In April 2025, I completed the Astronomical League’s Lunar Program (Imaging). This list provides access to that submission. It’s arranged in the order of the program, which starts with tasks and objects that can be viewed with the naked eye, works up to binoculars, and then to telescope targets.
Of course, when you’re executing the program with imaging, you’re using a telescope on all targets. That makes it easier in some ways, but harder in a profound way. With visual astronomy, for most targets you’re basically signing a log sheet that certifies, “I saw it”. Of course, you could be wrong, but they take your word for it. With imaging, you label a photo. If you’re wrong, the reviewer will know.
One of the surprises to me was the importance of sun angle. I used a mix of stacked, wavelet sharpened images captured in SharpCap, and single images captured in Seestar over a couple of years on random dates. While the SharpCap images are MUCH better, I only had a couple of them. The Seestar image, if the sun angle was right, we generally better than the SharpCap image if the angle was too far off.
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Lunar Program (Imaging) Reports 1-10 of 48 total to date.
| Thumbnail | Title/link | Target Class | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
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Crescent Moon Waxing | Naked-Eye Objects>Special Objects | Classic toe-nail moon 2 days after new moon |
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Man in the Moon (When Full) | Naked-Eye Objects>Special Objects | Man in the Moon figure (Pareidolia) in the full moon. |
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Woman in the Moon (When Full) | Naked-Eye Objects>Special Objects | Woman in the Moon figure (Pareidolia) -- my favorite -- in the full moon. |
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Cow Jumping Over the Moon (When Gibbous) | Naked-Eye Objects>Special Objects | Cow jumping over the moon, my personal interpretation |
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Rabbit in the Moon (When Full) | Naked-Eye Objects>Special Objects | Rabbit in the Moon figure (Pareidolia) -- my former favorite -- in the full moon. |
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Rona (a Woman) in the Moon (when full) | Naked-Eye Objects>Special Objects | First came across this one as part of this Program. Not a huge fan... but I did my best. |
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Lunar Maria/Seas | Naked-Eye Objects>Maria | Ten "Naked Eye" Seas/Maria labelled on a Seestar capture of a full moon in May 2024. Gallery shows 6 additional Maria. |
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Lunar Rays | Binocular Objects>Binocular Objects | Lunar rays are streaks of material ejected from impact craters. |
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Six Binocular Targets (not craters or rays) | Binocular Objects>Binocular Objects | Six medium-sized targets visible using binoculars, and clearly visible in my full moon image. |
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Five Binocular Craters (of 8) around 4 Days | Binocular Objects>Craters ~4 Days Old | Five medium-sized targets visible using binoculars, and clearly visible in my 3.8 day crescent moon |