Observer Name & Address: The first three lines of the report are straightforward to fill out, just your name and current snail mail address. Also include your e-mail address for faster correspondence.
Location of Observation: Since we are not measuring the size of the moon or anything precise like so, you do not need to use USGS or GPS resources to find your lat/long, to the nearest arc minute will do. Some people already have these determined for other purposes, but these can be used to determine the Moon's elevation at a later time if necessary.
UT Date, UT Start, UT End: The date, start, and end of each of your sessions. You can continue this list on the back of the form if necessary, but, please, only one form per evening's session..
Instrument: What did you use in the observations? Telescope? Binoculars? Indicate the aperture, type, f/ratio, and magnification used--e.g. 14-inch f/11 Cassegraine at 125x, and 12x50 binoculars.
Method(s) used in the Observation (low light video camera, tape recorder & WWV, other): Please describe whether the method was visual (list the equipment used...), or video camera recorded (list type of camera, how the data was stored...).
Seeing (1-10): Rate the steadiness of your local seeing, from 1 (useless conditions, it's like looking through water), to 10 (the finest telescopic details stand out most of the time).
Transparency (i.e. limiting Magnitude of stars visibe1-6): how faint are the stars you can see with your naked eye?
Clouds (none, haze, very few, scattered, variable, broken, overcast): Fill in the one or two words that best describe your sky most of the time you were observing.
Fill in the table with any impact candidates you observe. Indicate the date and time of the flash (if the time is uncertain, put a colon, ":", immediately after it, e.g. 10:23: UT). If you observed visually, please include whether you included your reaction time in your UT determinations. Also, how confident are you at seeing the flash? Rate that on a scale of 10% (if it's less than 10%, you shouldn't be reporting it...) to 100%. For visual this indicates how sure you are about whether this was a real telescopic phenomenon or whether you imagined it or experienced retinal flashes. For video observers, this indicates the level of confidence that you feel this is an actual phenomenon versus video static or cosmic ray hit or other artifact of the video system.
In the column labeled "Comments (estimated magnitude, apparent color, duration of event, different method used, etc.)", fill in the estimated magnitude, what color you saw if it showed color, how long did it last (fraction of a second, one second, etc.), whether you changed methods (visual to video) and any sudden changes in the weather (dust storm stops observations for 45 minutes, clouded out at 4:00UT, etc.), or other items you feel would be helpful. If you fill up the table, continue on the back (if you wish to do this electronically and e-mail it to me as an attachment, start a new form if you fill up one form...).
Accompanying the report form #1 should be the report form #2, the blank moon map. This second form is especially for visual observers, as video observers can include shots that show various parts of the moon for geographic (or selenographic, more appropriately) reference. It is best you download the LMIS-RF 2 to your local machine and use a program such as Adobe Photoshop or Corel Photo House to open and print the image. Doing so ensures that you fit the entire image on a sheet of paper. If you print it directly from the browser, you will likely cut off parts of the image. The image will still be useful for most observing sessions, but it is best to have the entire image in tact just in case...
Visual observers should have a hand-held tape recorder and a shortwave radio that can pick up the WWV signal at 5, 7.5, 10, or 15 MHz. The recorder should be recording the time cadence in the background, so that in the event of an event, you can call out "flash!" or "bang!" or similarly to indicate an observation. That sound will show up on the tape, with the WWV in the background, so you can go back to find the exact time you called out your observation. It is best to include your estimated reaction time as well (you may be surprised that you have actually seen something, this may delay your reaction to one second or more...).
When you begin your observing session (again I
am primarily addressing visual observers here...) do so in the twilight
when it is too bright to see any faint impacts. This will give you
time to sketch in the position of the terminator on the moon blank.
Drawing in a few of the larger, well-known craters will also be helpful,
but you don't have to make a masterpiece sketch out of it. The purpose
of the moon map is to provide a useful context for reporting the position
of any observed impact flash candidate.
If a candidate is seen, you can go back to get
the precise time off your audiotape later, but indicate where on the moon
you saw the event, with a point, accompanied by the approximate time (to
the nearest minute for now, this helps to distinguish multiple flashes...)
you saw the flash. On the report form #1, put this approximate time,
your confidence % level, and any supporting information while it's still
fresh in your mind. Again, you can go back and replace the approximate
time with a more precise time later.
If you have any further questions, please e-mail the Coordinator at the address given.