The British Astronomical Association
Lunar Section
Circular
Vol. 50 No. 6 June-July 2013
Director: Bill Leatherbarrow
Editor: Peter Grego
Aristoteles and Eudoxus, imaged by Damian Peach on 2013 April 17.
From the Director
Good books about the Moon are like buses – you wait forever
and then several come along at once. In the past few months
several publications have appeared that are of great interest to
the serious observer of the Moon. In the last issue of this
Circular mention was made of a major new monograph entitled
Lunar Domes: Properties and Formation Processes, authored
by Raffaello Lena, Christian Wöhler, Jim Phillips and Maria
Teresa Chiocchetta, and published by Springer. The work of
Rafa and his colleagues in the Geological Lunar Research
group is well known to us all, as is the publication Selenology
Today, also published by that group. Their work cataloguing
and categorising lunar domes has been going on for many
years, and the excellence of that work is the main reason why
lunar domes have not been included in our own observational
programme. The new book represents a serious contribution to
lunar science and is recommended to all who are interested in
that subject.
The book by Rafa and his colleagues, although aimed at the
lunar observer, is pitched at a specialist and theoretical level.
However, there have also been recent publications of a more
practical nature that merit the attention of active lunar
observers. Cambridge University Press has recently released
The Cambridge Photographic Moon Atlas, by Alan Chu,
Wolfgang Paech and Mario Weigand. Although not an atlas in
the sense of covering the entire lunar surface, this volume
provides a superb portfolio of high-resolution images of key
lunar formations taken by skilled amateur imagers. The 21st
Century Atlas of the Moon, edited by Chuck Wood and Maurice
Collins, provides even higher-resolution views of major
features based upon Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter imagery,
along with more specialised maps of the limb and polar areas
using LRO imagery as manipulated by Jim Mosher’s Lunar
Terminator Visualisation Tool. It may be ordered on line at:
http://lpod.wikispaces.com/21st+Century+Atlas+of+the+Moon
Both of these atlases use modern technology to offer a fine
resource to the telescopic explorer. When The Hatfield Lunar
Atlas was first published more than forty years ago, such
technology was long in the future, and recent editions of Henry Hatfield’s photographs, taken with a 12-inch
reflector and using traditional photographic film, have looked somewhat out-of-date. However, our own Tony
Cook has recently produced a new, digitally remastered edition of the Hatfield atlas that uses up-to-date
techniques to enhance the quality of the original photographic prints. The result, published by Springer, gives
a new lease of life to a venerable classic. It also marks the second generation of Cook family involvement in
the Hatfield atlas, for Tony’s father Jeremy – a past-Director of the BAA Lunar Section – was the editor of
versions produced in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Finally, since the last Circular I have heard of the untimely death of Andrew Bytnar on 12 February 2013.
Until November 2012, when illness intervened, Andrew contributed a regular Cloudwatch column to this
Circular. He will be much missed, and I am sure that Section members will wish to join me in offering
condolences to his family and friends.
Bill Leatherbarrow
Director, BAA Lunar Section
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Topographical notes
compiled by Peter Grego
Visual studies and observations
Since May’s Lunar Section Circular, visual topographic lunar observational drawings have been received
from Peter Grego (St Dennis, UK), Mike Harvey (UK) and Chuck Hastorf (Arizona, USA).
Lansberg
Peter Grego
2013 May 19
1. 21:00-22:00 UT
2. 23:00-23:30 UT
1. Col. 27.3-27.8°
2. Col. 28.3-28.5°
1. Lib. Lat. +06°32’-34’
1. Lib. Lon. -07°27’-35’
2. Lib. Lat. +06°34’
2. Lib. Lon. -07°41’-44’
1. Moon’s alt. 36-31°
2. Moon’s alt. 23-19°
1. Seeing: AII-II, deep twilight,
slight haze
2. Seeing: AII, clear, no wind
300 mm Newtonian, 200x,
integrated light
Location: St Dennis, Cornwall, UK
Observational drawings on PDA (iPAQ hx4700). North at top.
Notes: A two-sketch sequential observation of the crater Lansberg (39 km) and environs on the western border
of Mare Insularum. Lansberg was emerging from the morning terminator, its interior completely shadowed
except for its inner western rim. To its north could be traced a number of wrinkle ridges, one inside the
terminator whose upper slopes caught sunlight and another, a seeming continuation of Lansberg’s outer
northern glacis, extending north and curving to the south of what appeared to be two dome-like structures
north of Reinhold N. It was unclear whether there were summit craters on either, but there appeared to be
some form of shadowed indentations on these domes. In the first session the craters Lansberg B and C were
both inside the terminator, with only their outer eastern walls catching sunlight and appearing as crescents.
South of Lansberg there appeared to be a complicated system of roughly north-south ridges that cast
prominent shadows. The massif and mountainous chains southeast of Lansberg were very complex and only
captured in their basic form in the sketches. By the time the second observation was commenced (an hour
after the end of the first session) the shadows had receded noticeably, although Lansberg remain attached to
the trminator by the shadow cast by its western rim. The area to its north was very complex, and a number of
ridges had emerged from the shadow. While Lansberg B had by now almost a completely illuminated rim,
Lansberg C remained crescent-shaped. The complex of shadow-casting ridges south of Lansberg had shrunk
to what appeared to be a single ridge, and Lansberg N was peeking from the edge of the shadow to its north.
Half way between Lansberg B and C and Lansberg the shadow of Lansberg had receded to reveal a couple of
rounded ridges.
My sincere apologies to everyone who regularly contributes to, and/or receives, the BAA Lunar Section
Circular, both for the lateness of this July issue and the fact that it has been retro-combined with the June
issue. An unexpected series of events, completely unrelated to astronomy, meant that I was away from home
for a considerable time during late May and June. While this was not a serious matter in itself, it seriously
affected my ability to work on the Circular. At the moment things here remain hectic to the point where the
content of this issue is not reflective of the amount of material that has been received, but I have taken the
Director’s advice and at least produced something rather than nothing! With luck, things ought to be
completely back to normal by the time I compile the August issue of the LSC, with lots more content.
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Lunar images
Since May’s LSC, lunar images (or links to images) have been received from Mike Brown (York, UK),
Maurice Collins (New Zealand), David Finnigan (UK), Richard Hill (USA).
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Transient lunar phenomena, June-July 2013
Tony Cook
Observations for April were received from the following observers: Jay Albert (Lake Worth, FL, USA - ALPO)
observed: Abulfeda, Cassini, Censorinus, Langrenus, Mare Crisium, Proclus, and Torricelli. Rafaello Braga
(Italy) observed the south pole area. Maurice Collins (New Zealand - RASNZ) observed: Aristarchus, Mare
Crisium, Pythagoras, Schiller, Tycho, and obtained whole disk images of the Moon. Marie Cook (Mundesley,
UK) observed Hercules, McClure, Mons Piton, Plato, Proclus, and Promontorium Laplace. Collin Henshaw
(Saudi Arabia) imaged the partial lunar eclipse. Rik Hill (Tucson, AZ, USA) imaged: Cassini, Cleomedes,
Hipparchus, Lacus Mortis, Langrenus, Mare Crisium, Mare Vaporum, Petavius, Werner, and several other
features. Andre Munoz (Aberystwyth University, UK) imaged the whole lunar disk. Michal Pyka (Poland)
imaged several features. Robert Reeves (San Antonio, TX, USA) imaged: the Hortensius domes and Copernicus
area. Brendan Shaw (UK) imaged: Alphonsus, Maginus, Mons Piton, and Proclus. Paul Zeller (Indianapolis, IN,
USA) observed: Aristarchus. I have also received some additional observations from UAI members Claudio
Vantaggiato and Franco Taccogna for February and April 2013.
Observations for May were received from the following observers: Jay Albert (Lake Worth, FL, USA - ALPO)
observed: Aristarchus, Mons Piton, Plato, Prinz, Proclus, Ptolemaeus, Lick, the western limb, and several other
features. Maurice Collins (New Zealand - RASNZ) imaged: Atlas, Mare Crisium, Petavius, Rupes Altai,
Theophilus, observed a partial eclipse of the Sun, and took some whole Moon images. Marie Cook (Mundesley,
UK) observed Theophilus. Rik Hill (Tucson, AZ, USA) imaged: Stofler and Torricelli. Norman Izett (New
Zealand) imaged the whole lunar disk. Pawel Kaldonek (Poland) imaged several features. Andre Munoz
(Aberystwyth University, UK) imaged the Goldschmidt area of the Moon. Michal Pyka (Poland) imaged several
features. Brendan Shaw (UK) imaged Menelaus, Peirce, Picard, Proclus, the south pole area, and Theophilus.
Franco Taccogna (UAI observer, Italy) imaged Agrippa, Bullialdus, Darney and Picard. Claudio Vantaggiato
(UAI observer, Italy) sketched Picard. Observations for previous months have also been received from several
observers, and will be used in ongoing analysis.
News: Firstly I would like to correct a typo that occurred in the last newsletter, the observation by “Martin
Pyka”, should have read “Michal Pyka”, and he is based in Katowice, Poland.
Although not directly to do with TLP, Avani Soares (Brazil) has emailed me about an article they have written
on a ghost, or buried, 50 km diameter (120m deep) crater they found near Wolllaston D. Avani has now
confirmed their suspicions that it is definitely a ghost crater by doing some topographic profiles through it using
the NASA LRO Quickmap tool. You can see some examples in the following PDF file, though you might want
to cut and paste some of the text into Google Translate to convert the Portuguese into English. Considering that
most TLP occur on, or near to, craters, one wonders whether we should also be looking for TLP in the mare
areas, where lava may have covered up underlying craters. It would be difficult though to detect a common type
of TLP, namely obscurations, here though as the mare areas look pretty bland and featureless anyway.
Antonio Mercatali has been emailing me about cameras for detecting impact flashes on the Moon’s night side.
He has taken some impressive images that can attain magnitude 12. But the SBIG ST7-XMEI camera that he is
using has an image read out time of 1.5 seconds, which unfortunately is too slow for most impact flash work
where TV frame rates of 25fps or faster are needed to capture these usually short < 0.1 sec impact flashes. He
is considering instead a Chameleon CCD camera from PointGrey, or a ASI 120MM CMOS camera from ZWO,
both of which have USB readout. My own experience is from using the Watec 902H which produces composite
video and can record down to fainter than magnitude 11 in real time 25fps; although it does need a non-MPEG
video capture card with firewire output to a PC to capture the video. If anybody has any comments on the above
USB cameras, or indeed any other high frame rate USB cameras capable of videoing in real time down to
magnitude 10-11 (25fps or faster), then I would gladly pass them on.
On the subject of impact flashes, on 2013 Mar 17 UT 03:50:54 two 14-inch telescopes run by NASA’s Marshall
Space Flight Center, recorded an impact flash that was so bright, it could have been seen as a 4th magnitude star,
with the naked eye, without the aid of a telescope. It lasted just under 1 second duration and was located north
of Kepler and Copernicus in Mare Imbrium, on the Moon’s night side. You can watch this on the following You
Tube video. Please check your records to see if you were observing at this time?
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It was with sad news that I heard of the passing of Andrew Bytnar, who had been running the “Cloud Watch”
programme in the BAA Lunar Section for the last 20 years. I heard this news indirectly through email contacts
(2nd hand), originating from his Polish cousin Tomasz Tyka. Cloud Watch was perhaps a rather unique British
astronomical activity to keep statistics on the number of cloudy nights, which would prevent us from seeing the
Moon. It had quite a serious purpose though, in TLP studies, for example if we had a low number of TLPs one
year, would this mean that the Moon had been less active that year, or was it the fact that there were more cloudy
nights, preventing us from looking at the Moon? To some extent we can now circumvent this statistical effect
because we do now keep track of when people observe the Moon, based upon the observations submitted to the
ALPO and BAA Lunar Sections. Andrew passed away on the 12th of February after being ill for quite some time
and eventually being hospitalized. He will be greatly missed.
Books: Now that we are heading into northern Summer and the nights are getting shorter, I thought it might be
an idea to mention some books that cover TLP observing techniques, in case anybody is interested.
The Hatfield Lunar Atlas – A Digitally Remastered Edition is primarily an update of the previous versions of the
atlas, with digitally augmented (sharper and less grainy) versions of Commander Hatfield’s photographic plates.
It has 4 chapters and 3 appendices, detailing: (1) the digital augmentation process used, (2) lunar observing
techniques for the beginner, and advanced amateur, (3) maps and plates, and (4) simulations of sunrise and
sunset over 16 selected lunar features. TLP get only a brief mention (< 2 pages) in the second chapter, mostly
pointing out the problems with current theories, and classifying the types of TLP that observers have seen in the
past. More importantly though it provides a flow chart style check list of what to do in the unlikely event that
someone actually thinks that they are seeing a TLP on the Moon.
The Moon and How to Observe It, by Peter Grego, has nine chapters and nearly 300 pages. Chapter nine of this
paperback book has a few pages on the subject of TLP, but the subject is also covered in a couple of pages in
the first chapter too. Like Gerald North’s book below, this is a good book for both the beginner and the advanced
amateur, and has a good number of excellent illustrative figures.
Observing the Moon: The Modern Astronomer’s Guide, by Gerald North is nearly 400 pages long, with 9
chapters covering most aspects of lunar observing that you can think about. This is well suited to both the
beginner and the advanced amateur and has a vast number of illustrative figures. The final chapter is devoted to
TLP observing, and details some of the author’s personal experience in hunting for TLP e.g. spectroscopy from
the former Royal Greenwich Observatory at Herstmonceux, UK.
Lunar Meteoroids Impacts and How to Observe them, by Brian Cudnik, is a paperback written by one of the
first people to observe visually impact flashes on the Moon. It has 12 chapters and 8 appendices and will give
you a good comprehensive guide on how to go about searching for impact flashes on the Moon’s night side. It
deals with not just the techniques involved, but also the
history of attempts by amateurs led by Walter Haas, to try
to observe meteorite impacts on the Moon several
decades ago. Meteor showers and crater geology are also
described in comprehensive detail.
TLP Reports: Two TLP reports were received in April.
The first came via the UAI concerning something imaged
on the eastern limb of the Moon by Renato Cittadino
(Olgiate Comasco, Italy). If anybody was imaging the
Moon on 2013 Apr 25 UT 19:35, please let me know and
I will pass the details onto the UAI.
Figure 1. A sketch of Aristarchus made on 2013 Apr
23 by Paul Zeller with the location of two coloured
bands indicated by a pair of arrows. North is arrowed.
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The second TLP report in April comes from a repeat illumination observation by Paul Zeller made on 2013
Apr 22 UT 01:39-02:37. Paul was using a 10” f/4 reflector at x200 magnification (seeing 6, transparency 3
with some scattered cirrus clouds). In his visual observation he saw two closely spaced NW wall dark bands,
and these appeared to have a rusty-red hue. Continued watching revealed no change in colour. Images were
taken, but unfortunately the image resolution and signal to noise ratio were insufficient to depict these bands
well enough to see any colour. The repeat illumination event was for Bartlett’s 1959 Mar 24 TLP in
Aristarchus where blueness had been seen inside the crater. It is rather ironic that although Paul captured some
blueness in his images, the only colour he saw visually was the redness of two of the bands.
No TLPs were reported in May, though I was grateful for Paul Campbell (Horbury, UK) for providing me
with some images of a possible flash on the Moon from 2012 Oct 06 UT 23:10. This was visible in an image
sequence, but turned out to be the crater Menelaus (a few high parts of which were still illuminated) just on
the night side of the evening terminator – it flared up in brightness as a result of atmospheric seeing conditions
– so most of the time it was not visible.
Although not a TLP, I received a web link from Pawel Kaldonek, concerning a picture posted on a Katowice
(Poland) airport Facebook site, which had a superb image (scroll down, past the exciting vacation destination,
to the May 21st entry) of a Ryan Air Boing 737 flying past the Moon in the line of sight at 19:23UT on that
date. Pawel was curious though about the apparent bright point on the Moon’s terminator. I was able to point
out that this was none other than Aristarchus crater, whose western rim was just starting to catch the sunlight,
and often appears like this.
Routine Reports: Here is a selection of reports received during April and May that can help to re-assess some
past TLP observations. Some additional routine April and May observations can be found in the ALPO TLO
June and July 2012 newsletters.
Proclus: On 2013 Apr 16 UT 19:00-19:15 Marie Cook observed this crater under similar illumination
conditions, and using the same telescope, to a TLP that she was attributed to have seen in the same crater back
in 1990 Mar 03 (see below). She observed this time that there was no long plume of light was seen inside the
crater, and the central feature was clearly seen with the Sun’s brightest point on the N-NW rim. The shadow
was about 1/3rd filled and on the eastern side of the crater.
Proclus 1990 Mar 03 UT 00:12-00:13 Observed by Marie Cook (Frimley, UK, 3.5” Questar
telescope) observed a “long plume of light” the brightness was the same as the wall
region. It went from the southern rim about half of the way across to the centre in the
“northerly”. The plume feature was not seen at higher magnifications. Change in
brightness also noted. The Cameron 2006 catalog ID=394 and the weight=1. The ALPO/BAA
weight=1.
A further communication from Marie though has pointed out that the entry above from the most recent
Cameron TLP catalog was in error and should have read 1990-3-9 (not 1990-3-3). It was 5 days after first
quarter, not 2 days before first quarter. I have now corrected the entry in the TLP database and hopefully this
should appear corrected in later predictions.
Proclus: On 2013 Apr 18 UT 20:58-21:00 Brendan Shaw captured an RGB colour image of Proclus in Figure
2. This matched similar illumination conditions to a Peter Madej TLP report from 1984 Jul 06
Proclus 1984 Jul 06 UT 20:29-20:43 light green spot observed by Madej (England) in the
central region. No colour seen elsewhere. At 20:10 Foley (Kent, UK, 12” reflector) had
seen a small extending of darkening in the south east floor (not present 2 hours before)
and a lot of fine detail - though everything was normal again by 22:50UT. At 22:15 Amery
(Reading, UK) found a large dark spot on the south east floor. Other observers: J and
A.cook (Frimley, England) could not confirm but their seeing was IV and transparency was
poor” Mobberley found no colour and also no detail on the floor. BAA Lunar Section
Report. Cameron 2006 catalog ID=248 and weight=3. ALPO/BAA weight=2.
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Figure 2. Colour image of Proclus, by Brendan Shaw, taken on 2013 Apr 18, with north towards the top. The
image has been sharpened in blue to bring it upto similar sharpness to the red and green channels, combined
colour has been normalized, and then undergone 50% colour saturation to enhance any colours present.
Clearly as Brendan’s image shows no green spot at the centre, this emphasizes the unusual nature of the Peter Madej
observation. There may be a hint of green or blue around the NW-E inner walls, but this could be as a result of
atmospheric spectral dispersion, and is not anywhere near the centre. There is certainly dark shading on the south
east, and plenty of detail, so these attributes, seen by Amery and Foley are perfectly normal, though it is difficult to
ascertain what the “a small extending of darkening in the south east floor (not present 2 hours before” was all about?
The latter might have been seeing related perhaps – likewise the Mobberley description of lack of detail on the floor,
but unfortunately at the time of writing I do not have these observations to hand in digital form on my laptop for
scrutiny. However the issue of the light green spot, seen by Madej remains, and I am therefore increasing the weight
of this TLP from a 2 to a 3 as the Moon was at a reasonable (for the UK) altitude of 26° at the start of the observing
session, and one would expect red or blue if the effect was due to refractive effects in the optics or in our atmosphere.
Lunar eclipse: On 2013 Apr 25 Collin Henshaw was able to capture images of the Moon, during the partial lunar
eclipse, whilst the UK, and possibly other parts of the world, were under cloud. Although the umbral part of the
eclipse covered only 1% of the lunar disk, the edge of the umbra is never well defined, but by subtracting images,
just a few minutes part (see Figure 3), it is possible to show what larger extent of the surface was affected. We have
used image subtraction before to study lunar eclipse shadows, but instead of subtracting adjacent images in time, it
is best to subtract Full Moon images prior to the eclipse from the actual eclipse images. If this is done correctly,
involving precise alignment and normalisation to compensate for variations in atmospheric transparency, this should
lead to a more reliable method of estimating the darkness of any eclipse. Unfortunately it is never as easy as this
because of effects such as libration, and the lunar photometric function near Full Moon, being at its sharpest gradient.
Figure 3. Partial Lunar Eclipse from 2013 Apr 25 with north towards the top left. Left image taken at
21:21UT. Centre image taken at 21:27UT. Right image represents a difference image between the previous
two images, highlighting the umbral area.
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Lick: On 2013 May 15 UT 00:10-00:25 Jay Albert observed this region, using a C11 scope, (seeing 6/10, in
twilight and under partly cloudy conditions). Below is a summarized version of the original TLP report,
according to the NASA catalog:
Lick 1972 Jan 20 UT 18:45-20:45 S.Will (Edinburgh, UK, 60 mm refractor, x116, x35,
conditions average to poor, a thin cloud covering giving a boiling image) Observer
reported a black fuzzy oval spot about 32 km across near Picard, and was probably the
crater Lick. The fuzziness extended towards the NW (AIU?). It was observed periodically
until cloud prevented further observation at 20:45. The effect was confirmed by 2 other
observers using a 6” reflector and a 40mm refractor. The ALPO/BAA weight=1.
Jay makes the following comments about what he saw: “Contrary to the TLP description, the black, oval spot
near Picard was not fuzzy. It wasn’t the Lick crater either. Lick was fully lit with its floor the same shade of
light gray as the mare floor. Lick’s low walls were bright, as was a very small central peak. The dark spot S
of Picard appears to be the crater Greaves on the N edge of Lick. The floor of Greaves was in full, black
shadow. This seems to be normal for this solar angle. I used 311x”. In view of this, and the poor seeing and
small scope used originally, I am changing this TLP from a weight of 1, to a non-TLP status of 0.
Messier: On May 15 UT 19:20 Pawel Kaldonek, was experimenting with imaging the Moon through his
telescope using a camera on a mobile phone, This matched similar illumination to the following TLP seen by
Geoff Amery (A BAA Lunar Section Director):
On 1983 Jan 19 at UT 18:00-19:00 G.W. Amery (Reading, UK) found that Messier was
difficult to define. The Cameron 2006 catalog ID=197 and the weight=2. The ALPO/BAA
weight=1.
Although the resolution that Pawel’s camera obtained was not too great (he is just a beginner in lunar
imaging), his image suggests that indeed Messier was probably difficult to see. I will therefore leave the
weight at 1 of this former TLP for now though as I would really like to see a higher resolution image, at some
time in the future, to confirm the appearance of the crater pair.
Picard: On the evening of 2013 May 19, three observers observed the Mare Crisium area under similar
illumination to what English astronomer Ingall, would have seen on 1864 May 15/16:
East of Picard 1864 May 15-16 UT 23:00-01:00? Observed by Ingall (Camberwell, England)
“Remarkable bright spot” NASA catalog weight=3 (average). NASA catalog ID #134. ALPO/BAA
weight=3.
According to the Royal Astronomical Society’s Astronomical Register, from that era… In No. 23 of the
Astronomical Register , November, 1864, p. 264, Mr. Herbert Ingall called attention to
a spot on the moon of about 6° or 7° of brightness and little to the “west” (east IAU)
of Picard, which he saw on May 15, 1864, and again on October 16, 1864. In the following
number, December, 1864, PP* ^95) 296) a careful description of the spot is inserted. In
an article in the English Mechanic, January 12, 1877, p. 425, entitled, “Telescopic Work
for Moonlight Evenings” mention is made of this spot, and also that on December 12,
1864. Knott discovered two minute craterlets on its site...... When at its greatest
apparent size it was generally estimated as double the size of Picard.....
You can see the outcome of our modern day observations in Figure 4 – Picard is just to the left of Proclus and
has a dark halo around it.. None of these observations show any evidence for a remarkably bright spot east of
Picard, but Antonio Mercatali (UAI) relayed to me Claudio’s comment, that he wonders if the “remarkable
bright spot” would have been located at the 2.7km diameter Curtis crater? This seems reasonable to me. I have
checked Curtis out on the LROC image web site and it is just a nice unremarkable bowl shaped simple crater
with quite a few boulders on the inside – though in on Clementine UVVIS colour ratio maps it does appear
to have an compositional ejecta area 15 km in diameter. However as Curtis is not remarkably bright in any of
these three modern observations, the original TLP will stay at a weight of 3 as the mystery remains as to why
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it was so bright back in 1864? Perhaps we need to re-observe under similar libration too? I will also change
the designation of this crater from Picard to Curtis as this more properly reflects the location of the original
bright spot.
Figure 4. The following have been SCT mirror reversed to match Claudio’s labeled drawing. You can use
the labels in Claudio’s drawing to identify the craters discussed above. North is to the top right and east is
towards the top left. (Left) Brendan Shaw’s monochrome image from UT20:03UT. (Centre) Claudio
Vantaggiato’s (UAI) sketch from 20:00-20:17 UT. (Right) Franco Taccogna’s (UAI) image from 20:17 UT –
with colour saturation enhancement.
Cusps: On 2013 May 19 UT21:34 Michal Pyka was able to image (see Figure 5) the southern area of the
Moon under exactly the same illumination and libration, to within +/-1° to what the Californian based
astronomer, Barcroft, would have seen back in 1941:
Cusps 1941 Mar 07 UT 04:00? Observed by Barcroft (Madera, CA, USA, 6” reflector)
“Prolongation suspected. (date reported =6th, but if loc. time =7th UT). In this case
we have assumed the 7th” NASA catalog weight=1 (very low) NASA catalog ID #485. ALPO/BAA
weight=1.
It is not apparent which cusps, north or south, he was referring to, but if it was on the south, then it is clear
from Michal’s image that there should be no appreciable cusp extension at the south pole, so one can only
imagine that Barcroft was referring to the north pole? However there maybe an ambiguity over the date,
according to Cameron’s NASA TLP catalog. Michal’s image does show a blip effect on the south edge of
Short crater, but according to plate 14d of the Hatfield Atlas, this is normal. If anybody else has images of the
north polar area from the evening of 2013 May 19, or indeed both poles from the 18th, then I would be very
interested to see these.
Figure 5. Image of the Moon’s southern area by Michal Pyka taken on 2013 May 19 UT 21:34 with north
towards the top.
Lambert Gamma: On 2013 May 20 Maurice Collins imaged (See Figure 6 - left) this region under similar
illumination conditions to +/-0.5° to the TLP report by Armenian astronomer, S. Khachatryan , below.
On 2008 Aug 11 UT 17:40-18:20 S. Khachatryan (Yaravan, Armenia, 127mm f/12 GoTo scope,
x62-x154, seeing: best and transparency=6) observed that an unofficially named mountain
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(Lambert Gamma or Mons Undest), near Lambert, had a “very strong glow”, especially the
part that was facing the line of the terminator and this was brighter than the side
facing away. No other object nearby was casting as much light, even Mons La Hire. The
effect was seen for 40 minutes and the glow was present throughout. The ALPO/BAA
weight=1.
Figure 6. 2013 May 20 – north is towards the top. (Left) UT05:05-05:21 Maurice Collins. (Right) UT07:53
Norman Izett. The red arrows show the location of the unofficially named Lambert Gamma mountain.
Technically speaking, the name “Lambert Gamma” is no longer used, and nor is another name for the
mountain, “Mons Undest”, being disallowed by the IAU – therefore this 7km wide mountain has no official
name, and is located just to the east of Lambert at 18.5°W, 26.5°N. On the Hatfield Atlas, you will see it just
referred to as “Mt” in square E7 on Map 5. Although the image by Maurice (Figure 6 – left) and a a 2nd image
a little later by Norman Izett (Figure 6 – right) do not resolve the mountain well, it is clearly not very bright,
therefore I will raise the weight of this former TLP report from a 1 to a 2.
Suggested Features to observe in July/August: For those of you without access to the internet (in the UK),
below is a list of repeat conditions for when a feature will exhibit the same illumination and libration as was
seen for a historical TLP observation from the past. By re-observing and submitting your observations, we
will get a clear understanding of what the feature ought to have looked like at the time. Only this way can we
really fully analyze past TLP reports.
2013-Jul-01 UT 02:07-03:01 Ill=41% Earthshine - Look for impact flashes from sporadic meteors.
2013-Jul-02 UT 02:34-03:02 Ill=31% Earthshine - Look for impact flashes from sporadic meteors.
2013-Jul-19 UT 20:12-21:29 Ill=88% Vallis Schroteri observed by Firsoff on 1955-08-29: Compare the
appearance of the valley in red and blue light.
2013-Jul-21/22 UT 22:18-02:13 Ill=99% Aristarchus observed by Butler on 1981-05-17: Can you see any
colour on the crater or its surrounds?
2013-Jul-23 UT 02:15-04:20 Ill=100% Aristarchus and Proclus observed by Brook on 2002-03-29:
Compare the brightness of Aristarchus with Proclus over time, and can you see any colour in or around
Aristarchus?
2013-Jul-23 UT 20:53-21:15 Ill=98% Aristarchus observed Bartlett on 1976 Aug 11: Can you see any
colour in or around Aristarchus?
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2013-Jul-24 UT 21:19-22:30 Ill=93% Vendelinus observed by Elger on 1891-12-17: Please sketch or image
at high resolution, looking for a cleft near the northern wall.
2013-Jul-24 UT 21:19-23:10 Ill=93% Censorinus observed by Chapman on 1983-01-30: How bright is the
crater?
2013-Jul-24 UT 21:19-23:10 Ill=93% Torricelli B observed by Foley on 1983-01-30: Please image, and/or
look for signs of colour around the crater.
2013-Jul-29 UT 01:03-03:42 Ill=56% Earthshine - Look for impact flashes from the S.Delta Aquarids, the
Alpha Capricornids, and the Pisces Australids
2013-Jul-30 UT 01:07-03:43 Ill=46% Earthshine - Look for impact flashes from sporadic meteors.
2013-Jul-31 UT 01:42-03:45 Ill=36% Earthshine - Look for impact flashes from sporadic meteors.
2013-Aug-01 UT 02:57-03:47 Ill=27% Earthshine - Look for impact flashes from sporadic meteors.
2013-Aug-02 UT 03:05-04:35 Ill=19% Earthshine - Look for impact flashes from sporadic meteors.
2013-Aug-17 UT 19:23-20:23 Ill=85% Plato observed by North on 1980-05-25: Any colour visible on the
NNW border?
2013-Aug-18/19 UT 20:38-00:02 Ill=93% Plato observed by Foley on 1981-06-14: Please sketch or image.
2013-Aug-19 UT 19:19-20:14 Ill=98% Aristarchus observed by Foley on 1975-09-18: Can you see any
colour on the NW interior corner?
2013-Aug-19 UT 20:46-23:42 Ill=98% Aristarchus observed by Butler on 1981-04-17: How easily can you
resolve the dark bands, and can you see colour on the SW wall?
2013-Aug-20 UT 03:26-03:29 Ill=98% Manilius observed by Haas on 1939-07-30: Please image or sketch.
2013-Aug-21 UT 03:44-04:53 Ill=100% Censorinus observed by Hopmann on 1964-04-26: Monitor the
crater brightness over time.
2013-Aug-21/22 UT 21:17-01:12 Ill=99% Proclus observed by Bartlett on 1958-07-02: How easily can you
see the central spot?
2013-Aug-21/22 UT 22:11-02:07 Ill=99% Aristarchus observed by Bartlett on 1958-07-02: Can you see any
colour?
2013-Aug-22 UT 22:11-02:07 Ill=99% Aristarchus observed by Bartlett on 1976-08-11: Can you see any
colour and how sharp is the W wall?
2013-Aug-29 UT 04:39-05:15 Ill=42% Earthshine - Look for impact flashes from sporadic meteors.
2013-Aug-30 UT 01:49-04:41 Ill=33% Earthshine - Look for impact flashes from sporadic meteors.
2013-Aug-31 UT 02:45-05:22 Ill=25% Earthshine - Look for impact flashes from the Alpha Aurigids
For repeat illumination (only) TLP predictions for the coming month, these can be found on the following
web site: http://users.aber.ac.uk/atc/tlp/tlp.htm .For members who do not have access to the internet, please
drop me a line and I will post predictions to you. If you would like to join the TLP telephone alert team, please
let me know your phone No. and how late you wish to be contacted. If in the unlikely event you see a TLP,
please give me a call on my cell phone: +44 (0)798 505 5681 and I will alert other observers. Note when
telephoning from outside the UK you must not use the (0). When phoning from within the UK please do not
use the +44! Twitter TLP alerts can be accessed on http://twitter.com/lunarnaut.
Dr Anthony Cook, Institute of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Wales Aberystwyth,
Penglais, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 3BZ, Wales, United Kingdom.
Email: atc(at)aber.ac.uk
BAA Lunar Section Circular
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No. 6
June-July 2013
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Occultation news, July 2013
Tim Haymes
Beta Scorpii Occultation, July 18, 23:50 UT — A challenge at low elevation
Beta-1 (Mag 2.6) and Beta-2 (Mag 4.8) Scorpii are occulted by the 80% illuminated Moon at 0050am (BST)
on July 18/19. These are particularly interesting events. Both stars are multiple systems. Occult 4 provides
the following information. (Simplified here by the Coordinator)
Beta-1 ZC2302 (A)
A is a spectroscopic binary 0.001", and there is a companion AB 2.6 10.6 0.31" PA186.5
Its unlikely the 10.6 mag companion will be detected as a step, but its there.
Beta-2 ZC2303 (C)
C has a 6.6mag companion (E) at PA 349. CE 4.5 6.6 0.13" PA 348.6 Observations are highly desired.
Beta-2 is the fainter of the wide pair (AC) and is more likely to be detected as a step because of the favourable
magnitude difference of the companion (E) at dM 2.1 mag.
Visual observers: Do report even though a fade or step phenomena may not be seen. If observed, estimate
the duration of the light step and the approximate drop in magnitude. These stars are occulted about 30
seconds apart at the dark limb near the Northern cusp. I hope you can observe these, weather and local
circumstances allowing. Beta-2 should be monitored carefully.
Video observers: A good opportunity to obtain photometry of a bright star at 25fps (50 fields). Remember
(See Alex Pratt's comments LSC April 2013 p24 Fig 1a) that video can be saturated, and this will loose
information on the light step.
My suggestion is to optimise detection for Beta-2 (Mag 4.8). The position angle (349) indicates the primary
will be occulted before the secondary.
Circumstance for the event: Moon Altitude +6°. Moon Azimuth 228°. Scintillation will be a problem at such
a low elevation. A red filter might help, and reduce saturation effects.
Clear Skies, and good luck with Beta Sco event
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BAA Lunar Section Circular
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No. 6
June-July 2013
Occultation predictions, July 2013
Predictions for Birmingham (W. Longitude 1° 44’ 44.0”, Latitude 52° 27’ 41.0”, Alt. 50m). Predictions in
other parts of the UK will differ by many minutes from times given here. Check your planetarium program
for event times closer to your location. I can produce predictions for any observer at any location — just ask.
Tabulated data are created using Occult 4 software by Dave Herald
Occultation co-ordinator, Tim Haymes, Hill Rise, Knowl Hill Common, Knowl Hill, Reading, RG10 9YD
Email: occultation(at)baalunarsection.org.uk
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/UKoccultations/
BAA Lunar Section Circular
Vol. 50
No. 6
June-July 2013
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BAA Lunar Section Circular
Vol. 50
No. 6
June-July 2013
Lunar data for July 2013, lunations 1119/1120 (from a DOS program by Gareth Williams)
BAA Lunar Section Contacts
Director
Bill Leatherbarrow
director(at)baalunarsection.org.uk
Assistant Directors
Tony Cook (with responsibility for TLP work)
tlp(at)baalunarsection.org.uk
Peter Grego (Circulars Editor)
editor(at)baalunarsection.org.uk
Committee Members
Tim Haymes (Occultations)
occultation(at)baalunarsection.org.uk
Robert Garfinkle (Historical Consultant)
history(at)baalunarsection.org.uk
Bruce Kingsley (Imaging Consultant)
photography(at)baalunarsection.org.uk
BAA Lunar Section Circulars are available in full colour
PDF format by email attachment from the Director
(address below) or by downloading them directly from the
BAA Lunar Section website at
http://www.baalunarsection.org.uk/circulars.htm.
where back issues going back several years can be found.
BAA Lunar Section Director:
Bill Leatherbarrow, 9 Stumperlowe Avenue,
Sheffield, S10 3QN, UK.
Email: director(at)baalunarsection.org.uk
Observations and items related to a specific area of
lunar study should be sent to the appropriate member
of the BAA Lunar Section Committee, but please send
any material of a more general nature intended to be
published in the Circular to the Editor (address below).
Deadline for items for the August 2013
Lunar Section Circular:
20 July 2013
Nigel Longshaw
Brendan Shaw (Archivist)
archives(at)baalunarsection.org.uk
Computing Consultant (position vacant)
compute(at)baalunarsection.org.uk
BAA Lunar Section Circular
Vol. 50
No. 6
Circulars Editor:
Peter Grego, 7 Parc-An-Bre Drive, St Dennis,
St Austell, Cornwall, PL26 8AS, UK.
Email: editor(at)baalunarsection.org.uk
June-July 2013
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