After a hard day's buzzing about in the upper atmosphere, occasionally decloaking and revealing their gleaming new flying saucer to astonished airline pilots, your average alien spaceship crew needs somewhere secluded to unwind and do the things that aliens do when they're off duty. At least four (non-astronomical) books I know of claim that the moon provides such a place for alien rest and recreation. In his 1955 book "Flying Saucers on the Moon", H J Wilkins (not to be confused with the famous lunar observer H P Wilkins) calls the moon "a sort of cosmic Clapham Junction!" However, it seems that these extraterrestrials haven't been too brilliant in disguising the locations of their various moon bases. If you have a telescope you can actually see the UFO hangars, which are quite obviously the lunar domes - low, rounded hills, generally circular in plan view. On UFO approach to the moonbase, the dome lifts like a huge saucepan lid and the saucer cruises inside. Unfortunately we can't actually see this in operation, either because it's done during the lunar night, or the whole thing takes place in the merest fraction of a second.
Nigel Longshaw (Chadderton, Oldham) has been observing the moon's domes with a far more serious intention than to spot fictitious lunar alien happenings. His observation shows the famous dome west of the crater Milichius, known as Milichius Pi, and it can be seen through a small telescope. The dome has a small summit craterlet, though it is discernable only through larger instruments under good seeing. Nigel believes that the domes are entirely natural formations whose origins are probably volcanic, or in several cases localised uplifting of the moon's crust. Nigel has written a splendid introduction to lunar domes, accompanied by plenty of illustrations and examples of his own dome observations. If you would like a copy of Nigel's article "Lunar Volcanoes" (text only) please send me an SAE. The fully illustrated article appears in the next issue of the section's journal "Luna". Nigel has also forwarded observations of Posidonius (1993 Oct 20); Lassell (1993 Oct 23); Dome southwest of Gambart C (1993 Nov 22); Petermann (Jan 28); Parry (Feb 19); Kepler (Feb 21); Domes north of Milichius A (Feb 21); Janssen (Mar 16); Darwin (Mar 25).
Cliff Meredith (Manchester) made drawings of the total lunar eclipse of 1993 November 29, along with photographic studies (a short report of this event appeared in Circular 179). The section's only observation of the partial lunar eclipse of May 25 was made by Alexei Pace (Malta), who sent a good series of disc drawings made between 02h 55m and 03h 30m UT. It seems as though most of us in Britain were totally clouded-out for this event. James Lunny (Motherwell, Scotland) made a detailed study of the area west of the crater Lohrmann (Mar 25), showing an unusually sharply delineated ridge casting what he terms a knife-like shadow. Peter Craven (Finland) observed the wonderful arc of Montes Jura and Sinus Iridum on Jan 25 and Feb 21- an accomplishment indeed, considering the quality of his drawings, the fact that he uses only binoculars and both observations were made at -10 Celsius! Edward Polehampton (Wymeswold) has made a variety of lunar studies, including Janssen (Jan 16); Atlas & Hercules (Jan 16); Janssen (Jan 17); Rheita Valley (Jan 17); Palus Putredinis (Jan 19); Albategnius (Jan 19).Marcus Buffrey (Monmouth) observed Cleomedes (1993 Oct 18); Maginus (Oct 23); Longomontanus (Jan 7); Wilhelm (Jan 7); Gauss (Jan 13); Piccolomini (Jan 17); Posidonius (Feb 16); Pitatus (Mar 20); Sinus Iridum (Apr 5); Theophilus chain (Apr 16); Mare Crisium studies (Apr 14-25); Petavius (May 25); Mersenius (Jun 6); Posidonius (Jul 13); Hecataeus & Humboldt (Jul 13); Mare Serenitatis (Jul 14). His observation of the 145km crater Longomontanus clearly shows the central mountains and detail on the northern rim. Marcus notes that the floor of this crater looked as if it had once been subjected to flooding by lava flows. This crater, in the crowded southern uplands, was probably formed in the last 25 percent of the moon's history, judging by the lack of cratering on its floor. The walls are very unusual in that they are packed with adjoining craters. Is this a sign of a volcanic origin?
Still the section's most active observer - with no signs of lunar overload, either - Bob Paterson (Newbury) continues his regular surveys of the moon's features. Observations since the last section report include:- Mare Crisium (1993 Dec 16); Theophilus chain (Dec 19); Cassini (Dec 21); Posidonius (Jan 17); Theophilus chain (Jan 17); Mare Serenitatis detail (Jan 17); terminator northwest of Clavius (Jan 22); Newton (Jan 22); Vitello area (Jan 23); Crescent moon (Feb 12); Guericke area (Feb 20); Maupertuis area (Feb 20); Mare Crisium (Mar 15); Piccolomini (Mar 17); Plato (Mar 17); Straight Wall area (Mar 20); northwest lunar limb (Mar 25); Cleomedes area (Apr 13); Julius Caesar (Apr 17); Clavius (Apr 19); Gassendi (Apr 21); Kepler & ray system (Apr 23); Herschel & Anaximander (Apr 23); Janssen (Jun 14); Atlas & Hercules (Jun 15); Montes Alpes (Jun 16); Archimedes (Jun 16).
If all of these strange names are a little confusing, why not point your telescope or binoculars moonwards and attempt to identify features with the aid of a moon map? You might even like what you see and decide to become more involved in lunar observation!
Special Observing Project - Area north and east of Sinas in Mare TranquillitatisStudy of this region was suggested by Nigel Longshaw after discovering some discrepancies regarding the positioning, types and number of objects recorded in this area. The location is littered with domes and dome-like structures along with a number of small craterlets. Please write for advice on how to participate. Favourable dates for observing the area are 1994 October 9 (20h - 00h UT) and 1994 December 7 (20h UT).
