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                        THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF CANADA
                     STANDING COMMITTEE ON OBSERVATIONAL ACTIVITIES
                                                                      Bulletin No. 7
                                    LUNAR SECTION


Lunar Training Program:	This bulletin introduces the Lunar Training Program, a course
for the beginner who needs guidance in becoming familiar with the more prominent features
on the moon.

Attached are forms which should assist the newcomer in Lunar crater identification. An
outline of the lunar disk showing craters and other features is supplied. By reference
to a lunar map, the observer should be able to identify all of the craters, clefts,
mountain ranges and mare. These have been numbered consecutively from South to North
in successive segments of longitude, to assist the observer in identifying these in
sequence under optimum lighting conditions.

In the right hand column of "Astronomical Phenomena Month by Month" (OBSERVER'S HANDBOOK
1967, p.33) nay be found the selenographic colongitude for any given date. The north-
south lines on the lunar chart char selected values of colongitude (120° , 145° etc.) for
both sunrise and sunset, which nay be interpolated to predict appropriate solar lighting
for any selected area of the moon. A more complete explanation of colongitude is given
either in Lunar Information Bulletin No.2, or on page 61 of the OBSERVER'S HANDBOOK.

After completing the identification of the numbered features, the observer should then
plot on this chart an equal number of craters of his am selection, With the aid of a
Lunar map, these should be identified and listed.

Once the observer has become familiar with the general topography of the moon, a study
of individual craters can be started. For this training course, the following have
been selected:

           Petavius                   Aristotles              Bullialdus
           Posidonius                 Plato                   Gassendi

If the study is confined to these selected craters, progress can be compared with that
of other observers in the group. The trainee should make three drawings of each of the
six craters on different nights to appreciate fully the changing aspects a lunar feature
exhibits under differing lighting conditions. The enclosed LC-1 form has been designed
for recording observational drawings of lunar features. Instructions may be found on
the reverse side.

As the representative of each Centre in Lunar observing may wish to check the observer's
results recorded on the Lunar Chart, the correct names in numerical sequence of the
features as preplotted on this form have been listed on the next page. A supply of
these forms is available from the National Co-ordinator on request.


GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Individuals planning to submit lunar drawings or other material in this discipline for
display at the General Assembly in Montreal are requested to advise the President of your
Centre. All material will be attractively displayed and returned at the close of the
meetings. The deadline for these submissions is May 1, 1967.   (Members unattached to
a Centre should advise the National Co-ordinator.)

Lunar Section, Bulletin No. 7                                              -2-

                                 C R A T E R S
           1.  Janssen                              28.  Maginus
           2.  Fabricius                            29.  Tycho
           3.  Metius                               30.  Purbach
           4.  Potavius                             31.  Thebit
           5.  Langrenus                            32.  Arzachel
           6.  Macrobius                            33.  Alphonsus
           7.  Cleomedes                            34.  Ptolemaeus
           8.  Atlas                                35.  Autolycus
           9.  Hercules                             36.  Aristillus
          10.  Piccolanini                          37.  Cassini
          11.  Fracastorius                         38.  Archimedes
          12.  Posidonius                           39.  Plato
          13.  Cuvier                               40.  Pitatus
          14.  Stofler                              41.  Parry
          15.  Catharina                            42.  Copernicus
          16.  Cyrillus                             43.  Eratosthenes
          17.  Theophilus                           44.  Tinocharis
          18.  Plinius                              45.  Longomontanus
          19.  Julius Caesar                        46.  Bullialdus
          20.  Eudoxus                              47.  Reinhold
          21.  Aristoteles                          48.  Shickard
          22.  Aliacensis                           49.  Gassendi
          23.  Werner                               50.  Kepler
          24.  Albategnius                          51.  Aristarchus
          25.  Hipparchus                           52.  Grimaldi
          26.  Manilius                             53.  Otto Struve
          27.  Clavius                              54.  Pythagorus

                                       M A R I A

          A - Mare    Foecunditatus                 J - Mare Nubitin
          B - Mare    Crisium                       K - Sinus Medii
          C - Mare    Mactarts                      L - Sinus Aestum
          D - Mare    Tranquillitatis               M - Mare Vaporum
          E - Mare    Serenitatis                   N - Mare Humboldtianum
          F - Mare    Imbrium                       P - Lacus Scioniorum
          G - Mare    Frigoris                      Q - Lacus Mortis
          H - Oceanus Procellarum                   R - Mare Undarum
          I - Mare    Humorum                       S - Mare Smyth

                                O T H E R   F E A T U R E S

          a - Hyginus Cleft                         f - Apenine Mountains
          b - Rheita Valley                         g - Serpentine Valley
          c - Carpathian Mountains                  h - Altai Mountains
          d - Alpine Valley                         i - Riphaeus Mountains
          e - Caucasus Mountains                    j - Straight Wall

                                                          Archie L. Ostrander,
                                                     National Lunar Co-ordinator,
                                           Standing Committee on Observational Activities,
                                                          75 Rabbit Lane,
          28 February, 1967.                              Islington, Ontario.
Date: 
670228
Object: 
Lunar7A
Description: 
Lunar Section Bulletin No. 7
Folder: 
Other Bulletins
Pages: 
2