Difference between revisions of "Glossary"
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==Feature Nomenclature== | ==Feature Nomenclature== | ||
| − | [http://the-moon. | + | [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Albedo%20feature Albedo feature] ''- unusually dark or light''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Boulder%20tracks Boulder tracks] - ''narrow grooves left by rolling or sliding rocks and boulders''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Catena Catena] ''- a chain of craters''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Central%20peak%20composition Central peak composition] ''- chemical makeup of crater central peaks''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Concentric%20crater Concentric crater] ''- small crater with two rims, sort of..''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Crater Crater] ''- circular depression''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Cryptomaria Cryptomaria] ''- hidden maria''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Dark-halo Dark-halo] ''- low-albedo deposits surrounding some craters''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Dorsum Dorsum] ''- ridge''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Floor%20Fractured%20Craters Floor Fractured Crater] ''-impact morphology modified by volcanic-related activity''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Fossa Fossa] ''- long, narrow depression''<br /> [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulch Gulch] ''-'' According to Wikipedia, a ''Gulch'' is ''a deep V-shaped valley formed by erosion. It may contain a small stream or dry creek bed and is usually larger in size than a gully. Sudden intense rainfall upstream may produce flash floods in the bed of the gulch''. (only the people of the NASA and the astronauts of the early Apollo missions used the word ''Gulch'' in their nomenclature for certain lunar surface formations, not the IAU).<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Lacus Lacus] ''- "lake" (small plain)''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Landing%20site%20name Landing site name] ''- at or near Apollo landing site''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Lunar%20Basins Lunar Basin] ''- extremely large impact craters''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Mare Mare] ''- "sea" (large circular plain)''<br /> [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesa_(disambiguation) Mesa] - According to Wikipedia, a ''Mesa'' is an ''elevated area of land with a flat top, surrounded on all sides by steep cliffs''. The people of the IAU never used the word ''Mesa'' in their official lunar nomenclature. Only the NASA and the astronauts of the early Apollo missions invented names with the word ''Mesa'' in them, such as Barbara Mesa, Lonesome Mesa, etc'''...'''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Minor%20feature Minor feature] ''- extremely small named craters''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Mons Mons] ''- mountain''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Mons Montes] ''- mountain range''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Oceanus Oceanus] ''- "ocean" (very large dark area)''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Palus Palus] ''- "swamp" (small plain)''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Planum Planum] ''- high plain''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Planitia Planitia] ''- low plain''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Promontorium Promontorium] ''- headland or promontory''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Pyroclastic Pyroclastic] ''- type of rocks of volcanic origin'' (see Charles Wood's and Maurice Collins's ''21 Century Atlas of the Moon'').<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Radar%20bright Radar bright] - ''radar bright craters are young''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Ray%20craters Ray craters] - ''craters with prominent 'rays' extending outward''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Rima Rima] ''- fissure (Latin) or rille (German for groove)''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Rupes Rupes] ''- fault''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Satellite%20feature Satellite feature] ''- lettered crater''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Sinus Sinus] ''- "bay" (small plain)''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Swirl Swirl] ''- bright areas typically associated with strong magnetic anomalies''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Terra Terra] - ''obsolete term for bright highland areas''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Moore%20et%20al%2C%201980 Thermal anomaly crater] - ''craters that have temperature anomalies during eclipses (described in [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Moore%20et%20al%2C%201980 Moore et al, 1980])''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Tholus Tholus] ''- small, domical hill''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Vallis Vallis] ''- valley''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Lunar%20Volcanoes Volcano] ''- possible or actual''<br /> <br /> |
==Organizations== | ==Organizations== | ||
| − | [http://the-moon. | + | [http://the-moon.us/wiki/ALPO ALPO] - Association of Lunar & Planetary Observers<br /> ASSB - Apollo Site Selection Board (see Don E. Wilhelms: ''TO A ROCKY MOON; a Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration'').<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/British%20Association BA] - British Association for the Advancement of Science<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/BAA BAA] - British Astronomical Association<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/DMA DMA] - Defense Mapping Agency<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Sternberg%20Institute GAISH] - Sternberg Institute<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Catena%20Leuschner%20%28GDL%29 GDL] - Gas Dynamics Laboratory<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Catena%20Michelson%20%28GIRD%29 GIRD] - Group for the Study of Reaction Motion<br /> GLEP - Group for Lunar Exploration Planning (see Don E. Wilhelms: ''TO A ROCKY MOON; a Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration'').<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/GLR GLR] - Geological Lunar Researches Group<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/IAU IAU] - International Astronomical Union<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/JPL JPL] - Jet Propulsion Laboratory<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/JSC JSC] - Johnson Space Center<br /> LOPO - Lunar Orbiter Project Office (see Don E. Wilhelms: ''TO A ROCKY MOON; a Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration'').<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/LPACC LPACC] - Lunar Photography and Cartography Committee<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/LPI LPI] - Lunar and Planetary Institute<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/LPL LPL] - Lunar and Planetary Laboratory<br /> LRL - Lunar Receiving Laboratory (see Don E. Wilhelms: ''TO A ROCKY MOON; a Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration'').<br /> LSAPT - Lunar Sample Analysis Planning Team (see Don E. Wilhelms: ''TO A ROCKY MOON; a Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration'').<br /> LSI - Lunar Science Institute (see Don E. Wilhelms: ''TO A ROCKY MOON; a Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration'').<br /> LSPET - Lunar Sample Preliminary Examination Team (see Don E. Wilhelms: ''TO A ROCKY MOON; a Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration'').<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/NASA NASA] - National Aeronautics and Space Administration<br /> NSSDC - National Space Science Data Center (see Don E. Wilhelms: ''TO A ROCKY MOON; a Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration'').<br /> PET - Preliminary Examination Team (see LSPET).<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Catena%20Lucretius%20%28RNII%29 RNII] - Rocket Research Institute<br /> SOUC - Surveyor/Orbiter Utilization Committee (see Don E. Wilhelms: ''TO A ROCKY MOON; a Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration'').<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/TGLN TGLN] - Task Group for Lunar Nomenclature<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/USGS USGS] - United States Geological Survey<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/WGPSN WGPSN] - IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature<br /> <br /> |
==Acronyms and abbreviations== | ==Acronyms and abbreviations== | ||
| − | [https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/apollo.glossary.html Alphabetic glossary of APOLLO related abbreviations] (compiled by Garry Kennedy for the ''APOLLO LUNAR SURFACE JOURNAL'', Eric M. Jones).<br /> Other interesting sources full of Apollo abbreviations are Volume 1 and 2 of ''APOLLO 11 - THE NASA MISSION REPORTS'' (edited by Robert Godwin, ''Apogee Books'', 1999)<br /> [http://the-moon. | + | [https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/apollo.glossary.html Alphabetic glossary of APOLLO related abbreviations] (compiled by Garry Kennedy for the ''APOLLO LUNAR SURFACE JOURNAL'', Eric M. Jones).<br /> Other interesting sources full of Apollo abbreviations are Volume 1 and 2 of ''APOLLO 11 - THE NASA MISSION REPORTS'' (edited by Robert Godwin, ''Apogee Books'', 1999)<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/AIC AIC] - 1:500,000 map series (1/4 of LAC zone, very limited coverage)<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/CMP CMP] - Command Module Pilot ([http://the-moon.us/wiki/Apollo%20program Apollo program])<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/CSM CSM] - Command Service Module ([http://the-moon.us/wiki/Apollo%20program Apollo program])<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/DEM DEM] - digital elevation model<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/IAU%20directions IAU directions] - north up, east to right<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/IAU%20nomenclature IAU nomenclature] - official system for naming Lunar features<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/JPL%20Horizons JPL Horizons] - online solar system ephemeris<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/LAC LAC] - 1:1,000,000 map series (44 maps, partial coverage, nearside only)<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/LAC%20zone LAC zone] - notation defining lunar map area<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/LM LM] - Lunar Module ([http://the-moon.us/wiki/Apollo%20program Apollo program])<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/LM%20map%20series LM map series] - 1:1,000,000 map series (updates of LAC series; 11 maps only)<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/LMP LMP] - 1:5,000,000 map series (3 maps, full coverage), also: <u>LMP</u>-Lunar Module Pilot (Apollo program)<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Lunar%20Orbiter LO] - Lunar Orbiter<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/LPOD%20Index LPOD] - Lunar Photo of the Day (website)<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/LRL LRL] - Lunar Receiving Laboratory<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/LRO LRO] - Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (the lower half of this page contains an overview of the many contributors of the ''Arizona State University'''s (''School for Earth & Space Exploration'''s) page '''LROC''' (which shows hundreds of articles and close-up NAC photographs of selected regions!).<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/LROC LROC] - Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Cameras<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/LTM LTM] - early nearside topographic map in east and west hemispheres<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/LTO LTO] - 1:250,000 map series (1/16th of LAC zone, partial coverage in [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Apollo%20program Apollo] zone)<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/LTP LTP] - Lunar Transient Phenomena<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/LTVT LTVT] - Lunar Terminator Visualization Tool (computer program)<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/PDS PDS] - NASA ''Planetary Data System'' for distribution of spaceprobe results<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/PI PI] - principal investigator<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Map-a-Planet Map-a-Planet] - on-line service for interactively creating lunar maps<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/S-IVB S-IVB] - (or S-4B) - The stage of the Saturn-V rocket which boosted the CSM and LM out of Earth orbit, enroute to the moon ([http://the-moon.us/wiki/Apollo%20program Apollo program])<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/SIM SIM] - Scientific Instruments Module ([http://the-moon.us/wiki/Apollo%20program Apollo program])<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Topophotomap Topophotomap] -- same as LTO but covers smaller area; various scales; limited coverage<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/ULCN ULCN] - Unified Lunar Control Network<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/VIP VIP] (VIP-site).<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/VMA VMA] - Virtual Moon Atlas (computer program)<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Xi-Eta Xi-Eta] - position of nearside feature in X-Y coordinates<br /> <br /> |
==Other terms== | ==Other terms== | ||
| − | [http://the-moon. | + | [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Albedo Albedo] - ''the reflectance of a surface''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Anaglyph Anaglyph] - ''stereoscopic image composed of two slightly shifted images, both in opposite colors''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Apollo%208%20Orbital%20Lunar%20Photography Apollo 8] - ''first manned mission to orbit the moon (december 1968).''<br /> <u>Apollo 10</u> - ''second manned mission to orbit the moon (may 1969). See'' [http://history.nasa.gov/ap10fj/ Apollo 10 Flight Journal] ''(David Woods, Robin Wheeler, Ian Roberts).''<br /> <u>Ashen Light</u> (see [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Earthshine Earthshine]).<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Clair-obscur Clair-obscur] - ''"features" produced by patterns of light and shadow; also called'' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trompe_l'oeil "Trompe l'oeil"]<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Colongitude Colongitude] - ''90° minus longitude of [http://the-moon.us/wiki/subsolar%20point subsolar point]''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Conjunction Conjunction] - ''Moon and Sun in same direction in sky''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Earthshine Earthshine] - ''Earth-to-moon reflected sunlight, also called "Ashen Light"''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Elongation Elongation] - ''apparent angle between Sun and Moon''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Evening%20Terminator Evening Terminator] - ''line of sunset on the Moon''<br /> Far Side of the Moon (the hemisphere of the moon which is always invisible for the population on planet Earth) (only 24 astronauts have seen parts of this hemisphere, this during the heydays of Project Apollo, 1968-1972).<br /> <u>First Quarter Moon</u> (see: [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Phases The Moon's Phases]).<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Full%20Moon Full Moon] (see also: [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Phases The Moon's Phases]).<br /> <u>Gibbous Moon</u> (see: [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Phases The Moon's Phases]).<br /> [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grazing_lunar_occultation Grazing Lunar Occultation]<br /> <u>Last Quarter Moon</u> (see: [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Phases The Moon's Phases]).<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Librations Librations] - ''apparent rocking motions of the Moon as viewed from Earth''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Limb Limb] - ''the Moon's edge''<br /> [[Lunar%20Heliotrope%20Project|Lunar Heliotrope Project]] ('''Project PHAROS''')<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Lunar%20Orbiter Lunar Orbiter] - ''space mission''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Lunar%20theory Lunar theory] - ''mathematical descriptions of the Moon's motions''<br /> [[Lunar%20Zodiacal%20Light|Lunar Zodiacal Light]] (and the mystery of the Kordylewski clouds).<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Lunation Lunation] - ''the interval from one New Moon to the next''<br /> [http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/Projects/LunarPyroclasticVolcanism/lunpyroWebresrpt.html Lunar Pyroclastic Volcanism Project] - ''USGS cataloging of volcanic ash deposits''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Morning%20Terminator Morning Terminator] - ''line of sunrise on the Moon''<br /> Near Side of the Moon (the hemisphere of the moon which is always visible for the population on planet Earth) (aka ''The Face of the Man in the Moon'').<br /> <u>New Moon</u> (see: [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Phases The Moon's Phases]).<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/North%20Pole North Pole] - ''the moon's pole at 90° North''<br /> [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occultation Occultation]<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Opposition Opposition] - ''Moon opposite Sun in sky''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Opposition%20Surge Opposition Surge] - ''increase in brightness near zero phase angle''<br /> [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia Pareidolia] - ''images of living creatures (mostly faces) and other familiar objects seen in Earth's and the moon's surface formations (an optical illusion, often called'' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trompe_l'oeil "Trompe l'oeil"]''), see also page'' [http://the-moon.us/wiki/clair-obscur Clair-Obscur effects on the Moon's Surface] ''(a handy overview of terminator-related optical illusions)''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Phase Phase] - ''illuminated fraction of Moon''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Phase%20Angle Phase Angle] - ''angle between Sun and observer as seen from Moon''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Phases Phases] - ''named points in the lunar cycle (New, First Quarter, Full, Last Quarter)''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Resolution Resolution] - ''the size of the smallest detectable detail''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Retro-Reflection%20phenomena Retro-Reflection phenomena] - ''lunar Heiligenschein''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Selenographic%20Coordinates Selenographic Coordinates] - ''system of latitude and longitude on Moon''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Stratigraphy Stratigraphy] - ''system to rank relative age of rocks''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/South%20Pole South Pole] - ''the moon's pole at 90° South''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Sub-Earth%20Point Sub-Earth Point] - ''location on surface where Earth is directly overhead''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Subsolar%20Point Subsolar Point] - ''location on surface where Sun is directly overhead''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Sun%20angle Sun angle] - ''angle of sun above local horizontal''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Synodic%20month Synodic month] - ''interval from New Moon to New Moon''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Terminator Terminator] - ''the line separating the sunlit and shadowed side of the Moon''<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Transits Transits] - ''telescopic observations of unknown objects crossing the moon's disc'' (small asteroids?).<br /> <u>Very Old Moon</u> (Waning Crescent Moon slightly before New Moon, see [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Phases The Moon's Phases]).<br /> <u>Very Young Moon</u> (Waxing Crescent Moon slightly after New Moon, see [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Phases The Moon's Phases]).<br /> <u>Waning Crescent Moon</u> (before New Moon - after Last Quarter Moon, see [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Phases The Moon's Phases]).<br /> <u>Waning Gibbous Moon</u> (after Full Moon - before Last Quarter Moon, see [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Phases The Moon's Phases]).<br /> <u>Waxing Crescent Moon</u> (after New Moon - before First Quarter Moon, see [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Phases The Moon's Phases]).<br /> <u>Waxing Gibbous Moon</u> (before Full Moon - after First Quarter Moon, see [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Phases The Moon's Phases]).<br /> [http://the-moon.us/wiki/Oppolzer%20A Zero-point of Latitude and Longitude] (near Oppolzer A).<br /> <br /> |
---- | ---- | ||
| − | + | </div> | |
Latest revision as of 16:23, 15 April 2018
Contents
Glossary
Feature Nomenclature
Albedo feature - unusually dark or light
Boulder tracks - narrow grooves left by rolling or sliding rocks and boulders
Catena - a chain of craters
Central peak composition - chemical makeup of crater central peaks
Concentric crater - small crater with two rims, sort of..
Crater - circular depression
Cryptomaria - hidden maria
Dark-halo - low-albedo deposits surrounding some craters
Dorsum - ridge
Floor Fractured Crater -impact morphology modified by volcanic-related activity
Fossa - long, narrow depression
Gulch - According to Wikipedia, a Gulch is a deep V-shaped valley formed by erosion. It may contain a small stream or dry creek bed and is usually larger in size than a gully. Sudden intense rainfall upstream may produce flash floods in the bed of the gulch. (only the people of the NASA and the astronauts of the early Apollo missions used the word Gulch in their nomenclature for certain lunar surface formations, not the IAU).
Lacus - "lake" (small plain)
Landing site name - at or near Apollo landing site
Lunar Basin - extremely large impact craters
Mare - "sea" (large circular plain)
Mesa - According to Wikipedia, a Mesa is an elevated area of land with a flat top, surrounded on all sides by steep cliffs. The people of the IAU never used the word Mesa in their official lunar nomenclature. Only the NASA and the astronauts of the early Apollo missions invented names with the word Mesa in them, such as Barbara Mesa, Lonesome Mesa, etc...
Minor feature - extremely small named craters
Mons - mountain
Montes - mountain range
Oceanus - "ocean" (very large dark area)
Palus - "swamp" (small plain)
Planum - high plain
Planitia - low plain
Promontorium - headland or promontory
Pyroclastic - type of rocks of volcanic origin (see Charles Wood's and Maurice Collins's 21 Century Atlas of the Moon).
Radar bright - radar bright craters are young
Ray craters - craters with prominent 'rays' extending outward
Rima - fissure (Latin) or rille (German for groove)
Rupes - fault
Satellite feature - lettered crater
Sinus - "bay" (small plain)
Swirl - bright areas typically associated with strong magnetic anomalies
Terra - obsolete term for bright highland areas
Thermal anomaly crater - craters that have temperature anomalies during eclipses (described in Moore et al, 1980)
Tholus - small, domical hill
Vallis - valley
Volcano - possible or actual
Organizations
ALPO - Association of Lunar & Planetary Observers
ASSB - Apollo Site Selection Board (see Don E. Wilhelms: TO A ROCKY MOON; a Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration).
BA - British Association for the Advancement of Science
BAA - British Astronomical Association
DMA - Defense Mapping Agency
GAISH - Sternberg Institute
GDL - Gas Dynamics Laboratory
GIRD - Group for the Study of Reaction Motion
GLEP - Group for Lunar Exploration Planning (see Don E. Wilhelms: TO A ROCKY MOON; a Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration).
GLR - Geological Lunar Researches Group
IAU - International Astronomical Union
JPL - Jet Propulsion Laboratory
JSC - Johnson Space Center
LOPO - Lunar Orbiter Project Office (see Don E. Wilhelms: TO A ROCKY MOON; a Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration).
LPACC - Lunar Photography and Cartography Committee
LPI - Lunar and Planetary Institute
LPL - Lunar and Planetary Laboratory
LRL - Lunar Receiving Laboratory (see Don E. Wilhelms: TO A ROCKY MOON; a Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration).
LSAPT - Lunar Sample Analysis Planning Team (see Don E. Wilhelms: TO A ROCKY MOON; a Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration).
LSI - Lunar Science Institute (see Don E. Wilhelms: TO A ROCKY MOON; a Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration).
LSPET - Lunar Sample Preliminary Examination Team (see Don E. Wilhelms: TO A ROCKY MOON; a Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration).
NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NSSDC - National Space Science Data Center (see Don E. Wilhelms: TO A ROCKY MOON; a Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration).
PET - Preliminary Examination Team (see LSPET).
RNII - Rocket Research Institute
SOUC - Surveyor/Orbiter Utilization Committee (see Don E. Wilhelms: TO A ROCKY MOON; a Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration).
TGLN - Task Group for Lunar Nomenclature
USGS - United States Geological Survey
WGPSN - IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature
Acronyms and abbreviations
Alphabetic glossary of APOLLO related abbreviations (compiled by Garry Kennedy for the APOLLO LUNAR SURFACE JOURNAL, Eric M. Jones).
Other interesting sources full of Apollo abbreviations are Volume 1 and 2 of APOLLO 11 - THE NASA MISSION REPORTS (edited by Robert Godwin, Apogee Books, 1999)
AIC - 1:500,000 map series (1/4 of LAC zone, very limited coverage)
CMP - Command Module Pilot (Apollo program)
CSM - Command Service Module (Apollo program)
DEM - digital elevation model
IAU directions - north up, east to right
IAU nomenclature - official system for naming Lunar features
JPL Horizons - online solar system ephemeris
LAC - 1:1,000,000 map series (44 maps, partial coverage, nearside only)
LAC zone - notation defining lunar map area
LM - Lunar Module (Apollo program)
LM map series - 1:1,000,000 map series (updates of LAC series; 11 maps only)
LMP - 1:5,000,000 map series (3 maps, full coverage), also: LMP-Lunar Module Pilot (Apollo program)
LO - Lunar Orbiter
LPOD - Lunar Photo of the Day (website)
LRL - Lunar Receiving Laboratory
LRO - Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (the lower half of this page contains an overview of the many contributors of the Arizona State Universitys (School for Earth & Space Explorations) page LROC (which shows hundreds of articles and close-up NAC photographs of selected regions!).
LROC - Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Cameras
LTM - early nearside topographic map in east and west hemispheres
LTO - 1:250,000 map series (1/16th of LAC zone, partial coverage in Apollo zone)
LTP - Lunar Transient Phenomena
LTVT - Lunar Terminator Visualization Tool (computer program)
PDS - NASA Planetary Data System for distribution of spaceprobe results
PI - principal investigator
Map-a-Planet - on-line service for interactively creating lunar maps
S-IVB - (or S-4B) - The stage of the Saturn-V rocket which boosted the CSM and LM out of Earth orbit, enroute to the moon (Apollo program)
SIM - Scientific Instruments Module (Apollo program)
Topophotomap -- same as LTO but covers smaller area; various scales; limited coverage
ULCN - Unified Lunar Control Network
VIP (VIP-site).
VMA - Virtual Moon Atlas (computer program)
Xi-Eta - position of nearside feature in X-Y coordinates
Other terms
Albedo - the reflectance of a surface
Anaglyph - stereoscopic image composed of two slightly shifted images, both in opposite colors
Apollo 8 - first manned mission to orbit the moon (december 1968).
Apollo 10 - second manned mission to orbit the moon (may 1969). See Apollo 10 Flight Journal (David Woods, Robin Wheeler, Ian Roberts).
Ashen Light (see Earthshine).
Clair-obscur - "features" produced by patterns of light and shadow; also called "Trompe l'oeil"
Colongitude - 90° minus longitude of subsolar point
Conjunction - Moon and Sun in same direction in sky
Earthshine - Earth-to-moon reflected sunlight, also called "Ashen Light"
Elongation - apparent angle between Sun and Moon
Evening Terminator - line of sunset on the Moon
Far Side of the Moon (the hemisphere of the moon which is always invisible for the population on planet Earth) (only 24 astronauts have seen parts of this hemisphere, this during the heydays of Project Apollo, 1968-1972).
First Quarter Moon (see: The Moon's Phases).
Full Moon (see also: The Moon's Phases).
Gibbous Moon (see: The Moon's Phases).
Grazing Lunar Occultation
Last Quarter Moon (see: The Moon's Phases).
Librations - apparent rocking motions of the Moon as viewed from Earth
Limb - the Moon's edge
Lunar Heliotrope Project (Project PHAROS)
Lunar Orbiter - space mission
Lunar theory - mathematical descriptions of the Moon's motions
Lunar Zodiacal Light (and the mystery of the Kordylewski clouds).
Lunation - the interval from one New Moon to the next
Lunar Pyroclastic Volcanism Project - USGS cataloging of volcanic ash deposits
Morning Terminator - line of sunrise on the Moon
Near Side of the Moon (the hemisphere of the moon which is always visible for the population on planet Earth) (aka The Face of the Man in the Moon).
New Moon (see: The Moon's Phases).
North Pole - the moon's pole at 90° North
Occultation
Opposition - Moon opposite Sun in sky
Opposition Surge - increase in brightness near zero phase angle
Pareidolia - images of living creatures (mostly faces) and other familiar objects seen in Earth's and the moon's surface formations (an optical illusion, often called "Trompe l'oeil"), see also page Clair-Obscur effects on the Moon's Surface (a handy overview of terminator-related optical illusions)
Phase - illuminated fraction of Moon
Phase Angle - angle between Sun and observer as seen from Moon
Phases - named points in the lunar cycle (New, First Quarter, Full, Last Quarter)
Resolution - the size of the smallest detectable detail
Retro-Reflection phenomena - lunar Heiligenschein
Selenographic Coordinates - system of latitude and longitude on Moon
Stratigraphy - system to rank relative age of rocks
South Pole - the moon's pole at 90° South
Sub-Earth Point - location on surface where Earth is directly overhead
Subsolar Point - location on surface where Sun is directly overhead
Sun angle - angle of sun above local horizontal
Synodic month - interval from New Moon to New Moon
Terminator - the line separating the sunlit and shadowed side of the Moon
Transits - telescopic observations of unknown objects crossing the moon's disc (small asteroids?).
Very Old Moon (Waning Crescent Moon slightly before New Moon, see The Moon's Phases).
Very Young Moon (Waxing Crescent Moon slightly after New Moon, see The Moon's Phases).
Waning Crescent Moon (before New Moon - after Last Quarter Moon, see The Moon's Phases).
Waning Gibbous Moon (after Full Moon - before Last Quarter Moon, see The Moon's Phases).
Waxing Crescent Moon (after New Moon - before First Quarter Moon, see The Moon's Phases).
Waxing Gibbous Moon (before Full Moon - after First Quarter Moon, see The Moon's Phases).
Zero-point of Latitude and Longitude (near Oppolzer A).
