Digital Crater Timings from a Lunar Eclipse

provided by

Byron Soulsby - Theodore Lunar Observatory

Here are the preliminary results from the LPI Images for primary contacts:

2c
29
4c
Here are the preliminary results from one LPI Image for crater contacts:

25c

This is LPI image Moon25c showing the dark umbra  above the circular crater Lick just inside Mare Crisium (see Rukl chart 37). The time of this image was 9h42m17s UT corrected by -1m27s to 9h40m50s. The predicted mid-crater umbra immersion time for Mare Crisium was 9h42m27s.

measure

Grabbed image from my video of the eclipse and measured by Digimizer with Moon's
 semi-diameter at 0.27 (yellow) and umbra at 0.54 degrees (red).

image001
This Excel Chart  shows the measured semi-diameter of the umbra from the start of my video of this eclipse.
excel chart
This Excel chart illustrates the computed umbra semi-diameter (Fi) using my new program ViaX5.exe

Digital crater timngs are to be attempted for the second total lunar eclipse of 2007.

I plan to use my LPI camera to image the Moon and umbra with the Meade telescope, both units remotely controlled by my Dell laptop. The telescope will be aligned the night before the eclipse and left in sleep mode. The units will be within cable distance of the house at the Theodore Lunar Observatory Australia.

A typical image of the Moon taken with the LPI camera through the Meade telescope is shown below. It was taken on August 26, 2007 at 18:32:32 AEST. Similar data will need to provide images of identifiable lunar craters with the umbra (not shown here of course), carefully tracked by the telescope during the first phase of this eclipse: that is after first contact to just before second contact.
moon7

The aim of the observation is to obtain three umbra edge contact timings with the rim of each identified crater, its centre and with the following edge of each of the selected craters. All such images and timings can be submitted to me for analysis.
For help in the selection of craters, the crater timing predictions for immersion and emersion can be seen at these links.

* For the USNO On-line Lunar Eclipse Computer, click the logo

* For Fred Espenak's Home Page, click the logo

* return to the FINDER page

This page is maintained by the * Theodore Lunar Observatory - Australia * 2007 September 5.