Universe Today
You can
help
NASA's upcoming lunar mission.
NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (
LADEE
) is slated to lift off from Wallops Island this September 5
th
in a spectacular night launch. LADEE will be the first mission departing Wallops to venture beyond low Earth orbit. A joint collaboration between NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center & the AMES Research Center, LADEE will study the lunar environment from orbit, including its tenuous exosphere.
Scientists hope to answer some long standing questions about the lunar environment with data provided by LADEE. How substantial is the wispy lunar atmosphere? How common are micro-meteoroid impacts? What was the source of the sky glow recorded by the Surveyor spacecraft and observed by Apollo astronauts before lunar sunrise and after lunar sunset while in orbit?
[caption id="attachment_103179" align="alignnone" width="421"]
Glows of the solar corona and crepuscular rays reported by the Apollo 17 astronauts in lunar orbit. (Credit:
NASA
).[/caption]
The micro-meteoroid issue is of crucial concern for any future long duration human habitation on the Moon. The Apollo missions were only days in length. No one has ever witnessed a lunar sunrise or sunset from the surface of the Moon, as all six landings occurred on the nearside of the Moon in daylight. (Sunrise to sunset on the Moon takes about two Earth weeks!)
And that's where amateur astronomers come in. LADEE is teaming up with the
Association of Lunar & Planetary Observers
(ALPO) and their Lunar Meteoritic Impact Search Program in a call to watch for impacts on the Moon. These are recorded as brief flashes on the nighttime side of the Moon, which presents a favorable illumination after last quarter or leading up into first quarter phase.
We wrote recently about a +4
th
magnitude flash detected of the Moon on March 17
th
of
this year
. That explosion was thought to have been caused by a 35 centimetre impactor which may have been associated with the Eta Virginid meteor shower. The impact released an explosive equivalent of five tons of TNT and has set a possible new challenge for
Moon Zoo
volunteers to search for the resulting 6 metre crater.
[caption id="attachment_103181" align="alignnone" width="580"]
An artist's illustration of a meteoroid impact on the Moon. (Credit:
NASA
).[/caption]
We've also written about amateur efforts to document
transient lunar phenomena
and studies attempting to pinpoint a possible source of these spurious glows and flashes on the Moon observed over the years.
NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office is looking for dedicated amateurs to take part in their Lunar Impact Monitoring campaign. Ideally, such an observing station should utilize a telescope with a minimum aperture of 8 inches (20cm) and be able to continuously monitor and track the Moon while it's above the local horizon. Most micro-meteoroid flashes are too fast and faint to be seen with the naked eye, and thus video recording will be necessary. A typical video configuration for the project is described
here
. Note the high frame rate and the ability to embed a precise time stamp is required. I've actually run WWV radio signals using an AM short wave radio transmitting in the background to accomplish this during
occultations
.
Finally, you'll need a program called LunarScan to analyze those videos for evidence of high speed flashes. LunarScan is pretty intuitive. We used the program to analyze video shot during the
2010 Total Lunar Eclipse
for any surreptitious Geminid or Ursid meteors.
Brian Cudnik, coordinator of the Lunar Meteoritic Impact Search section of the ALPO, noted in a recent forum post that we're approaching another optimal window to accomplish these sorts of observations this weekend, with the Moon headed towards last quarter on June 30
th
.
[caption id="attachment_103180" align="alignnone" width="573"]
An example of an impact flash
recorded
by the Automated & Lunar Meteor Observatory video cameras based at the Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.[/caption]
Interestingly, the June Boötids are currently active as well, with historical sporadic rates of anywhere from 10-100 per hour. In 1975, seismometers left by Apollo astronauts
detected series of impacts
on June 24
th
thought to have been caused by one of two Taurid meteor swarms the Earth passes through in late June, another reason to be vigilant this time of year.
Don't have access to a large telescope or sophisticated video gear? You can still participate and make useful observations.
LADEE is also teaming up with JPL and the Lewis Center for Educational Research to allow students track the spacecraft en route to the Moon. Student groups will be able to
remotely access
the 34-metre radio telescopes based at Goldstone, California that form part of NASA's Deep Space Communications Network. Students will be able to perform Doppler measurements during key mission milestones to monitor the position and status of the spacecraft during thruster firings.
And backyard observers can participate in another fashion, using nothing more than their eyes and patience. Meteor streams that are impacting the Moon affect the Earth as well. The
International Meteor Organization
is always looking for information from dedicated observers in the form of meteor counts. The Perseids, an "Old Faithful" of meteor showers, occurs this year around August 12
th
under optimal conditions, with the Moon only five days past New. This is also three weeks prior to the launch of LADEE.
Whichever way you choose to participate, be sure to follow the progress of LADEE and our next mission to study Earth's Moon!
-Listen to
Universe Today's
Nancy Atkinson and her
interview
with Brian Day of the NASA Lunar Science Institute.
-Also listen to the 365 Days of Astronomy
interview
with Brian Day and Andy Shaner from the Lunar Planetary institute on the upcoming LADEE mission.
