[meteorite-list] A New Lunar Impact Observatory

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2007 14:22:13 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <200709282122.OAA27894_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/28sep_wco.htm

A New Lunar Impact Observatory
NASA Science News
September 28, 2007

Note added in press: The Walker County Observatory recorded its first
lunar impact on Sept. 19, 2007.

Sept. 28, 2007: NASA scientists are proving that you can go home again ???
if you bring a telescope with you. "Home" is north Georgia's Walker
County, where astronomers Bill Cooke and Rob Suggs have just set up a
research-grade observatory for their old school system.

Years ago, they won't say how many, Cooke and Suggs attended the same
high school in Walker County and after school they volunteered at the
Walker County Science and Technology Center. The center's telescopes
fueled their fire for astronomy. They learned to operate the
instruments, find their way around the night sky, and they took their
first pictures of the Moon.

Now, photographing the Moon is something they do professionally for NASA.

Cooke and Suggs work at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville,
Alabama. Cooke heads up the Meteoroid Environment Office and Suggs leads
the Space Environments team. Together with a half-dozen assistants and
colleagues, they specialize in "lunar impact monitoring." In other
words, they watch meteorites hit the Moon and explode.

"We've recorded about 30 strikes this year so far," says Cooke. Keeping
track of these numbers is important to NASA as the agency lays plans to
return to the Moon. "We need to know the odds of habitats and spacecraft
getting hit."

Which brings us back to Georgia. Installing a telescope in Walker County
not only benefits the local Science Center but also it solves a thorny
problem for the lunar monitoring team. Cooke explains:

"At our main observatory in Huntsville, we see a fair amount of man-made
space junk passing between us and the Moon. If the junk is tumbling and
catches sunlight, it looks like an impact flash."

"But suppose you have two observatories separated by some distance???say,
one telescope in Alabama and one in Georgia. Then we can tell the
difference between a tumbling satellite and a genuine impact. A real
impact flash would be seen by both telescopes at the same location on
the Moon. A tumbling satellite, on the other hand, will glint
differently at the two locations."

Using the internet, NASA will monitor Walker County telescope data
remotely ten days each month when the Moon is properly situated for
viewing impacts. The Science and Technology Center will use the
telescope the rest of the time.

"It opens up a whole new world of potential science fair projects for
them," says Cooke.

The Meteoroid Office chose this rural county as a home for the telescope
because it was a perfect fit. For one thing, Cooke knew that the Science
and Technology Center had won a Space Telescope Science Institute grant
to help build a new planetarium. "The old planetarium I used as a kid
was bull-dozed," says Cooke. "We felt the telescope would be a natural
adjunct to the new planetarium."

"The center also has beautifully flat horizons ??? no trees. It's all
clear for viewing. And Rob and I have known the Walker County School
District's Science and Technology Coordinator, Wayne Robinson, for years.
He can fix the telescope if anything breaks down. It's a win-win situation."

Robinson agrees.

"Having the NASA lunar observatory at our center will pay tremendous
dividends for years to come," he says. "Images from the telescope will
inspire our students to know more about space science and astronomy.
We'll also project the images on to a 40 foot diameter dome, providing
audiences with a combination of simulated night sky and real time
images. If there ever was a win-win situation, this is it."

The $15,000 telescope has a 14-inch diameter mirror and will observe
from within an 8-foot by 8-foot building with a roll-top roof.

End of story? Not quite. Robinson won't let you go without sharing a
tale about Cooke's younger days.

"We used to put on Christmas programs in the old planetarium," recalls
Robinson. "I remember one in particular. The planetarium director turned
on a black light to reveal wise men and camels. But the black lights
revealed something else too. Bill and some other volunteers had secretly
placed big signs that said, Wise Men on Strike and Demand Better Camels."

"Needless to say, the event is legendary to this day."

Warning to the next generation: Cooke is back, and he's bringing a
telescope with him.
Received on Fri 28 Sep 2007 05:22:13 PM PDT