Odd Moon Phenomenon...tell me what it is!

[Zakalwe]

If you have a link or some footage that illustrates well a similar type of phenomenon (that you know is optical or compression related) I'm willing to change my mind though.

No I don't. I came to that conclusion by looking at the posted image, and by studying the full size movie. It was mainly driven by the fact that in the full size image, the objects do not appear to move, but the moon is tracking across the FoV. Hence my hypothesis of refraction.

[Glen]

Putting money on dodgy optics, without a true time ref ( i'm guessing around 9.15) speculation will always exist.

Interesting post though, just goes to show the difference in opinion to what is "seen":)

[Heliocentric]

Yeah noticed that (coming over the surface) on others as well, very strange. I took a pic a couple of years ago with an anomily which i noticed when zoomed in. I sent a copy to a local moon expert and he was baffled by it, the only thing he could suggest was a possible meteor impact. If I can find the original, I'll post it and see if anyone on here can i.d. it

David

Did you find that picture wackyscot? It would be interesting to see it, in the context of it all.

[meteoriot]

This is a very interesting article and video on unusual objects and structures etc on the moon some if which have been 'covered up' by NASA

I'm not sure what to make of it but if it's true and not since proven to be nonsense then it's very interesting

Perhaps one of you know more about this? What are YOUR thoughts?

http://blog.hallofthegods.org/2009/08/moon-anomalies-giant-lunar-towers.html

[Heliocentric]

This is a very interesting article and video on unusual objects and structures etc on the moon some if which have been 'covered up' by NASA

Whatever purported 'artifacts' there could be on the Moon (of which I have no knowledge whatsoever), I don't see why they could not be detected by European, Russian, Chinese, Indian or Japanese space probes. NASA therefore is not in a position to cover anything up. The cat would be out of the bag pretty quick IMO.

I would like to focus on what the video is showing, I see no reason for now to tie it in with internet lore on UFOs or US government cover ups.

I brought up the subject here on Stargazers to get feedback from experienced amateur and professional astronomers alike, in order to find out what this phenomenon is, or what it is not.

That said, I still appreciate any input.

[meteoriot]

Whatever purported 'artifacts' there could be on the Moon (of which I have no knowledge whatsoever), I don't see why they could not be detected by European, Russian, Chinese, Indian or Japanese space probes. NASA therefore is not in a position to cover anything up. The cat would be out of the bag pretty quick IMO.

I would like to focus on what the video is showing, I see no reason for now to tie it in with internet lore on UFOs or US government cover ups.

I brought up the subject here on Stargazers to get feedback from experienced amateur and professional astronomers alike, in order to find out what this phenomenon is, or what it is not.

That said, I still appreciate any input.

Sorry but I'm not trying to tie it in with anything. Certainly not ufos and government cover ups Among searching for other similar occurrences I discovered that article and thought it would be interesting. Sorry maybe I should have started a new thread. Also I never meant a 'government cover up' etc I meant that some of the anomalies on the moon images have been artificially covered up by NASA by smudging/blurring or with ink and wonder if these strange anomalies were related as with my other link showing similar looking objects to the ones in the original video that started this thread. Apologies if you believe the post has no place here but the reason I posted it has been completely misinterpreted here. I just thought it would be of interest to people trying to solve this mystery and if it isnt an optical illusion of some kind then maybe, just maybe it could be related to other mysterious moon anomalies witnessed in the past but for the record I'm a skeptic when it comes to UFOs and the like and I am in no way suggesting anything of that sort is responsible for this or anything else.

Richard

[Heliocentric]

No problem meteoriot

It's just that people get all emotional about the subject of UFOs and it can easily derail an interesting debate as the believers and non-believers clash.

maybe, just maybe it could be related to other mysterious moon anomalies witnessed in the past

As you said, it's justified to pose the question, because strange lights and odd fly-bys have been spotted on the Moon before by qualified people.

Which is why I would like to see wackyscot's picture!

[meteoriot]

No problem meteoriot

It's just that people get all emotional about the subject of UFOs and it can easily derail an interesting debate as the believers and non-believers clash.

As you said, it's justified to pose the question, because strange lights and odd fly-bys have been spotted on the Moon before by qualified people.

Which is why I would like to see wackyscot's picture!

Understood. There is one of those currently going off on a different thread.

[meteoriot]

Have we all given in?

[wackyscot]

Did you find that picture wackyscot? It would be interesting to see it, in the context of it all.

I forgot to look for it helio, will try and dig it out today

David

[lukebl]

Have we all given in?

It's an optical artifact.

[RogerTheDodger]

Indeed, here is the hi-res version of the Lobachevski crater, and instead of " apparent structure looks like a huge tower standing at the rim of the Lobachevski crater on the ‘dark’ side of the moon. A distinct shadow cast by the structure is clearly visible on its right hand side.", it is clearly just a shadow from the edge of the crater, and the "structure" is the bright inside of the crater.

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/apollo/apollo16/hires/as16-121-19407.jpg

[GeorgeB]

It looks like a flock of birds passing through the FoV.

[BinocularSky]

How would a reflection change from a light colour infront of the blackness of space to a dark colour as it passed in front of the moon?

If it is brighter than the background sky, but darker than the Moon, it would do exactly that. Here is an optical illusion that illustrates this phenomenon. The squares A and B are exactly the same shade of grey (d/l the image and verify it in a graphics program). Given that a reflection must always be darker than the object being reflected, this is a reasonable explanation.

[BinocularSky]

Also, everyone is jumping to conclusions ....

IMNSVHO that there is a distinction between offering suggestions and jumping to conclusions. YMMV.

[BaronG]

I imagine these guys might know - or at least have an educated guess... They even request amateur observers to send data...

NASA - Lunar Impact Monitoring News

Note that LCROSS at almost 2 tonnes didn't make a splash big enough to see from Earth.

and

[Heliocentric]

It's an optical artifact.

You haven't specified what type of optical artifact, or shown any example of a similar optical artifact.

The explanation that the objects do not move but are simply some type of interference on the lens does not wash IMO.

If you watch the 8 objects closely, you'll see that they come in at different angles and travel in different directions.

This shouldn't happen if the camera was panning by some static dirt on the lens, they should all move in the same direction.

It looks like a flock of birds passing through the FoV.

There's a possibility that they are birds IMO, but does it really look like it?

Why do they all (8) appear exactly at the Moon horizon, why do they all make the same movement inwards toward the Moon?

If I saw just one object take a different trajectory, you would have something more bird-like.

[lukebl]

The reason I believe they're artifacts is that they are stationary, and only appear when the moon moves across the field of view and illuminates them.

If you look at the original (left-hand) image, they all only appear just as the brightest parts of the moon approaches them and, despite the illusion of movement, are stationary (hold your mouse cursor over them in the left-hand image and they clearly don't move). I believe that they are simply artifacts (optical defects or dust particles) in the optical train whose appearance changes as the illumination on them changes.

[BaronG]

You haven't specified what type of optical artifact, or shown any example of a similar optical artifact.

The reality is this is very poor quality video, with no access to an original, no knowledge of the person making the recording (apart from their other youtube vids) and any number of other problems (and the obvious one is that this is a deliberate edit of the video to create this effect).

There have been a number of theories put forward in this thread but without access to more data none of them can be tested.

If one wishes to believe they're space aliens, black helicopters, Elvis, Shergar and Hitler, a portent of the coming Apocalypse, some birds, a few satellites or debris from a Russian superweapon then this video supports that belief. Without more data no one here will give a definitive answer.

So cut some slack - people are just giving their views, there's no point in questioning their evidence or expecting an exact answer when the original data is so incomplete as to render any serious enquiry impossible.

Now to eat some more peanuts and find my towel

BG.

[meteoriot]

The reality is this is very poor quality video, with no access to an original, no knowledge of the person making the recording (apart from their other youtube vids) and any number of other problems (and the obvious one is that this is a deliberate edit of the video to create this effect).

There have been a number of theories put forward in this thread but without access to more data none of them can be tested.

If one wishes to believe they're space aliens, black helicopters, Elvis, Shergar and Hitler, a portent of the coming Apocalypse, some birds, a few satellites or debris from a Russian superweapon then this video supports that belief. Without more data no one here will give a definitive answer.

So cut some slack - people are just giving their views, there's no point in questioning their evidence or expecting an exact answer when the original data is so incomplete as to render any serious enquiry impossible.

Now to eat some more peanuts and find my towel

BG.

The decepticons?

[Heliocentric]

The reality is this is very poor quality video, with no access to an original, no knowledge of the person making the recording (apart from their other youtube vids) and any number of other problems (and the obvious one is that this is a deliberate edit of the video to create this effect).

There have been a number of theories put forward in this thread but without access to more data none of them can be tested.

If one wishes to believe they're space aliens, black helicopters, Elvis, Shergar and Hitler, a portent of the coming Apocalypse, some birds, a few satellites or debris from a Russian superweapon then this video supports that belief. Without more data no one here will give a definitive answer.

So cut some slack - people are just giving their views, there's no point in questioning their evidence or expecting an exact answer when the original data is so incomplete as to render any serious enquiry impossible.

Now to eat some more peanuts and find my towel

BG.

I think that even with a 'youtubed' video, one can make valid observations and at least exclude certain things that it cannot be.

Cut some slack? The whole idea of testing the validity of a theory or a hypothesis is to find its weak spots, that's the proper scientific procedure.

For those who think it's pointless to debate this footage, just move on.

For those who think it's worth studying, all inputs are welcome.

[Glen]

If you watch the 8 objects closely, you'll see that they come in at different angles and travel in different directions...

If I saw just one object take a different trajectory, you would have something more ...

Okaey:rolleyes:

[Heliocentric]

You've taken two sentences from two different contexts and put them together in order to point out an contradiction that isn't there Glen.

One sentence aims to establish that the objects are not all on a horizontal trajectory,

The other that if just one of the objects took off in a different direction alltogether, such as let's say 180º, it would be easier to see them as birds.

I thought it was obvious, sorry if it wasn't.

[meteoriot]

You've taken two sentences from two different contexts and put them together in order to point out an contradiction that isn't there Glen.

One sentence aims to establish that the objects are not all on a horizontal trajectory,

The other that if just one of the objects took off in a different direction alltogether, such as let's say 180º, it would be easier to see them as birds.

I thought it was obvious, sorry if it wasn't.

It was. I noticed that too but fully understood what you meant

[tyler_jrb]

My guess is that it could be anything really, something to do with the optics. but seeing in the video that they come round the moon it could be a satelites going round the moon, meteors. I would exclude aliens but you never know...