Transient Lunar Phenomena Program
Recent Reports
Location: Gassendi
Observed: 5/2/2023 1:35:00 AM UT
J. Albert (ALPO - Lake Worth, FL, USA) checked the crater without filters and also with red (Wratten 25) and blue (Wratten 44A)
filters for comparison views. He saw no color visually on the SW part of the crater floor or on the NW wall. Using the filters,
however, he did note that the high peak on the S wall was brighter in blue than red. He tried this filter blink a number of times
because he had never seen this before in Gassendi, but the result was the same each time. A colour image was taken earlier at 01:21 UT but shows no colour on S wall, as the image was saturated here.
Weight: 2
Location: Tycho and Moretus
Observed: 3/23/2023 7:25:00 PM UT
C. Maurizio (UAI - Italy) made a visual observation including a sketch. At 19:30 UT: alternating red (Wratten 25A) and blue (Wratten 38) filters, in red light, the eastern edge of the crater was brighter than the peak; interestingly, this difference in brightness appeared to increase in blue light. At 19:55 UT. the crater Moretus was observed; with the red filter the east edge was slightly brighter than the peak, while with the blue filter, the peak and the east edge were the same brightness. In other words, different from the appearance of Tycho with the blue filter.
Weight: 1
Location: Sulpicius Gallus
Observed: 12/31/2022 5:00:00 PM UT
F. Taccogna (UAI - Italy) imaged this area and recorded this crater as extremely / unusually bright (compared to other features). A. Amorin (Brazil) observing a few hours later and commented that the crater was brighter than it was in the Hatfield Atlas plates.
Weight: 1
Location: Herodotus
Observed: 9/27/2022 11:25:00 PM UT
Observer A. Anunziato in Parana-Entre Rios, Argentina, using a Meade EX 105 at 154x, observed a slightly bright dot with a slight
shadow near the shadow of the east wall. The observer notes that this maybe a result of observational bias as he was looking for a couple of
white dots on the floor following a BAA/ALPO lunar schedule request and also the “observed” feature (if real?) was at the resolution limits of his telescope.
Weight: 1
Location: Mons Piton
Observed: 8/4/2022 7:41:00 PM UT
Observer T. Smith in Codnor, UK, using a 16-inch Newtonian reflector at 247x, noted the mountain was
very bright and red around its eastern slopes. Examination of other features revealed these to be
relatively color-free. SWIR images of the mountain by A.C. Cook made a few minutes earlier did not show the
mountain very bright. The Moon was quite low in the sky at the time of observation.
Weight: 1