An Ongoing Program for Monitoring the Moon for Meteoroid Impacts (Abstract)

Volume 45 number 2 (2017)

Brian Cudnik, Seth Saganti, Fazal Ali, Salman Ali, Trevannie Beharie, Brittany Anugwom

Department of Chemistry and Physics, Prairie View A&M University, P.O. Box 519, M.S. 2230, Prairie View, TX 77446; bmcudnik@pvamu.edu

Abstract

(Abstract only) Lunar meteor impacts are surprisingly frequent phenomena, with well over one hundred observable events occurring each year. Of these a little over half arise from members of annual meteor showers (e.g. Perseids, Leonids, etc.), with the rest being sporadic in origin. Five years ago, I (BC) introduced to the SAS Symposium the idea of observing lunar meteoroid impact phenomena and applying these observations to a space mission (LADEE-Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer) that launched the following year. Now, five years later I revisit and reintroduce the activities of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers-Lunar Meteoritic Impact Search (ALPO-LMIS) section and share some of the latest observations that have been received. For over 17 years now, ALPO has hosted the LMIS section, for which I have served as coordinator since its inception. In this paper, I will revisit the main ideas of the earlier paper, share some recent observations of lunar meteors, and provide new initiatives and projects interested persons can participate in.