Report

During the 2010/2011 academic year, I worked with Jarrel Doorn '12 and Malcolm Eaton '13 on a project to search for Transient Lunar Phenomena (TLPs).  The origin and even existence of TLPs is controversial, but it is possible that they are caused by current volcanism on the moon. We used the 18-inch Centurion on our observing deck to take images of the moon using different filters to search for subtle color changes. Jarrel and Malcolm were also supported by NASA funding to do this research during the summer of 2010.  The following paper on this research was presented on May 26 at the Boston meeting of the American Astronomical Society: "Searching for Transient Lunar Phenomena" by Jarrel Doorn, Malcolm Eaton, Gary Ahrendts, and Timothy Barker."

Original proposal

I am requesting two students to work with me using telescopes on the Observing Deck to look for possible volcanic activity in certain places on the moon and potentially take spectra of volcanic outgassing.