at about 3.30am Wed the Japanese satellite which is orbiting the moon is going to crash into the moon, with the moon in almost full phase we SHOULD be able to see the "explosion" as a bright flash and / or plume of dust.
According to New Scientist "It is set to impact in the lower-right section of the moon's near side." and "Viewers should also expect to see a brief flash as some of the kinetic energy of the probe, which will be moving at 6000 kilometres per hour, is converted to heat and light in the collision."
Anyone got any more details? I had a look on here and could not find anything, but I'm sure it would have been mentioned. Would I catch it with my 300mm lens?
Just a correction.
1830 GMT equates to 4:30 am Eastern Standard Time, not 3:30 am.
Looks like Sydney is going to be clouded out for a change........
Cheers,
Jason.
Not only that, but that is Thursday morning (18:30 10/06/2009 + 10:00 = 28:30 10/06/2009 = 04:30 11/06/2009).
That little mudmap on the website seems to indicate that it is going to hit very close to the limb... Even if it is very bright, it might be very difficult to observe (that is even if I could get up that early in the morning ).
I'll check when I get home, but it seems to be further east than a set of craters I identified in some images I took last night and posted on another thread http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=45965. Brisbane is very close to the limb:
Brisbane E - 50.0° S, 71.2° E
Brisbane H - 50.3° S, 64.9° E
Brisbane X - 50.4° S, 67.4° E
Brisbane Y - 51.4° S, 69.8° E
Brisbane Z - 52.8° S, 72.4° E
and the info states that the impact will be almost 10 degrees further east. I'm beginning to think that it might not be visible at all.
A summary -
The Japanese Kaguya spacecraft is expected to impact the moon at 1830hrs GMT on Wednesday 10th June. The moon will be at about 50 degrees altitude as seen from Sydney.
On the one hand there may be no visible impact plume as the Suns rays will be 35km above the predicted impact site and they are thinking that 5kms height is probable height.
Also there may not be any visible flash unless you have a big telescope - basing it on an impact that they suggest was 10X smaller, however on the other hand they dont really know what is going to happen and you never know what you might get.
Remember Shoemaker Levy !
I'll be waiting for the next announcement just to make sure it doesn't impact on the Far side. Could be a cold night for nothing.
The location of the impact is very near the southeast limb close to 80ºE, 63ºS. This area will be in shadow as the Moon has just passed full, but easy to find just beyond the terminator south of Janssen. Visual observations and video monitoring may be rewarded with a bright flash or (possibly) a cloud of ejecta that rises into sunlight as the large spacecraft rams into the surface at 6000 km/hr. It is impossible to predict accurately what will be seen....
If the impact accidentally occured on an earlier orbit, the geometry might be as shown in the preceding images. For example, an impact at 14:30 UT could be observed in a relatively dark sky from Hawaii.
It should perhaps also be noted that LTVT assumes the impact will occur at a normal "sea level" point on the Moon's dark surface. If Kaguya hits an area that is higher or lower than that, the flash point will be displaced by a small amount radially.
Foing suggests that due to uncertainties in the flight path and surface topography, the impact may actually occur during the spacecraft's closest approach to the Moon on an earlier orbit, 2 or possibly 4 hours prior to the expected time. In that event, it might possibly be visible from Hawaii (although in daylight unless 4 hours early).
Here are a couple of maps prepared in RITI Lunar Map Pro V4 and VMA. The latest data I had from the Kaguya website indicates an estimated point of impact at 80E, 65S, near the crater Gill D.
I’m in bed with a stinkin’ cold so I will not be out to see this event, other than through those dedicated efforts of the Ice In Space imagers! Good luck everyone – I hope that it produces a Big Bang!
Sadly I'm fairly sure you stand no chance with the camera lenses you mention - and even if you saw the flash, the impact will be so brief it will be all over before you press the shutter.
To stand any chance of seeing it, you'll need a pretty decent sized scope - I'd say a 20cm aperture Newtonian at least - and magnification around 200X - and to be looking in the right place at the right time.
As I recall a meteor impact has been seen telescopically during a total lunar eclipse - but against the lit disk of a near-full moon, there is no chance. None.
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