The Basics of Lunar Observing and Photography (Resource Pages)

© John R. Duchek Ph.D., Duchek Consulting Services, 2010

Astronomical League: Lunar Observing Club

The American Lunar Society: membership $15/year, includes ejournal Selenology. This group has its own Observing Certificate which appears more extensive than the Astronomical League. It includes 90 objects including floor fractures, rilles and so on.

Sky and Telescope: Charles (Chuck) Wood Ph.D. has a monthly column “Exploring the Moon” on observing lunar features. He also is an editor for Selenology Today (see below), and produced the Lunar 100, a list of 100 objects on the moon worth seeing.

The Lunar 100: They are numbered from the most easily observed to the most difficult. This would be the list to go after when you have achieved the Lunar Observing Club.

Chuck Wood also has an excellent recent book out, “The Modern Moon, A Personal View” , published by S&T. and created the LPOD, (lunar photograph of the day) site. 

ALPO Lunar Program

ALPO Lunar Observer (TLO) – Monthly E-mag. Current issue available at the ALPO Lunar Program. Past issues available here.  Free to download as pdf files.

ALPO areas of study:

LUNAR TRANSIENT PHENOMENA - The study of short-lived events on the Moon such as lights, glows, mists, and obscurations.

SELECTED AREAS PROGRAM - The study of albedo changes in selected features.

BRIGHT AND BANDED CRATERS - The study of craters identified by their bright appearance and/or having bands of light and dark on their interior walls.

DARK HALOED CRATERS - The study of craters surrounded by dark ejecta.

LUNAR DOME SURVEY - Observations of low profile swellings on the lunar surface to catalog their positions and properties.

BRIGHT LUNAR RAYS PROJECT - The study of the bright splash patterns formed by impacts on the Moon.

GENERAL TOPOGRAPHICAL STUDIES - Any observations of the

lunar surface which do not fit into any of the above categories.

General Interest Possibilities:

VERTICAL STUDIES (1) - Using imaging equipment or micrometers to determine the heights of lunar mountains and the depths of craters is well within the capabilities of backyard astronomers especially when utilizing the software in Harry Jamieson’s Lunar Observer’s Toolkit.

VERTICAL STUDIES (2) - Those not suitably equipped to directly measure lunar heights and depths can utilize images produced by orbiting spacecraft, particularly for those features too small for typical amateur equipment.

INNER SLOPES - Using the shadow method to determine the inner slope angles of small (10-15 km) craters.

VOLCANIC CONES - High resolution electronic images now make it possible to detect and catalog lunar volcanic cones.

RILLES - Another area for potential discovery of uncatalogued features for those capable of truly high resolution imaging.

FARSIDE STUDIES - All of the above studies (and more) can be conducted on the far side of the Moon using appropriate spacecraft images. There is no logical reason why the analysis of such data should be the strictly the province of the professional community.

PHOTOMETRIC STUDIES - Those having photoelectric photometers or suitable CCD imaging equipment could perform valuable studies related to the brightness differences and/or changes of various lunar features

COLORIMETRIC STUDIES - Similar to photometric studies, work also can be done on the color differences of the lunar terrain.

Information/reports on any of the above can be submitted to the TLO for publication. The TLO will also publish your photographs and or drawings of moon features. They have a bimonthly “Focus on “ a particular feature and request photos of that feature to be e-mailed in for publication. Participation is a great way to begin to find one's way around on the moon.

ALPO/NASA Lunar Impact Studies

Be part of a group using cameras/telescopes to observer meteor impacts on the moon. These data are intended to be used by NASA to predict how dangerous the moon surface will be for permanent installations.

yahoo group: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/lunar-impact/

Best lunar photography: Usually seen on yahoo group: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/lunar-observing/

or on GLR Group (Geological Researches Group)

Yahoo group: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/domilunari/

They produce the Selenology Today E-magazine. Some of their fabulous high resolution pictures are produced by the same folks on the yahoo lunar observing group. This is a more advanced magazine for lunar research. Here is how they describe themselves in their call for articles:

Selenology Today is devoted to the publication of contributions in the field of lunar studies. Manuscripts reporting the results of new research concerning the astronomy, geology, physics, chemistry and other scientific aspects of Earth’s Moon are welcome. Selenology Today publishes papers devoted exclusively to the Moon. Reviews, historical papers and manuscripts describing observing or spacecraft instrumentation are considered.

Newtonian preparation articles:

Cooling a newtonian mirror with a fan:

http://www.garyseronik.com/?q=node/55

http://www.garyseronik.com/?q=node/69

http://www.fpi-protostar.com/bgreer/fanselect.htm

My fan kit:

http://duchekconsult.com/atm_supplies.htm

Orion's Electric Focuser: Orion sells focusers that work with their focusers. Several other manufacturers sell Newtonian focusers that are VERY similar to Orions.

http://www.telescope.com/control/search?SEARCH_STRING=electric focuser

Making your own electric focuser:

http://duchekconsult.com/good_ideas.htm (for SCTs, but adaptable to newtonians)

AVI tools (software):

Registax 5.1.0.2 (Dec, 2009): http://www.astronomie.be/registax/download.html

AVIstack 1.80, (July, 2009): http://avistack.de/

AVI Raw 3.1, (Feb, 2006) – read raw webcam AVIs: http://arnholm.org/astro/software/aviraw/

VirtualDub 1.9.8 : http://www.virtualdub.org/

AVIsynth 1.5.8 : http://www.free-codecs.com/AviSynth_download.htm