Call for Lunar Images Supporting NASA's LCROSS Mission

[Jane Houston Jones]

Hi Old Town Astronomers - I thought you all would find this 
interesting!  Jane

NASA Astronomer Diane Wooden is about to begin an observing session 
using the IRTF at Mauna Kea in support of next year's LCROSS lunar 
impactor mission. The phase and libration this Wednesday, Thursday, and 
Friday (October 8-10) could be a good match for those of one of our 
favored impact scenarios next year. This will provide an opportunity for 
detailed planning and observations of potential target lunar terrain. 
Diane would like to supplement her observations with images of the lunar 
south polar region acquired with a range of amateur telescopes over the 
same evenings. Diane's observations will be in the IR, and amateur 
white-light observations could provide valuable additional data for 
these lighting conditions. Faustini crater, one of the potential impact 
sites will be on the limb on the night of Oct 10 UT (Oct 9 PDT). 
Comparison of IRTF and amateur observations now will also help determine 
how amateur observations can best be used during the impact and provide 
valuable information to participating amateurs in planning their imaging 
procedures for next year.

Images from telescopes of all sizes are welcome. If you are able to 
participate and acquire images during these selected evenings, please 
send the following information to me at Brian.H.Day at nasa.gov:

Name of observer
Email address of observer
Aperture of telescope
Focal length of telescope
Type of camera used
Camera detector dimensions
Exposure information
Time and date of exposure
Location from which exposure was taken

Please do not send your actual image file along with this information! 
Once I receive the above information from you, I will contact you and 
work out a way to receive your file in a way that will not overwhelm our 
mail server here.


A map of the extreme south polar region of the Moon can be found at: 
http://www.lpod.org/?m=20070512
Note that Faustini is labeled as R3 on these maps (next to the crater 
Amundsen). The crater Cabaeus is also of interest as a possible impact 
site. Three additional images identifying south polar features are 
included in this message.

NASA's LCROSS mission is scheduled to fly in 2009. It is co-manifested 
with LRO; both missions will launch together aboard an Atlas V out of 
Cape Canaveral, Fla. LCROSS will use the Centaur upper stage of the 
launch vehicle as a kinetic impactor directed at 2.5 km/s into one of 
the permanently-shadowed craters at the Moon's pole. The LCROSS  
spacecraft will fly directly through the resulting plume of debris, 
analyzing it for signs of water ice that may have accumulated within the 
crater. The debris plume will also be studied by space-based assets 
(such as LRO, and HST), ground-based observatories, and amateur 
telescopes. Researchers believe that the LCROSS impact plume may well be 
observable in amateur telescopes, and that amateurs may be able to take 
on a valuable role in this exciting mission.

Please share this information with your colleagues. I am looking forward 
to working with you as members of the amateur community become key 
participants in the LCROSS mission.

---------

Any opinions expressed in this message are strictly my own and do not 
necessarily reflect those of NASA, its contracting agencies, or any 
other life form in the Universe.

Please note my new email address

Brian H. Day
AETT Technical Lead
LCROSS E/PO Lead
Planners Collaborative
Mailstop 226-4
NASA Ames Research Center
Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000
(650) 604-2605
Brian.H.Day at nasa.gov

-- 
Jane Houston Jones
Monrovia, CA
34.2048N 118.1732W, 637.0 feet
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers:  http://www.otastro.org