The Moon Society Announces a
Lunar
Study and Observing Certificate Program
April 6, 2005 - The Moon Society Board of Directors gave final approval to a plan previously endorsed at the March 16th meeting in which the Society will cosponsor the American Lunar Society's Lunar Study and Observing Certificate Program. Moon Society President Peter Kokh and American Lunar Society President Eric Douglass had worked out details of the proposal. Douglass had recently joined the Moon Society's new Board of Advisors.
The purpose of the program is to encourage members and website visitors to become more familiar with the side of the Moon that forever faces Earth. We are all familiar enough with the shading patterns visible to the naked eye. And perhaps some of us have studied lunar maps and/or a lunar globe to know where the major seas or maria are, and can name a few of the more prominent craters. But being able to look at these features up close and personal through a small telescope is much more gratifying.
The program is available on the American Lunar Society website, but now is also available on the Moon Society website both in reformatted web pages (html) and in handy, ready to print pdf files. We have included links to helpful atlases and other viewing guides.
We hope many of our members will take advantage of this program to get more familiar with the Moon.
Also in celebration of Astronomy Day this year, we have added a link on the home page in the upper right hand corner Moon Phase black panel, to "what to look for on the moon tonight." Check it out! We hope this whets your appetite to get out your telescope, or to get one if you don't already have one. Keep in mind that you do not need a large telescope to see plenty of detail on the Moon! The best way to start is to go join an astronomy club and try out the telescopes of other members before deciding what to buy.
