On the wall of my office hangs an oil painting I made when I was twelve (58 years ago!) It shows the crater Petavius, with its strange, elongated companion Palitzsch. I have no idea why I became fascinated by these structures, but I do remember watching Sir Patrick Moore discussing their origin on 'The Sky at Night' and. shortly after, managing to observe them with my brother Rob. Since we only had an ancient refracting telescope, that was quite a feat!
Last night, with the Moon two days past full, the terminator ran down the side of Petavius, bringing it into sharp relief: the memories came flooding back...
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