NASA's Technical Report R-277

Introduction

A catalog of reports of lunar events, or temporary changes on the moon, has been compiled based on literature covering more than four centuries. In the majority of cases the original reference has been consulted; secondary sources such as the new (1964) edition of Houzeau and Lancaster's Bibliographie General d'Astronomie and the Astronomischer Jahresbericht were also used. Each entry includes a brief description and date of the observation, the name of the observers, where these are known, and the reference. The purpose of this catalog is to provide a listing of historical and modern records that may be useful in investigations of possible activity on the moon.

Description of the Catalog

A lunar event is defined here as a temporary change, other than that due merely to conditions of illumination, in the appearance of a lunar feature involving a limited area, generally a few kilometers in dimension. Reports of observations of temporary bright spots, as well as veils, obscurations, and brightening of the floors of craters and other small areas have been included. No reports of apparently long-term changes are given; many of these have been reported for sites such as Messier, Linne, and Bartlett, but in most cases, the evidence is not conclusive for real changes, as it involved conflicting reports of the craters' appearances over periods of years, rather than changes actually in progress.

The catalog contains all information available to us through October 1967; many of the reports listed are taken from publications that are not now generally available. Column 1 gives a running number, column 2 the date of the occurrence, Gregorian except for the first entry which predates the use of the Gregorian calendar* and the time at 0° longitude except where otherwise noted, column 3 the site and duration of the event, column 4 a short description of the phenomenon, column 5 the observer, and column 6 the reference. The references are given alphabetically following the catalog. Where permanent records (e.g., photographs, spectra, or photometric or spectrometric records exist, a footnote is given.

Due to the form of the data presentation the maximum duration of the changes as listed covers a few hours only; nevertheless, it may not properly represent the total period of activity in the site. Many cases of reports for the same site on consecutive or nearly consecutive nights are given, and weather and other factors may have limited the observing period within a single night.

(See the rest of the "Description of the Catalog" in the .pdf file.)