30. Kepler

Against the dark background of Oceanum Procellarum two systems of bright rays cross each other, the ray system focused on Copernicus, and the system focused on Kepler which dominates the surroundings of Kepler. North of Hortensius an important group of lunar domes, furthermore there are groups of domes, (also visible with smaller telescopes) west of Milichius, and near the mountain massif of Tobias Mayer Alpha and Zeta.

ENCKE - Johann Franz Encke. (Born: Hamburg, Germany 23 September  1791 - Died: Spandau, Germany 26 August  1865) German Astronomer. Director of the Royal Observatory of Berlin. Comet specialist. Calculation of the orbit of the comet that wears his name. Determination of the solar parallax in 1824.

Crater. (31Km / 18Mi Ø ) (Dept: 750m /2,300ft) (4.6° N, 36.6° W) Isolated hexagonal formation situated to the South extremity of a field of hills. Steep slopes supporting Encke H to the South-West. Few high walls supporting the craterlet Encke N to the East. Jumbled floor. Hills and lines. White stains around a craterlet.

HORTENSIUS - Martin van den Hove.  (Born: 1605, Delft, Netherlands – Died: 7 August 1639) Dutch astronomer and mathematician.

Crater. (6.5°N, 28.0°W) (15km /9Mi Ø ) (Depth: 2.9km /1.8Mi ) Circular formation.

KEPLER -  Johannes Kepler (December 27, 1571, Weil der Stadt, Germany – November 15, 1630 Regensburg, Germany ) German Scientist in the fields of Astronomy, Mathematics, Optics and Natural Philosophy. Assistant of Tycho Brahé. Author of "Astronomia nova" in 1611 presenting the first 2 laws of the movement of planets and "Harmonia mundi" in 1619 presenting the third law. Author of the "Rudolphine Tables" of planetary positions in 1627. Found the Kepler conjecture. Research into the workings of light, lenses, and the eye. Inventor of the Kepler Ocular.

Crater. (32 km /19Mi ø ) (Dept: 2,750m /8,300ft) (8.1°N, 38.0°W) Starting point of an extended system of bright rays. Isolated circular formation, steep slopes especially to the south and supporting Kepler F to the west. High walls with light terraces, jumbled floor, weak central relief, hills, craterlets.

KUNOWSKY - Georg K. F. Kunowsky. (born: Germany, 1786 - Died: 1846) German amateur Astronomer. Observer of the Moon and Mars. Observations of Mars with an 11 cm achromatic refractor telescope made by Joseph von Fraunhofer, which was one of the first times that achromatic refractors were used for planetary observation.

Crater. (19Km /11Mi ø ) (Dept: 850m /2,600ft) (3.2° N, 32.5° W) Isolated circular formation. Few steep slopes. Few high walls. Flat floor filled with lava. Small central mountain. Few crest lines marked. Craterlets.

MILICHIUS -  Jacob Milich. (Born: Germany, 1501 - Died: 1559) German Doctor of philosophy and mathematician. 

Crater (13.5Km /8Mi ø ) Dept: 2,150m /6,500ft) (10.0° N, 30.2° W) Isolated circular formation with bowl shape. Steep slopes. High walls. Rounded floor. Milichius Pi is a typical Moon Dome with on top a small crater. West of the crater running north - south, the rille Rima Milichius.

OCEANUS PROCELLARUM - See Map 29.

           30.