Interpretation of John Sanford Photos
Jim Mosher
e-mail interface, which permits attachments to messagages)...
The first attachment shows my interpretation of John Sanford's
excellent photos of the Moon's south pole from Dec. 06 and 07, 2008
(UT):
Each photo was carefully calibrated using the Lunar Terminator
Visualization Tool:
and control points with known selenographic longitudes and latitudes
from the data set at:
http://ltvt.wikispaces.com/file/view/1994+ULCN+Supplement+1.csv
The calibration indicated the changes in magnification and rotation
needed to bring them to a constant scale (6410 pixels to the lunar
diameter) and rotation (lunar central meridian vertical, with south
up).
In each image, the theoretical extent of the ellipse formed by
Faustini's rim is carefully indicated. In the last image, the white
dots identify the IAU-named craters Malapert K, C and E, or which
Malapert E is the most useful for locating Faustini in real time. The
additional feature labeled in the first image is bright ridge which,
to me, formed a sideways exclamation point type pattern that, at least
for me, made it even easier to positively identify Malapert E (the
"dot" at the bottom of the "dash" formed by the ridge):
http://groups.google.com/group/lcross_observation/msg/8e7115d652888b7f
and
http://groups.google.com/group/lcross_observation/msg/800545da0e4a81ab
As was the case for me visually on the night of Dec 6 (UT) the far rim
of Faustini is difficult to see. It does not appear to be visible in
John's first image; but it looks like there is razor thin hint of a
bright line at that position in his second image. The far rim of
Faustini is more clear (at the extreme limb) in John's third image
(from the following night), although still faint.
Probably slightly longer exposures would be helpful to bring out the
thin, dim features at the limb.
For those familiar with LTVT, I am also attaching the calibration data
for these three photos (one of which was converted from TIF to BMP for
loading into LTVT). This information can be pasted into any LTVT cal
file, after which (if you edit the disk addresses to point to the
locations where you have stored the files) the images can be loaded
and displayed interactively with the feature ellipses superimposed as
desired.
--
I hope the present message doesn't cause undue confusion. The feature
identified here as "Malapert K" is called "Schomberger K" on the
official(?) NASA/LCROSS finder chart at:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LCROSS/news/NASA_Developing_Plans_to_Capture_Lunar_Impacts.html
and Faustini is indicated as residing on that image at a considerably
different position (behind a ridge that is there called "Leibnitz").
I believe the identifications in this e-mail are correct, and more
consistent with NASA's location of Faustini indicated on the same
image at:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LCROSS/news/image_specifications.html
-- Jim
P.S.: John gives his location as "Springville CA". There are two
Springville's in California. Based on John's e-mail address at
"springvillewireless.com" I am guessing he is in the smaller one in
Tulare County, and that is the position I have used for the
calibrations. The difference between the two is not terribly
important, but it would be nice to have the correct one.
Also, if John is monitoring this forum, does the "2008120655ut"
designation in your north polar image:
mean "00:55 UT" on Dec 06 ??
