, many objects on the moon's visible surface are associated with a much more remarkable and conspicuous phenomenon the bright rays which, under a high sun, are seen either to radiate from them as apparent centres to great distances, or, in the form of irregular light areas, to environ them, and to throw out wide-spreading lucid beams, extending occasionally many hundreds of miles from their origin.
The well-known bright spot in the south-east quarter, called by astronomers Tycho, and which can be readily distinguished by the naked eye, is one of these ring-mountains. There is one of 200 miles in diameter, with a pit 22,000 feet deep; that is, twice the height of AEtna.
The great pock marked face of Luna, with its ring-mountains in incredible numbers and complexity, and the vast open "seas" which were solidified oceans of lava, would be clear to her mind's eye. She would be imagining the gradual changes of the moon's face with nearness, when the colorings appear. From a distance all the moon seems tan or sandy in tint.
But there were things to do. They took their places. They watched out the ports. The Moon had seemed a vast round ball a little while back. Now it appeared to be flattening. Its edges still curved away beyond a surprisingly nearby horizon. The ring-mountains were amazingly distinct. There were incredibly wide, smooth spaces with mottled colorings. But the mountains....
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