LUNAR TRANSIENT PHENOMENA BY AGE OF THE MOON

by

DAVID O. DARLING

    The following graph consist of data taken from the Lunar Transient Phenomena Catalog July 1978 NSSDC/WDC-A-R&S 78-05. The catalog was compiled by Winifred Sawtell Cameron, and the catalog at  National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) / World Data Center A for Rockets and Satellites (WDC-A-R&S) National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland 20771.

I compiled the data from the catalog consisting of 1463 recorded events and took the age of the Moon, if available, and plotted it on  the graph below. This will give the observer a better understanding as to the most likely time period during the lunation an event could be observed. It is apparent, looking at this data, a large number of the events reported are seen in the earthshine region, when the Moon is only three to four days old. At eight days old we have another dramatic jump in reports. This may be due to the Moons location in the sky to the observer and the convenience of time to observe. Or it may due to when key active features become well placed for viewing. We then have another spike taking place just before the Full Moon. One would think that the brightness of the Full Moon would make reports less likely but that is not what the data indicates. The steady decline in reports after the Full Moon would most likely be attributed to fewer observers being out late at night and into the early morning hours.

Graph © by David O. Darling, Director of  L.T.P. Research.

As you can see on this chart the end period is over 27 years ago. Once the new data is plug into the graph the changes may be surprising;

If you have questions about the data you can contact David O. Darling at:  EMAIL ADDRESS.