EARTHSHINE & ARISTARCHUS

10 NOVEMBER 2004

By

David O. Darling

Photo by Devgun Chander

This photograph was taken by Devgun Chander of Sohna, Haryana, of India. It shows a striking clarity to the earthshine region of the Moon. When I  first look at the photograph I was impressed that Aristarchus was standing out so bright even though it very close to the sunset terminator. I sent the photograph to Dr. Anthony Cook the senior recorder for the L.T.P. sections of BAA and ALPO. He sent me the measured brightness of specific lunar formations and of the Lunar Maria.

Graph © 2004 by David O. Darling, Director L.T.P. Research

When looking at the brightness of the seven lunar craters listed here, Aristarchus is not that much brighter than the other craters. This would seem to indicate that Aristarchus is not acting exceptional but it only an appearance of contrast.

Graph © 2004 by David O. Darling, Director L.T.P. Research

This is further confirmed that Aristarchus is really not exceptional when the brightness of the Maria is examined. The Maria across the face of the Moon is uniformly bright except for the formations Mare Humorum, Mare Frigoris and Maria located near Aristarchus. Dr. Anthony Cook believes they are brighter due to the glare from the nearby sunset terminator.

SOLAR TERRESTRIAL ACTIVITY REPORT

The fact that we had a significant coronal mass ejections into space or CME take place on November 8-9,2004 causing aurora reports all over the World. If Solar Excitation is a factor for the extreme brightness of the Earthshine this would be the event to cause it.