SELENOLOGY  TODAY 22

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A probable impact on the Moon : February 11,  2011.

By Stefano Sposetti, Gnosca Observatory, Switzerland

During the monitoring of the earth lit Moon surface in the evening of February 11 2011, Marco Iten and I detected a lunar flash. Both AVI files showed up an evident simultaneous flash of light  located on the lunar surface. The analysis is under way but here we present some preliminary results.  

MARCO ITEN: Setup and Location

Telescope  Borg 125 ED refractor

Videocam WAT-902H2 Ultimate

Time inserter  KIWI-OSD

Software Virtualdub

Observatory E longitude 08:52:28.6

Observatory N latitude 46:10:43.7

Observatory height 210m

 

Figure 1 Iten’s movie (GIF animation).

STEFANO SPOSETTI: Setup and Location:

Telescope  SC Celestron 11

Videocam WAT-902H2 Ultimate

Time inserter  KIWI-OSD

Software Virtualdub

Observatory E longitude 09:01:26.5

Observatory N latitude 46:13:53.2

Observatory height 260m

Figure 2 Sposetti's movie (GIF animation).

The distance between the two observatories is  about 13 km. Time of the flash: 20:36:58.36 UTC  +/- 0.02s.

Figure 3 show the image sequence extracted from Sposetti’s movie.

 

Figure 3 Image sequence extracted from Sposetti’s movie

The two Light curves were obtained using  the Tangra software

Figure 4 The two Light curves

Probable lunar  region was  determined  to  longitude 86°  +/- 3° W and latitude 16° +/- 1 °  (Craters region: Dalton, Vasco de Gama B, Einstein A ).

Figure  5 The probable impact zone.

Results and Conclusion

In this abstract we report a probable impact on the Moon.

The intensity of the flash is well above the noise level, the event covers several frames, and the final confirmation comes from the fact that it was detected by two independent distant observers.
We warmly thank  Raffaello Lena (GLR GROUP) and Gerhard Dangl for the help during this pre-analysis phase.

 

A project about the crater detection using LRO imagery

By editorial board of Selenology Today

The Lunar Recoinassance orbiter (LRO)  is continuously taking new images. Hence,the next step should now consist of searching WAC or NAC images acquired
before the event with images acquired after the reported event. At least in NAC images with their resolution of ~1 m or better, a crater should be detectable at the
impact coordinates. Maybe it will take some time until the region is imaged again, but in the course of the ongoing mission, this may certainly be done. GLR group, one of the active groups involved in lunar meteoritic impact studies,  will do further research including eventual future analysis.