670228Lunar7_p1

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                        THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF CANADA
                     STANDING COMMITTEE ON OBSERVATIONAL ACTIVITIES
                                                                      Bulletin No. 7
                                    LUNAR SECTION


Lunar Training Program:	This bulletin introduces the Lunar Training Program, a course
for the beginner who needs guidance in becoming familiar with the more prominent features
on the moon.

Attached are forms which should assist the newcomer in Lunar crater identification. An
outline of the lunar disk shczdng craters and other features is supplied. By reference
to a lunar map, the observer should be able to identify all of the craters, clefts,
mountain ranges and mare. These have been numbered consecutively from South to North
in successive segments of longitude, to assist the observer in identifying these in
sequence under optimum lighting conditions.

In the right hand column of "Astronomical Phenomena Month by Month" (OBSERVER'S HANDBOOK
1967, p.33) nay be found the selenographic colongitude for any given date. The north-
south lines on the lunar chart char selected values of colongitude (120° , 145° etc.) for
both sunrise and sunset, which nay be interpolated to predict appropriate solar lighting
for any selected area of the moon. A more complete explanation of colongitwie is given
either in Lunar Information Bulletin No.2, or on page 61 of the OBSERVER'S HANtEOOK.

After completing the identification of the numbered features, the observer should then
plot on this chart an equAl number of craters of his am selection, With the aid of a
Lunar map, these should be identified and listed.

Once the observer has become familiar with the general topography of the moon, a study
of individual craters can be started. For this training course, the following have
been selected:

           Petavius                   Aristotles              Bullialdus
           Posidonius                 Plato                   Gassendi

If the study is confined to these selected craters, progress can be compared with that
of other observers in the group. The trainee should make three drawings of each of the
six craters on different nights to appreciate fully the changing aspects a lunar feature
exhibits under differing lighting conditions. The enclosed LC-1 form has been designed
for recording observational drawings of lunar features. Instructions may be found on
the reverse side.

As the representative of each Centre in Lunar observing may wish to check the observer's
results recorded on the Lunar Chart, the correct names in numerical sequence of the
features as preplotted on this form have been listed on the next page. A supply of
these forms is available from the National Co-ordinator on request.


GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Individuals planning to submit lunar drawings or other material in this discipline for
display at the General Assembly in Montreal are requested to advise the President of your
Centre. All material will be attractively displayed and returned at the close of the
meetings. The deadline for these submissions is May 1, 1967.   (Members unattached to
a Centre should advise the National Co-ordinator.)