Resources for the
Lunar Observer
Organizations. There are several amateur astronomy
organizations which can help the beginning lunar
observer get started, and which offer valuable
resources to the more experienced observer. These
organizations, which all maintain Websites, also
receive, organize, and publish studies based on lunar
observations submitted by amateur astronomers.
Below is a selected list of the most active organizations with lunar sections, with information on how
to contact and/or join them.
Websites. Besides the Websites maintained by organizations, there are others that serve as resources for
amateur lunar observers, ranging from sites maintained by NASA, the US Geological Survey, and
teams of project scientists on lunar spacecraft
missions, to the home pages of individual lunar
observers. There are far too many sites to cover
them all, so this is just a sampling of a few of the
best. Keep in mind that the World Wide Web
is often volatile – address changes are common,
and new pages appear as quickly as old pages go
inactive.
British Astronomical Association (BAA)’s Lunar
Section
Contact: Alan Wells, Lunar Section Director, 135
Elmdon Lane, Marston Green, Birmingham B37
7DN
E-mail: alan@awells.demon.co.uk
Website: http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~jmhh/
The BAA was founded in 1890 and is the world’s
oldest national amateur astronomy organization.
Many of the most famous historical observers and
mappers of the Moon served as directors of the
BAA’s Lunar Section; they include Thomas Gwynn
Elger, Walter Goodacre, Hugh Percy Wilkins, and
Patrick Moore. Other directors have included Ewen
Whitaker, who played a large role in compiling the
maps that were vital to the success of Apollo and
other missions that explored the Moon in the 1960s
and early 1970s, and Gilbert Fielder, a renowned
lunar geologist.
Today, the Lunar Section remains highly active,
publishing a monthly Circular that reports on
the work of the various sub-sections: Lunar
Topography, Occultations, Computing (software
and images of interest to the lunar observer), and
Transient Lunar Phenomena. The Circular also
publishes information of vital interest to
observers, such as tables of the Moon’s position in
the sky, rising and setting times, selenographic colongitudes, visible libration features, and occultation predictions. Approximately four times
annually the Lunar Section also publishes a journal
called The New Moon, which showcases members’
drawings and descriptions of lunar features, as
well as longer articles on lunar science that do
not fit into the Circulars. The Lunar Section has
also produced a very helpful and comprehensive
booklet, Guide for Observers of the Moon (BAA,
1989).
The BAA Lunar Section’s Website features a calendar that allows you to generate a detailed listing
of all craters, mountains and rilles that can be
observed well on any given night during the current
lunation. This is one of the most useful programs
available on the Internet! The listing of surface features is confined to those illuminated by Sun angles
of 15° or less, as only those features will show
optimal vertical relief. You can also look at the
phases of the Moon for three lunations, and there is
another program that draws diagrams showing
visible libration features.
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There is also information on how to join the
Lunar Section, a picture gallery, links to other lunar
Websites, and lunar software available for downloading to your own PC. You will also want to check
out a separate, but related Website – the BAA’s
Asteroid & Planetary Occultations Predictions page,
at: http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~baa/occ.html
This extremely useful page has everything
you need to know about lunar occultations, including predictions and finder charts for the
United Kingdom, members’ reports, and observing
forms.
Association of Lunar & Planetary Observers (ALPO)’s
Lunar Section
Contact: William M. Dembowski, ALPO Coordinator,
Lunar Topographical Studies, 219 Old Bedford Pike,
Windber, PA 15963
E-mail: dembow@twd.net
Website:
http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~rhill/alpo/lunar.html
Founded in 1947, ALPO has for more than half a
century brought together amateur astronomers
interested in observing and learning more about the
Sun, planets, moons, comets, and other constituents
of the Solar System. ALPO has separate sections
devoted to each type of Solar System body, as well as
a Lunar and Planetary Training Program which
teaches new observers (and old ones who want to
acquire new skills) how to observe and draw the
Moon and planets. ALPO’s Lunar Section is subdivided into groups that study lunar topography,
lunar selected areas (see Chapter 11 of this book)
and lunar transient phenomena. Over the years,
these sections have carried out many interesting and
worthwhile observing programs, including the
Lunar Incognita project, which successfully mapped
regions of the Moon inadequately mapped by
NASA’s spacecraft missions of the 1960s and 1970s.
Discoveries by ALPO members continue to this day
– in September, 1999, a Lunar Section observer discovered a previously uncataloged “lunar dome,” a
topographical feature that is likely akin to a terrestrial shield volcano.
ALPO publishes its own journal, known as The
Strolling Astronomer, which has contained many
articles over the years of interest to lunar observers.
It is highly recommended. The Lunar Section publishes its own newsletter, called The Lunar Observer,
that has articles, observing reports, and drawings
contributed by Section members. The newsletter
may be downloaded from the Lunar Section’s
Website. You can also read Moon Glows, a newslet-
Observing the Moon
ter that concentrates on lunar transient phenomena.
The site also reports news from the latest spacecraft
missions, such as Clementine and Lunar Prospector,
and describes the Section’s ongoing research programs, for example those involving lunar selected
areas and bright rays. In recent years, collaboration
between the BAA and ALPO Lunar Sections has
increased, and many lunar observers belong to both
organizations.
American Lunar Society (ALS)
Contact: Eric Douglass, VP ALS, 10326 Tarleton
Drive, Mechanicsville, VA 23116
E-mail: ejdftd@interpath.com
Website: http://www.otterdad.dynip.com/als/
The ALS is a fast-growing group with a most interesting Website. For about the past twenty years this
organization has published the journal Selenology
(an old term for lunar geology), which has contained many articles on the exploration of the Moon
by spacecraft, and on lunar eclipses, an area in
which the ALS has done a great deal of research. If
you have any interest in the Moon, you must visit
the ALS Website! It is very well organized into the
following topics:
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There are scholarly articles on lunar geology and
similar topics.
An area that allows visitors to ask questions that
are then answered by ALS experts.
A large section describing projects in lunar
science you can try, including many for kids
(“Understanding the Phases of the Moon,”
“Measuring the Changing Size of the Moon,”
etc.).
Articles discussing the geology of specific lunar
features.
Reviews of lunar books and software.
Current news related to lunar science, including
the latest space missions.
Links to other Moon-related Websites, like the
Lunascan Project (see below).
Astronomical League (AL)’s Lunar Club
Contact: Steve A. Nathan, AL Lunar Club
Coordinator, 45 Brewster Road, West Springfield,
MA 01089
E-mail: snathan@k12.oit.umass.edu
The AL, a nationwide organization for amateur
astronomy clubs in the USA, has a Lunar Club well
suited for the young or inexperienced observer, as
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Resources for the Lunar Observer
well as the older observer just getting into the
hobby. No specialized observing skills are required
– the Lunar Club develops naked eye, binocular,
and telescopic observing skills. To join the AL’s
Lunar Club, you must first be a member of the
Astronomical League, either through an affiliated
club or as a Member-at-Large. Membership information is available on the AL’s Website:
http://www/astroleague.org/. The AL’s Lunar Club
awards a certificate and pin to anyone who observes
100 selected features on the moon: 18 naked eye, 46
binocular, and 36 telescopic features. The Website
lists these features. Any pair of binoculars and any
telescope may be used for this program.
International Occultation Timing Association
(IOTA)
Contact: 2760 SW Jewell Ave., Topeka, KS 666111614.
E-mail: iota@inlandnet.net
Website:
http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/iotandx.htm
IOTA is a venerable organization that has organized hundreds of successful expeditions to
observe grazing lunar occultations. You can learn
more about IOTA and their programs by visiting
their Website, which is jam-packed with topics that
include how-to info for beginners, detailed occultation predictions by geographic region, reports
from graze expeditions, downloadable software
for generating your own predictions, observer’s
forms, and much information on videography of
occultations, as well as the use of CCDs to time
grazes, information on lunar eclipses, and lots
more.
International Lunar Occultation Center (ILOC)
Contact: Mitso Kawata, ILOC, Geodosy & Geophysics
Division, Hydrographic Department, Tsukiji 5-3-1,
Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-0045 Japan
E-mail: iloc@cue.jhd.go.jp
ILOC has become the world’s clearing-house for
predictions and analyses of observations related to
lunar occultations. The organization produces
detailed predictions for standard stations all over
the world – the predictions for the 18 North
American standard stations are published annually
in the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada’s
Observer’s Handbook. For complete information,
you can write to ILOC to get their booklet, Guide to
Lunar Occultation Observations.
Manchester Astronomical Society (MAS)
Website: http://www.u-net.com/ph/mas/members/
lunar/lunar.htm
One of the best sites on the Web to see what results
today’s amateur lunar observers are getting. This
British amateur astronomical society has a very
active Lunar Section with its own Web pages that
showcase the brilliant work of its members. Highly
recommended is Michael Oates’s guide to photographing the Moon (http://www.u-net.com/ph/mas/
observe/lunar-p.htm), with many examples; and
several scholarly, superbly illustrated articles by
Nigel Longshaw on the mystery of the crater
Furnerius, lunar domes, and one titled “What happened to dinosaurs on the Moon?” There are many
high-resolution drawings posted on this page, and
lunar eclipse photos by Kevin Kilburn. A wonderful
site!
United States Naval Observatory (USNO)
Website: http://aa.usno.navy.mil/AA/data/
A very useful site for Moon phases and times of
moonrise and moonset.
Lunascan Project
Contact: The Lunascan Project, 618 Davis Drive , Mt
Vernon, IN 47620
Website:
http://www.evansville.net/~slk/lunascan.html
If you want a highly detailed photographic lunar
atlas at your fingertips, look no further! One advantage of lunar observing is that you can do it from
right by your home, with your PC (and Internet
access) right at hand, so you can use this atlas at the
telescope. Lunascan puts high-resolution photographic images from Lunar Orbiter and other
sources on the Web for all to enjoy. The Moon is
divided into a grid of 76 sections. Just click on a
section and you get a list of images to choose from.
Then zero in on craters, mountains, and rilles that
you want to observe. You can spend hours here!
Lunar Orbiter Atlas
Website:
http://cass.jsc.nasa.gov/research/lunar_orbiter/
The five Lunar Orbiters of the mid-1960s completed
the most comprehensive lunar mapping program ever
by ordinary photography. Many features of interest to
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amateur observers are pictured at low Sun angles,
making fine topographic details visible. You can
check what you see in your own telescope’s eyepiece
against the Lunar Orbiter photos by visiting this site.
United States Geological Survey (USGS)
Website: http://wwwflag.wr.usgs.gov/USGSFlag/
Space/nomen/moon/moonTOC.html
The USGS has many useful Websites; this one,
devoted to lunar nomenclature, is maintained by the
USGS facility in Flagstaff, Arizona. If you want to
know the definition of lunar geographic terms such
as “albedo feature,” “palus,” or “rupes,” you can
find it here.
Clementine
Website: http://www.nrl.navy.mil/clementine/
clementine.html
There are many Websites devoted to the latest
Moon missions, Clementine and Lunar Prospector.
This site explains the goals and achievements of the
Clementine mission, including a description of the
spacecraft’s instruments and how they work, as well
as the announcement of Clementine’s discovery of
water ice buried within a crater at the Moon’s south
pole, which is always in deep shadow. You can also
view a huge number of Clementine images by using
a special Clementine Lunar Image Browser, accessible at: http://www.nrl.navy.mil/clementine/clib/
Lunar Prospector
Website:
http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/NewResults/toc.html
This site keeps you up to date on the latest results
from the Lunar Prospector mission. The spacecraft
was purposely crashed into the Moon’s south pole
in the summer of 1999. You will want to watch this
Website for further announcements as the data
from Prospector is analyzed by NASA’s scientists.
You can also learn how Prospector carried out its
mission and how its instruments worked.
Linda Hall Library
Website:
http://www.lhl.lib.mo.us/pubserv/hos/moon/
Go here to view this well-known science library’s
impressive exhibit of rare and antiquarian lunar
maps and atlases, titled “The Face of the Moon:
Observing the Moon
Galileo to Apollo.” A most thorough retrospective
on the history of selenography.
Exploring the Moon
Website:
http://www.space.edu/moon/new_design/main.html
A superb and wide-ranging Website maintained by
a professional lunar scientist, Charles A. Wood of
the Department of Space Studies, University of
North Dakota. You can find an online lunar atlas
here, as well as the invaluable catalog of lunar
craters compiled in the 1960s by the University of
Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL).
This catalog, which has not been available in print
for many years, lists coordinates and sizes for all of
the features charted on the LPL’s Lunar Quadrant
Maps, which are available from Sky Publishing
Corp., 49 Bay State Road, Cambridge, MA 02138
(Web: http://www.skypub.com).
The highlight of this site is the “Timeline of Lunar
Exploration,” which traces all the significant
achievements in lunar mapping and science from
prehistory to the present day. The Timeline critiques important books on the Moon and its topography and geology. Dr Wood has also placed online
copies of rare documents important to lunar
studies, for your perusal. One of the most interesting is Sir William Herschel’s 1787 paper titled “An
account of three volcanoes in the Moon.”
Robinson Lunar Observatory
Website:
http://www.lunar-occultations.com/rlo/rlondx.htm
One of the best lunar Websites maintained by an
individual amateur astronomer, with lots of information on IOTA and lunar occultations. The site
describes the observatory and its telescopes, which
include 370 mm (14.5-inch) and 200 mm (8-inch)
reflectors. There is also a selection of nice drawings
of lunar features made by “Rob” Robinson, who is
very active in IOTA.
Richard Evans’ Lunar Homepage
Website: http://www.tiac.net/users/richarde/
A wonderful Website maintained by a serious lunar
photographer, well illustrated with numerous highresolution images of the more interesting lunar features. Also a smattering of lunar geology for those
who want to understand what underlies the Moon’s
topography.