From Tycho to the South Pole

Description and Details: A high-resolution journey across the lunar Southern Highlands, captured under good seeing conditions on February 27, 2026. This single-shot frame spans from the prominent, rayed crater Tycho in the north, down through the massive walled plain of Clavius, ending in the dramatic shadows and rugged terrain of the Lunar South Pole.

The image was acquired using a Vixen VMC260L at its native focal length of 3000mm. To maximize the potential of the ASI 183MM and its small 2.4µm pixels, I employed a 1.5x Drizzle workflow during stacking to refine the micro-detail, followed by a 67% downsample to return to the native resolution. This approach should ensured sampling of 0.16"/px.

At the Moon's distance of 366,712 km during the session, this results in a linear scale of approximately 293 meters per pixel, allowing for a clear view of craterlets and ridges near the theoretical limit of the 10-inch aperture.Technical Details:Telescope: Vixen VMC260L (f/11.5)


Camera: ZWO ASI 183MM
Filter: Baader 685nm IR-Pass
Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ6-R
Processing: Stacked in AutoStakkert (Best 10%), Wavelets in Astrosurface, post-processing in Photoshop (Unsharp mask, High Pass, Curve, Exposure, Brightness/Contrast)

Name: Alessandro Gambaro