In collaboration with Sky&Telescope Magazine, contributing editor and planetary scientist Charles Wood produced the "Lunar 100" list denoting perhaps the most interesting and instructive lunar features one may undertake in observing and/or imaging our closest celestial neighbour. The list is comprised of a wide variety of features and includes numerous craters (ex. L5 Copernicus, L6 Tycho), mountains (ex. L4 Appenines, L96 Leibnitz), rilles (ex. L29 Aridaeus, L66 Hadley), rays (L85 Langrenus, L93 Dyonisius), basins (ex. L59 Schiller-Zucchius, L73 Smythii) and domes (ex. L89 Valentine). Also, as one progresses sequentially through the list, features of increasing difficulty are encountered which, at times, may require favourable libration. In contrast to the Messier Catalog which may be pursued in its entirety in early spring during a single evening, the Lunar-100 will inevitably require a number of lunations for a complete enumeration from start to finish. Of course, the emphasis is not on how fast one may traverse the complete list but to gain a better understanding and appreciation of our moon and, thereby, our own planet's history.

Note: For further information on the Lunar-100, the interested lunatic is referred to S&T (Apr/2004: 113-120) and/or the analogue online reference available here.

Note: The image below is a follow-up to the fifteen-month exercise during 2004 and 2005 to catch the rising full moon against the Temple of Poseidon in southern Greece and which was finally realized with the May/2005 full moon. The primary task was to identify the optimal time after sunset which would yield a perfect (!) balance between the (bright) moon and the natural lighting of the Temple of Poseidon. This was determined to be approximately 22 minutes after sunset. The months that ensued were then used to reverse engineer the perspective of the temple with respect to its physical azimuth and altitude. The final exercise involved the identification of the "proper" full moon during the calendar year which would simultaneously meet the above criteria with respect to lighting balance (full moon and archaelogical grounds) as well as azimuth and altitude.

Note: For additional photos of the rising full moon from both the 2005 and 2008 sessions, please click here.