Clavius and Moon's Southern Pole
The Moon's south pole is near the top of this view taken at the Moon's last quarter, with the lunar terminator, the sunset shadow line, approaching from the left.
The mountains visible along the lunar limb at the top can rise about 6 kilometers above the surrounding terrain.
The large prominent crater just below the center is Clavius. Named after the Jesuit priest Christopher Clavius, it is one of the largest craters on the Moon, nearly 231 kilometers in diameter, as well as one of the oldest formations on the lunar surface and was likely formed during the Nectarian period, about 4 billion years ago.
In October 2020, NASA confirmed the existence of molecular water near Clavius, with its origin still debated.
North of Clavius, below it in the image, are two large craters, Longomontanus on its West (right) and Maginus on its East (left). Both are ancient lunar craters, with their walls heavily worn and incised by past impacts, and the rim essentially leveled with the surrounding terrain.
Maginus's wall is broken through in the southeast by Maginus C.
West of Clavius (right) is crater Scheiner and between the two (southwest of Clavius, on its top right in the image), lays crater Blancanus. While the rim of Scheiner is heavily worn, in particular in the northern part, the rim of Blancanus is considerably less eroded and still fairly well defined.
Another notable crater in the region near the south pole of the Moon is Moretus, on the top left of this image. Moretus floor has been partly resurfaced and is relatively flat, with a mountain formation at its center that rises for about 2.1 kilometers. Due to the location near the lunar limb, Moretus appears oblong because of perspective.
C14 @ f/16 - ZWO ASI290MM - Baader Green filter - 6 frames mosaic - iOptron CEM120 - Singapore
