Seeing Promontorium Heraclides as a woman’s head is not surprising, given that it has long been known as the “Moon Maiden,” a depiction that first appeared on Giovanni Cassini 1679’s map of the Moon. The feature was intentionally rendered to appear like the profile of a woman’s head with wind-blown hair, looking out over the Bay like a widow on watch.
That I would see a larger figure among the intense light and shadow of the Jura Mountains is also not unprecedented. In his 1953 Guide to the Moon, the late British astronomy popularizer Patrick Moore wrote, “When the terminator passes close by, the mountain peaks of the eastern border (the Juras) catch the light, and the whole bay stands out from the blackness like a handle studded with gleaming jewels.” Ever since, that feature has been known as the Jeweled (or Golden) Handle Effect.
As for the waves in the Bay, these low sinuous ridges were most likely created by compressional and uplifting forces when deep, once-dormant faults reactivated. This caused surface layers to buckle along the crests of ridge-like rises — first the middle in inner bay, followed later by the outer bay. It is an example of visual artistry created by the invisible brush of global cooling on the Moon.
As always, send your observations and thoughts to sjomeara31@gmail.com.