Telescope Reviews: IYA2009: Moon For All Mankind

IYA2009: Moon For All Mankind

Note to Editors:
The Sea of Tranquility image referenced in this text is posted at:
astronomy.qteaser.com/images/seaoftranquility1.jpg
The IYA2009 Moon for All Mankind image is posted at:
www.astronomy2009.org/resources/multimedia/images/detail/iya2009_moon_mankind/

Contact:
Douglas Isbell
U.S. Single-Point-of-Contact for IYA2009
Phone: 520-991-0380
Email: disbell@astronomy2009.us

USIYA09-05

July 16, 2009

MICHIGAN AMATEUR ASTRONOMER IMAGES SEA OF TRANQUILITY FOR
MALTA'S MOON FOR ALL MANKIND

The Moon is the closest celestial body to Earth and by far the brightest
object in the night sky. It has fascinated humans since antiquity.

In honor of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009), as well as
the fiftieth anniversary of the first robotic lunar landing and the
fortieth anniversary of the first crewed landing, the archipelago of Malta
has coordinated a global campaign to take images of sections of the Moon's
surface as seen from 40 countries, and combine them in one commemorative,
symbolic whole called the "Moon for All Mankind."

The United States was assigned the region of the Sea of Tranquility, the
location of the Apollo 11 landing on July 20, 1969. The U.S. image was
provided by amateur astronomer Mark Sibole of Fife Lake, Michigan, the
builder and operator of Mark's Tin Shed Observatory (MTSO). The image was
captured on June 12, 2009, using Meade LX200R 10-inch telescope and a DSI
PRO III imager. The final composition is a stack of 100 images at 0.14
seconds autostacked in Envisage.

"I've done many lunar images, but this is the first time that I set out to
zero in on one specific area," Sibole said. "Everyone wants to 'capture'
the Moon, and I'm pretty happy with the result." To find out more about
Mark and his observatory on the Web, visit astronomy.qteaser.com.

Malta is an archipelago of small islands in the Mediterranean with a
population of just over four-hundred thousand people. It has a rich
history and is home to the oldest free-standing stone structures in the
world. It is claimed that these temples, which are thousands of years old,
were aligned to the solstice and so there has been a strong astronomical
tradition in Malta for many centuries.

The IYA2009 Malta committee has organized a wide variety of events for
IYA2009, and it has also put an emphasis on the Moon and its exploration
by robotic and manned spacecraft. This included the issue of a stamp set
commemorating Galileo, Apollo 11 and Lassell's famous telescope in Malta.
A highlight of the activities was a very popular recent visit to Malta by
the Apollo 17 lunar module pilot, geologist, and U.S. Senator Harrison
Schmitt.

During the early meetings of the local IYA2009 committee, chairman Dr
Gordon Caruana Dingli proposed that Malta should co-ordinate an
international project for IYA2009. Leonard Ellul Mercer, a keen
astrophotographer, had long wished to produce an astronomy image involving
various countries and, after discussions with Dr. Alex Gatt, Dingli
proposed forming an image of the Moon composed of images taken by
countries all over the world. Leonard then divided an existing image of
the Moon into numbered segments and all IYA2009 national single points of
contact with an email address were invited to take part.

"The response was overwhelming, with 40 countries submitting images from
all five continents, one country for every year that has passed since
Apollo 11 landed on the Moon!" Dingli said. "We have also included an
image from the European Union's Smart-1 spacecraft."

Most of the images were taken during the May or June full moons of 2009
but some were older, and Italy's was a four hundred year-old sketch by
Galileo Galilei. These images were painstakingly processed and pasted as a
collage on the background of an image of a full moon imaged by Mercer.
This took many hours, especially after he decided to produce an
audiovisual production of the project. The music of the animated feature
is specifically composed and played for the project by Lynn Faure.

The project commemorates the Russian Luna 2 probe, the first spacecraft to
reach the surface of the Moon (impacting on September 14, 1959), as well
as Apollo 11 and IYA2009. Other countries to have launched spacecraft to
the Moon include Japan, Europe, China and India; these probes are also
featured in the image.

The font used in the project is Futura, which was used on the
inspirational plaque affixed to the Apollo 11 lunar module Eagle:

"HERE MEN FROM THE PLANET EARTH FIRST SET FOOT UPON THE MOON JULY 1969,
A.D. WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND"

Commemorating four-hundred years since Galileo first used a telescope for
astronomical research, IYA2009 is designed to help the citizens of the
world to rediscover their place in the Universe through viewing the day-
and night-time skies, to appreciate the impact of astronomy and basic
sciences on our daily lives, and to better understand how scientific
knowledge can contribute to a more equitable and peaceful society.
Astronomers and educators in one-hundred forty-one countries aim to
stimulate worldwide interest in astronomy and science, especially among
young people, under the central IYA2009 theme‚ "The Universe, Yours to
Discover."

For futher information, see:
iya2009malta.page.tl/The-moon-for-all-mankind.htm