SMART-1 TO IMPACT ON THE MOON SEPTEMBER 3RD

Does anybody fancy trying to record this in September 3?? It would be invaluable to some...

Predicted impact on 3 September 2006, 02h UT with a 7 hour
uncertainty (ie., between 17h UT on 2 September and 09h UT on 3
September).

Possibility of impact flash and/or the resulting ejecta plume being
observed/imaged from the UK

On 2/3 September, ESA's SMART-1 spaceprobe will slam into the
lunar surface in a dramatic end to its 18 month period of orbiting the
Moon. The 285 kg (628 lb) spacecraft, traveling at a velocity of 7,200
km/h, is expected to crash onto the Moon's near side in Lacus
Excellentiae (the Lake of Excellence), around 10° south of Mare
Humorum, in the unlit lunar hemisphere, several hundred kilometres
west of the lunar morning terminator.

The 9 day old waxing gibbous Moon will be south of the ecliptic, low
in the constellation of Sagittarius on the date of impact, so UK
observers will only have a narrow window of opportunity to monitor the
Moon for signs of impact. From the UK the Moon is visible in a
darkening sky from around 19h, culminating at around 19:30 UT (at
an altitude of some 8°) until it sets at around 22:40 UT on the evening
of 2 September.

SMART-1's kinetic energy will be equivalent to that of a 1 kg (2.2 lb)
meteoroid impacting the Moon at a velocity of 144,000 km/h.
Therefore the explosion is likely to be rather faint in terms of its
apparent magnitude (predictions range from magnitude 8 to 16) with
a duration of a fraction of a second, so even though it takes place on
the unilluminated lunar hemisphere, the impact flash itself is likely to
elude even the most attentive of visual observers using large instruments
under ideal conditions. However, should a plume of ejected material
reach an altitude high enough to catch sunlight, it may produce a small
temporary point that is bright enough to be visible through amateur
telescopes for a short period.

See the SPA website at www.popastro.com for a graphic of the impact.

Please send video footage, CCD images and visual observations
(whether they are positive or negative) to Peter Grego, SPA Lunar
Section Director at lunar@popastro.com. All material will be compiled
and submitted to ESA, and shared with other organisations involved
in the observing project. A report on the event will appear in the SPA
News Circular and Luna journal.

Keith..

September will be a great month for lunar afficionados.

1-3rd Superb Lunar Libration (look for Mare Imbrium)
3rd - SMART impact
7th - Full moon and Umbral eclipse of Northern Region. Worth photographing/imaging.
8th - Moon at Perigee (will appear very big being so low in the sky also)

Lets hope no one else buys another scope to cloud it out.

Is anyone going to attempt to image the Moon during this event? The weather doesn't look like co-operating but I'd be interested to know if anyone has plans.

I believe images can be sent to the BAA.

Cheers

Dave

Well, without camera equipment, I still intend to try and get the 12" Dob out for a look during the window of opportunity alright. As I am working into Saturday night/Sunday morning, I hope the weather will give me an opportunity.

FYI - the data is fresh and seems to favour an early morning impact on Sunday morning...



SMART-1 maps its own impact site
European Space Agency
31 August 2006

This mosaic of images, obtained by the Advanced Moon Imaging Experiment
(AMIE) on board ESA's SMART-1 spacecraft, shows the SMART-1 landing site on the Moon.

AMIE obtained this sequence on 19 August 2006 from the relatively high distance of 1200 kilometres from the surface (far from the SMART-1 perilune, or point of closer approach), with a ground resolution of about 120 metres per pixel. The imaged area, located at mid-southern latitudes on the lunar near-side, belongs to the so-called 'Lake of Excellence'.

To take these images, SMART-1 had to be tilted by 20 degrees in order to obtain a large ground coverage and an image mosaic of several views, each covering an area about 60 kilometres per side.

SMART-1 will be flying from North to South, and it will impact the surface 46 seconds, or about 90 kilometres, before reaching its nominal perilune (situated South of the impact location). This is due to the last orbit and the topography of the impact area. According to calculations based on the available maps and topography, impact would take place at a descending angle of one degree on a relatively flat surface.

SMART-1's impact is currently expected on 3 September 2006 at 07:41 CEST (05:41:51 UT), in the point located at 46.2º West longitude and 33.3º South latitude.

At 02:37 CEST (00:37 UT), one orbit earlier, the spacecraft should be just flying at its perilune. By that time, it will be over crater Clausius (25 kilometres diameter and 2.5 kilometres depth), at about 800 metres above the Lake of Excellence volcanic plain. As observed from these SMART-1 images, the rim of crater Clausius (bottom right of the
image) is quite low and eroded, and should possibly be below SMART-1 last perilune.

"If SMART-1 passes safely the rim of crater Clausius, the probe will go for its last lunar orbital tour until its foretold death," said Bernard Foing, ESA SMART-1 Project Scientist.

You can find the European space agency press release here

www.esa.int/SPECIALS/SMART-1/