SECTION DESCRIPTION
The dark monotonous area of Sinus Aestuum is surrounded by several interesting formations, the most striking being the beautiful crater Eratosthenes. A mountain range projects S-W of Eratosthenes towards the "submerged crater" Stadius. NW of Stadius is a crater chain which continues further north. A dome is clearly visible close to the crater Gambart C. Under high illumination large, prominent dark patches can be seen to the south of the crater Copernicus C and to the north of the crater Schroter D. The area near Gambert C was the landing site of Surveyor II. Refer to your Antonin Rukl lunar atlas chart, page 91.

EARTH-BASED TELESCOPIC IMAGES:
Image - Copernicus & Aristothenes (Cidadao)
Image - Eratosthenes, large unprocessed image (Lunascan)
Image - Eratosthenes (Lunascan)
Image - Eratosthenes & the Apennines (Dittmer)
Image - Erastosthenes & Copernicus mosaic (Cidadao)
Image - Eratosthenes (Massey)
Image - Eratosthenes (Cidadao)
Image - Stadius (Genovese)
Image - Stadius (Cidadao)
Image - Stadius crater chain, Erastosthenes & Copernicus -MPS- (Legault)
Image - Stadius crater chain (Genovese)

LUNAR ORBITER IMAGES:
Lunar Orbiter Database
Aestuum, Sinus
Eratosthenes, 58 km
Gambart, 25 km
Insularum, Mare
Schroter, 34.5
Schroter, Rima
Sommering, 28 km
Stadius, 650 m

APOLLO IMAGES: 
None filed this date

RESEARCH UPDATES:
Eratosthenes (Lunascan)
Stadius (Lunascan)

RESEARCH NOTES:
ANOMALIES
LAC-044. (Source: EA,034) Gruithuisen's "Lunar City". The German physician and astronomer Baron Franz von Paula Gruithuisen (1774-1852) shocked the astronomical world in 1824 when he announced the discovery "of many distinct traces of lunar inhabitants, especially one of their colossal buildings." The area in question is a series of parallel 'mounds' just to the north of Schroter crater..." This caused a great deal of excitement at the time, though many astronomers were understandably cautious. "Much later...the astronomer T.W. Webb described the fabled 'lunar city' from his own observations as: '...a curious specimen of parallelism, but so coarse as to carry upon the face of it its natural origin, and it can hardly be called a difficult object.'" Gaudibert's original 1874 article is edited below: "Doubtless drawings of this object exist, and it would be interesting to compare them with its present state. It seems almost certain that Gruithuisen found changes here in the disappearance of the east 'ribs', with the exception of the north-west 'rib', which seems to have been covered by a meridional wall. At the extremity of the next 'rib', instead of a wall I see a depression, and beyond a prolongation of the 'rib'. The third and fourth 'ribs' have no prolongation, but the south one has just a depression, and then what seems to be a continuation of the 'meridional' wall; so that we have the two extremities of this wall without the middle. It would be interesting also to know whether the east side is now in the same state as it was after Gruithuisen lost the 'ribs', and also if the three craterlets north of this object have been observed. They seem of recent date. Observing this object with a power of 550, I saw its surface covered with minute hillocks, with a larger mound at the latitude of the second 'rib'. The terminator was passing through Stadius when I made my observation."