Moon

Luna

Space Missions to the Moon:
Space Probes:
The moon has been visited by many probes from Russia and the U.S.A.The Russian probes were called "Luna",there have been nine in total,the first landed on the 12th of September 1959.The U.S.A had two,probes they were called "Ranger" and "Surveyor".There were three Ranger probes,they took close up photos of the Moon showing detail of less than one meter.Surveyor probes made soft landings and carried out detailed studies of the areas where they landed,there where five probes.
Manned Missions to the Moon:
Then there was the Apollo missions to the Moon the first Apollo to land on the Moon,was Apollo eleven,it landed 20th July 1969.The missions were used for direct and close up studies of the Moon.The first man on the Moon was Neil Armstrong, the second was Buzz Aldwin.There were 6 missions to land on the Moon.
Equipment
Introduction:
The Moon is usually the first object to be observed,it is easy to find and shows up lots of detail.It has many observable features,which can be seen by low powered equipment.
binoculars:
With binoculars you can see all the main feature and will be able to see many of the smaller craters,it may also be possible to see shadows from craters and mountains on the lunar surface.
Telescope:
A telescope will show a lot of detail you will see many small craters,as well as other detail.The only problem with a telescope is you get great glare from the Moons surface,so you may need Lunar filters.
General Information:
The surface temperature of the moon veries -155 Degrees C in the shade to +105 Degrees C in the Sun.The moon has a Rotational Period of 27.3 days and is 384,000km/293,000 miles from the Earth and is 3,476km/2,160 miles in width at the equator.Most of the moon has been mapped but only 1 per cent has not been mapped,this is near the south pole.
Lunar Phases:
These are caused by the constantly changing angles between the Sun and the Moon.The Moon revolves around the Earth.When the Sun and Moon are opposite there is a full Moon.So,as the Moon moves into the Earths shadow is said to be Waining and as it moves out it said to be Waxing.
The Terminator:
This is the area were the Moon is illuminated or is in darkness.The Terminator passes over each object on the Moon 25 times a year,this corresponds with 25 periods of changing illumination angles.The terminator has mountains and the rims of craters sticking out of it as they are high and pick up Sun light. It is important to record the position of the Terminator at the point of observation.It is defined as the selenographic longitude at which,during the point of observation,the Sun rises(waxing Moon)or sets(waning Moon)and is tabulated in almanacs and calendars.
Libration:
The Moon keeps the same side of the Moon facing us.Even with this fact,60% of the Moon's surface can be seen.The cause of the Libertion phenomenon is due to three effects.
1:the liberation in the longitude +7.9 degrees which is due to the Moon's elliptical orbit.
2:libertion in the latitude+ 6.9 degrees which is caused because of the lunar tilt.The Moon's rotation axis with respect to the perpendicular to the plane of the orbit.This mean at certain times you can see more of the North or South pole.
3:the parallactic liberation +1 degree is due to the fact that the observer is on a rotating surface,so they see it from different directions.These three effects may add ten degrees on the lunar limb.The almanacs lists every day the selenocentric longitude and latitude of the Earth,which are also the longitude and latitude of the centre of the Moons disk.So if the latitude at the centre point of the Moon is positive,you will see more of the northern limb and you see more of the southern limb if it is negative.As for the longitude if it is positive you will see more of the western limb,if negative you see more of the eastern limb.

Lunar Formations:
Introduction:
There are two types of surface on the Moon.There is the lightly continents,these are mountainous regions with a large number of craters,they range from small ones to large ring craters.Then there are the seas,these have low mountain ranges which are solid lava flows. The seas are fairly flat with some small craters caused after their formation. The Moon has lots of craters which are impact sites,some of the impact sites can be one km in size.There are some 300,000 craters on the Lunar surface.
Maria:
A mera(the Latin for sea in plural Maria) These are large dark areas on the Moons surface,on the Earth facing side they make up about 40% of the surface.

Mare Crisium There are three formations that may interest you .
1;wrinkly ridges
These appear like ripples in the mare
2;cones or disk
Shaped craterlets found in the Mare
3;domes
They look like volcanos at low luminescence. When the Apollo missions brought back rocks from the Moon the rock showed to have basaltic structure,so it is thought that the Maria are large lava flows which have covered low lying regions of the Moon.
Tarrae:
These are the height lands of the Moons surface and are the brighter areas as they are more elevated than the mare,they cover one half of the side we see and all the far side of the Moon.Thay are large mountainous regions which lay over the surface of the Moon.
Craters:
There are very many Craters on the Moon.A crater is where an object has hit the Moon's surface at great speed so causing a hole in the surface.The term crater is used to explain all circular objects that have no height regions round them and they are smaller than walled plains and ring mountain.

A cratered area on the southern limb.
Walled Plains:
This is where a crater who's size 50-200km's wall have enclosed a plain.The crater Ptolemaeus is a typical example of the walled plains on the Moon.It is 153 km in diameter and the height of the rim is up to 2,400 m above the relatively flat floor, filled with dark "mare" material.Another walled plain is Plato.

Ptolemaeus.

Plato.
Ring Mountain:
A ring mountain is like walled plains but have higher walls and less of the lower plain.Usually, they have a centre peak.The best known are Eratosthenes and Tycho.

Eratosthenes.
Mountain chains:
As the name suggests these are like mountain ranges on the Earth.There are suggestions that that have been piled up due to the number of impacts the Moon has had in the past.The Montes Apenninus reaches heights of 6000 m.

The Montes Apenninus.
Rilles:
These are indentions that are 1000 mile's wide and are 100 mile's or more long.
Crevaces:
This is a crack in the surface that is several hundred kilometres deep.
Valleys:
A valley is a notch in a mountain range.
Bright Rays:
These are common during a full moon where their is no interference from shadows.The rays appear as bright stripes projected from craters.

Ray's from the crater Taruntius.
Ghost Crater:
A ghost crater is a crater that has been covered by a lava flow.
Central Peaks
This is where a peak appears away from a mountain,therefore forming inside mountainous rings.Craters such as Theophilus, Copernicus and Tycho all have central peaks.

Theophilus.
Interesting Events:
The Moon has some interesting events these are colour changes,brightening/TLP/Moon Blinks and dark spots. All these events will be explained below in the next Paragraph.
Transient Lunar phenomena.
The brightening is caused by gas that has been triggered by Solar radiation and has come from a craters interior,the clouds may show darkening (or gray gas clouds),or they could of course show luminance.At times the luminosity part may show coloration when seen in ashen,this coloration will disappear and be replaced by brightening.
Dark spots:
Dark spots are seen in some craters which change in their intensity,small craters are seen in the centers.
Moon Blinks:
These also come from regions were meteorites hit the Moon,and are visible from Earth.
Conditions Of Visibility:
Again,to see all the things explained above you need clear sky.You also need a steady atmosphere,if the atmosphere is slightly turbulent then a small amount of thin cloud/light haze can help.The moon has an elliptical orbit so its distance can be at its closest 356,410km's(perigee) and at its greatest point is 406,740(apogee) this also has a great effect on the size of the Moon.The Moon moves about 13 degrees of arc a day and will therefore move faster than the back drop of stars. Go to home web page.
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