Comments: I made a six-image animation from August 7 thru August 19, 2026. You can follow most features crossing the disk due to the orbital motion around the sun. If you look closely, the dark-floored crater Rachmaninoff sits above center, moving toward the terminator and gradually fading from view. The rayed crater Ellington, located below the left center, maintains a steady brightness. Above it, the smaller rayed crater Suess gradually fades from sight as it moves toward the center. I have a similar animation of Mercury from August 2025, and I can confirm that the rayed craters change their brightness in the same way as in August 2026. It’s worth exploring why one rayed crater appears to show varying brightness, while another doesn’t seem to change as they move across the disk.

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Observation 1
Feature(s)	N/A
Filter(s)	610mm
Date	2026-08-19 00:00:57
Julian day	2461271.5
System I	328.7°
System II	N/A
System III	N/A
Illumination	93.0%
Phase angle	30.799999237060547°
Solar longitude	239.9°
Eq. diameter	5.29″
Derotation	0.0 min