Lunar Impact

Artistic conception of meteor impact. Credit: NASA

7th of November, 2005 - NASA scientists observe an explosion in the Moon with energy of approximately 70kg of TNT, which occurred close to the edge of Mare Imbrium (sea of rains).

Probably, the cause was a 12cm meteorite that slammed on the lunar surface at a speed of about 97.200 km/h. The impact may have opened a small crater of about 3 meters of width and 0,4 meters of depth. It was so small that even the Hubble space telescope could not see it.
























Credits of the image: NASA/MSFC/Bill Cooke


The image of this shock, which reached 7 of visual magnitude, was captured with a video camera connected to a 25cm telescope of opening, by Rob Suggs and his colleague Wes Swift of the Marchall Space Flight Center - MSFC.








Sequence of 6 frames of the video, in false color. Credits of the image: Wes Swift/NASA.

Moon SMART-1 Impact Campaign

Artistic representation of SMART- 1 around the Moon. Image: ESA

17th of August, 2006. If we could observe the distant and dark size of the Moon from the Earth, we would watch, in this same day, a similar event to the meteor impact registered by NASA researchers.

In this day, the lunar spaceship SMART-1 (Small Missions for Advanced Research in Technology) of the European Space Agency- ESA, would have its main source of fuel depleted (Xenon – Xe) and would naturally slam against the lunar surface, finishing its successful mission for qualification of its ionic propulsion engine and its observations and studies of the Moon composition, which started with its launching in September, 2003.

We cannot obviously observe the impact in the dark side of the Moon but, we can postpone it and program it for occurring in the visible side, enabling our telescopes for viewing the impact from the Earth, for the necessary analyses.

This is being made. 3rd of September, 2006 is the new established date for the impact. In this day, in the closest side of the Moon, on the dark part near the terminador, the lunar spaceship SMART-1 will slam against the lunar surface.

In order to things work, some technical adjustments have been executed since the 19th of June and must be concluded until the 2th of July. These adjustments will impulse the spacecraft raising its perilune 90 km above its normal orbit.

A further series of minor manoeuvres may be performed on 27 and 28 July, 25 August and on 1 and 2 September 2006 to adjust the SMART-1 trajectory.

Predicted evolution of the perilune ray from the 19th of June until the 3rd of September, 2006. Credit of the illustration: European Space Agency - ESA

Dr. Bernard H. Foing

At this moment, professional and amateur Astronomers (see list in http://www.cosis.net/members/meetings/team.php?team=2442&PHPSESSID=94efc3bd689a33deb8175f1834c3d154 in the end of this article) of some countries, under the coordination of Dr. Bernard H. Foing (photo above), scientist of the SMART-1 Project, are integrating and planning an international research campaign, from the predictions or simulation of impact effects until the observations that will be carried in land by the global astronomical community.

In the project, as in many other astronomical international campaigns, the effective participation of the amateur astronomers will be extremely necessary.

The observations and/or captured images of the impact made by amateurs and the resultant processes will be requested for studies and documentation and then added to the works which will be developed in the big research centers involved in the study:

Asiago Astrophysical Observatory Italy, Paris Meudon observatory, Observatoire Pic du Midi, Observatoire Haute Provence, To silence High Spain, South African Astronomical Observatory, Tenerife (ESA OGS + 1.m infrared), La Palm Roque of los Muchachos/Galileo telescope, LNA/Brazil Itajubá/Pico of the Days, ESO Paranal VLT, ESO La Silla, Cerro Tololo/Chile, Melbourne/Florida Institute tech, Kitt Peak/Arizona, Mauna Kea CFHT (+ IRTF, UKIRT), Zelentchuk/Crimeia, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) among others.

- A number of observatories have already confirmed their participation to the observing campaign:

. CEA Cariri - Juazeiro do Norte, Ceará, Brazil
. VLBI Very Long Baseline Interferometry and radio observatories
. South African Large Telescope SALT
. Calar Alto
. ESA OGS Optical Ground Station at Tenerife
. Argentina National Telescope
. Florida Tech Robotic telescopes
. Hawaii NASA IRTF
. Japanese telescope
. ODIN observatory (from space)

Members of the International Campaign

Artistic impression of SMART-1. Credits: ESA




· SMART-1 STWT and Spacecraft Operations Team

B.H. Foing, D. Koschny, D. Frew, M. Almeida, M. Sarkarati, J. Volp, G. Racca, O. Camino, J. Schoenmakers, G. Schwehm, J.L. Josset, S. Beauvivre, Z. Sodnik, P. Cerroni, A. Barucci, M. Grande, U. Keller, A. Nathues, K. Muinonen et al.

· SMART-1 Coordinated observations group

P. Ehrenfreund, B. Leibundgut, O. Hainaut, K. Meech, D. Wooden , P.Gondoin, J.L. Ortiz, R. Schultz, C. Erd, L. Gurvits, A. C. Cook, G. Cremonese, C. Barbieri, Mario Di Martino, J. Trigo-Rodriguez, N. Bhandari, T. Chandrasekhar, N. Kawano, K. Matsumoto, V. Reddy, M. Wood, S. Vennes, C. Taylor, A. Hanslmeyer, J. Vaubaillon, M. Khodachenko, H. Rucker, et al.

· SMART-1 impact prediction group

D. Koschny, H. Svedhem, A. Rossi, D. Goldstein, P.H. Schultz, L. Alkalai, B. Banerdt, M. Kato, M. Burchell, V. Mangano, A. Berezhnoy, H. Lammer et al.

· SMART-1 amateur astronomer coordination & outreach

M. Talevi, S. Ansari, C. Lawton, J.P. Lebreton, M. Buoso, S. Williams, A. Cirou, L. David, O. Sanguy, J.D.Burke, P.D. Maley, Valmir Martins de Morais, F. Marchis, Juan Miguel Hodar Muñoz, J.L. Dighaye, F. Graham et al.

The Impact

Credit of the illustration: European Space Agency – ESA .

At this point, the spacecraft weighing about 285 kilograms - 200 kg of aluminum in its body of 1m3, 3 kg of N2H4 hydrazine, 0,26 kg of Xenon, epoxi, two solar carbon fiber panels and solar stacks AsGa with 6.5 meters each, will slam against the lunar surface at a speed of 7200km an hour, in a descending oblique angle of only 1 degree in an ascending inclination of 2.5 degrees, originating a lengthened crater (similar in format to the ones of Messier A and B) with a size of between 5 to 10 meters.

The kinetic speed of the SMART-1 spacecraft will be lower than the speed of a 1kg meteorite, which reaches the Moon in natural speed of 144.000 km/h or, even lower than the speed of the most massive lunar modules which slammed during the Apollo missions. Due to this low speed and the obliquity of its orbit, its effects will be even more localized.

The adopted models foresee that the resultant flash of the impact will last for only 20 Milliseconds approximately.

The kinetic energy will be of about 600 MJ, and the depth of penetration might be of about one meter. The thermal magnitude of the flash would reach 7.4 if half of the kinetic energy were converted into heat. Anyway, for the adopted model of a 2km speed prediction, an estimated magnitude around 16 will be more realistic (Koschny and Gruen, Koschny 2006).

A volume of 10 to 80m3 of excavated material is expected to result of this impact – 80% lighter and colder, constituted basically of dust of about 15 microns in size (normalized by area) – will be ejected and will be extended through a 25km square area, which will result in a complete darkening of the reached surface and will result after the first minute in signals of partial darkening.

This material, in its totality, is expected to be observed by the reflection of the Earthshine with a magnitude of around V=17 by square kilometer, therefore, only accessible to big instruments. Smaller telescopes will detect only additional brightness the reached area, which due to its raised albedo, will have an additional magnitude of around 13 to 14.

With the normal component of the speed in the order of 130 m/s, it is expected that a small amount of the ejected material (about 1%) may have a vertical speed higher than 280 m/s, which will be sufficient to reach the solar light and become visible. That corresponds to a 100-degree angle of solar phase with a V=11.5 magnitude or smaller , therefore, more easily detectable by the small telescopes. [To see the item: The Observations.]

The lack of more precise data of the lunar topography (the used topographical information has a grid of only 1 kilometer, captured by the Clementine Spacecraft, of the Science and Technology Operations Centre - STOC) also allows the possibility of occurrence of the impact either in the previous orbit or in the subsequent orbit calculated for the nominal impact.

This happens because the spacecraft might slam against some high lunar mount of unknown altitude, located in the way of the calculated trajectories or will either move between these mounts, slamming in a posterior orbit.

Spot for the SMART-1 Impact

The impact of the SMART-1 will possibly occur in the dark part of the first quarter moon, in the visible side of the Moon, next to the terminador, in the south of Mare Humorum, in Lacus Excellentiae, on the 3rd of September, 2006 .

This area is very interesting from the scientific point of view. It is a volcanic plane area surrounded by highlands, but also characterised by ground heterogeneities.

Localization of Lacus Excellentiae. Image captured by the Virtuel Atlases of la Lune by Christian Legrand and Patrick Chevalley

Lacus Excellentiae. Credit of the image: Valmir M. Morais (author)

Lacus Excellentiai. Credit of the image: Photo IV-148-H3 of Digital by the Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlases of the Moon of the Lunar and Planetary Institute - LPI.

New point of impact designated for the author. This mosaic of images, obtained by the Advanced Moon Imaging Experiment (AMIE) on board ESA's SMART-1 spacecraft, shows the SMART-1 landing site on the Moon. Credits: ESA/Space-X Space Exploration Institute/ Rosely Gregio (Brazil)

Data and Visibility of the Moon for Impact 0

Nominal Impact: 3rd of September, 2006, 05:42:20.320 UT

SMART-1's impact is currently expected on 3 September 2006 at 05:42:20.320 UT, in the point located at 46.19496º West longitude and 34.26932º South latitude in Lacus Excellentiae.

Lacus Excellentiae. Time of nominal impact. Image captured by the Virtuel Atlas of la Lune de Christian Legrand and Patrick Chevalley.

New point of impact designated for the author. Image obtained by the spacecraft SMART-1. Credits: ESA/Space-X Space Exploration Institute.



Perilune of the Orbit

These are the last orbit prediction we have for SMART-1.
The reference system is W91 and the topographic data is from the NASA Clementine mission.
The data is from the perilune of the orbit.

Revised impact predictions have been generated based on the SMART-1 orbit determination from 1 September 2006.
The calculations include a scheduled manoeuvre in the night of 1/2 September to raise the perilune by 600 m in order to maximise the chance to impact at the nominal perilune.

Time: 2006/09/03 5:42:52.504 UT
Longitude (W91): 313,73194150408 deg
Latitude (W91) : -36,45157493490 deg
Height: 215.199 meters below topographic surface

Visibility of the Moon

Right Ascension (J2000) = 18h34m19,5s
Declination (J2000) = -28°02'10"
Earth-Moon distance = 375.750 km
Apparent lunar diameter = 31,80'
Phase = 62,1°
Lunation = 10,44 days
Illumination = 73,4

Perilune of the Orbit signed by the autor. Lunar Aeronautical Chart Footprint, Moon General Image Viewer, U.S. Geological Survey - U.S. Department of the Interior.

Perilune of the Orbit signed by the autor. Moon General Image Viewer, Planetary Interactive G.I.S. on the web, U.S. Geological Survey - U.S. Department of the Interior.

Perilune of the Orbit signed by the author. Photo IV-148-H3 of the Digital Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon - Lunar and Planetary Institute - LPI.

Perilune Nominal Orbit. Image obtained by the spacecraft SMART-1. Credits: ESA/Space-X Space Exploration Institute.

Day/Night on Earth. Image captured by the author with the Earth View Program. Credit: Earth View, Earth and Moon Viewer by John Walker.

The Moon view shows the area of the Earth where the Moon is above the horizon. Credit: Day and Night Across the Earth, U.S. Naval Observatory.

Location............................. Local Time...... Alt. Moon....... Alt. Sun

São Paulo, Brazil................... 02:42 day 03...... +00°49' (w)..... -48°20'
Buenos Aires, Argentina.......... 02:42 day 03...... +14°44' (w)..... -52°14'
Paris, France....................... 06:42 day 03...... -59°29'.......... +04°53'
Cananga, Republic of Congo...... 07:42 day 03...... -54°36'.......... +17°26'
Rome, Italy......................... 06:42 day 03...... -69°05'.......... +11°29'
Madrid, Spain...................... 06:42 day 03...... -58°35'.......... -00°15'
Washington D.C., U.S.A.......... 00:42 day 02...... -04°54' ......... -42°07'
Lisbon, Portugal................... 05:42 day 03...... -54°44'........... -04°38'
Mexico City, Mexico............... 23:42 day 02...... +21°42' (w)......-59°26'
Sydney, Australia.................. 15:42 day 03...... +37°51'...........+21°58'
Santiago, Chile..................... 01:42 day 03...... +23°46' (w)..... -59°48'
Tucson, Arizona (USA)............. 22:42 day 03...... +26°46' (w)..... -43°23'
Havaii, USA......................... 19:42 day 03...... +39°52' (w)..... -16°59'

Data and Visibility of the Moon for Impact Orbit -1

Nominal Impact Orbit -1 (00:37:54.709 UT)

These are the last orbit prediction we have for SMART-1.The reference system is W91 and the topographic data is from the NASA Clementine mission.
The data is from the perilune of the orbit.

Revised impact predictions have been generated based on the SMART-1 orbit determination from 1 September 2006.
The calculations include a scheduled manoeuvre in the night of 1/2 September to raise the perilune by 600 m in order to maximise the chance to impact at the nominal perilune.

Lacus Excellentiae. Time of Impact orbit -1Image captured by the Virtuel Atlas of la Lune by Christian Legrand and Patrick Chevalley

Visibility of the Moon

Right Ascension(J2000) = 18h22m44,3s
Declination (J2000) = -28º46'32"
Earth-Moon distance = 377.867 km
Apparent lunar diameter = 31,62'
Phase = 64,8°
Lunation = 10,23 days
Illumination = 71,3%

1 Orbit Before Impact

Time: 2006/09/03 00:37:54.709 UT
Longitude (W91): 316,50051484751 deg
Latitude (W91) : -36,46925842646 deg
Height: 2056.054 meters over topographic surface.

Impact signed by the autor. Lunar Aeronautical Chart Footprint, Moon General Image Viewer, U.S. Geological Survey - U.S. Department of the Interior.

Impact signed by the autor. Moon General Image Viewer, Planetary Interactive G.I.S. on the web, U.S. Geological Survey - U.S. Department of the Interior.

Impact signed by the author. Photo IV-148-H3 of the Digital Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon - Lunar and Planetary Institute - LPI.

Impact signed by the author. Images obtained by the spacecraft Clementine. Credit: NASA.



















Day/Night on Earth. Image captured by the author with the Earth View Program. Credit: Earth View, Earth and Moon Viewer by John Walker.

The Moon view shows the area of the Earth where the Moon is above the horizon. Credit: Day and Night Across the Earth, U.S. Naval Observatory.





Location........................Local Time.....Alt. Moon.........Alt. Sun

São Paulo, Brazil............. 21:37 day 02.... +63°26' (w)....... -50°40'
Buenos Aires, Argentina.... 21:37 day 02.... +74° 08'(w)....... -37°19'
Paris, France................. 01:37 day 03.... -13° 58'........... -31°47'
Cananga, Rep. of Congo.... 02:37 day 03.... -04° 13'........... -57°19'
Rome, Italy................... 01:37 day 03.... -17° 19'........... -35°45'
Madrid, Spain................ 01:37 day 03.... -05° 57'........... -40°55'
Washington D.C., U.S.A.... 19:37 day 02.... +21°44' (w)........ -11°50'
Lisbon, Portugal............. 00:37 day 03.... -01° 34'........... -42°56'
Mexico City, Mexico......... 18:37 day 02.... +36°03'............ +02°10'
Sydney, Australia............ 10:37 day 03.... -14°03'............. +44°40'
Santiago, Chile.............. 20:37 day 02.... +83°32' (w)........ -27°49'
Tucson, Arizona (USA)...... 17:37 day 02.... +19°37' (w)........ +13°31'
Havaii, USA.................. 14:37 day 02.... -00°25'............. +54°05'

Data and Visibility of the Moon for Impact Orbit +1

Nominal impact Orbit +1 (10:47:49.998 UT)

These are the last orbit prediction we have for SMART-1. The reference system is W91 and the topographic data is from the NASA Clementine mission.
The data is from the perilune of the orbit, the impact will happen minutes before.

Revised impact predictions have been generated based on the SMART-1 orbit determination from 1 September 2006.
The calculations include a scheduled manoeuvre in the night of 1/2 September to raise the perilune by 600 m in order to maximise the chance to impact at the nominal perilune.

Lacus Excellentiae. Time of Impact orbit +1. Image captured by the Virtuel Atlas of la Lune by Christian Legrand and Patrick Chevalley

Visibility of the Moon

Right Ascension (J2000) = 18h51m43,7 s
Declination (J2000)= -27º26'57"
Earth-Moon distance = 373.963 km
Apparent lunar diameter = 31,95'
Phase = 59,4°
Lunation = 10,65 days
Illumination = 75,5%

1 Orbit after Impact

Time: 2006/09/03 10:47:49.998 UT
Longitude (W91): 310,96356203210 deg
Latitude (W91) : -36,42740130684 deg
Height: 2149.739 meters below topographic surface

Impact signed by the autor. Lunar Aeronautical Chart Footprint, Moon General Image Viewer, U.S. Geological Survey - U.S. Department of the Interior.

Impact signed by the autor. Moon General Image Viewer, Planetary Interactive G.I.S. on the web, U.S. Geological Survey - U.S. Department of the Interior.


























Impact +1 orbit signed by the author. Photo IV-148-H3 of the Digital Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon - Lunar and Planetary Institute - LPI.


























Image obtained by the spacecraft SMART-1. Credits: ESA/Space-X Space Exploration Institute.



















Day/Night on Earth. Image captured by the author with the Earth View Program. Credit: Earth View, Earth and Moon Viewer by John Walker.

The Moon view shows the area of the Earth where the Moon is above the horizon. Credit: Day and Night Across the Earth, U.S. Naval Observatory.





Location........................Local Time.....Alt. Moon.........Alt. Sun

São Paulo, Brazil............. 07:47 day 03.... -38°18' .......... -20°01'
Buenos Aires, Argentina.... 07:47 day 03.... -25° 35'.......... +07°06'
Paris, France................. 11:47 day 03.... -50° 25'........... +46°41'
Cananga, Rep. of Congo.... 12:47 day 03.... -19° 57'........... +75°48'
Rome, Italy................... 11:47 day 03.... -44° 23'........... +55°19'
Madrid, Spain................ 11:47 day 03.... -56° 28'........... +51°57'
Washington D.C., U.S.A.... 05:47 day 03.... -58°45' ........... +01°27'
Lisbon, Portugal............. 10:47 day 03.... -60° 50'........... +50°32'
Mexico City, Mexico......... 04:47 day 03.... -37°14'............ -21°35'
Sydney, Australia............ 20:47 day 03.... +77°28'(w)........ -38°59'
Santiago, Chile.............. 06:47 day 02.... -22°53' ........... -02°07'
Tucson, Arizona (USA)...... 03:47 day 02.... -31°07' ........... -26°20'
Havaii, USA.................. 00:47 day 02.... +09°13' (w)....... -61°52'

The observations

Jean Nicolini Municipal Observatory, in Campinas, Brazil. Partner of the Project.


Beyond being able to help simulating and understanding the processes that occur in temporary natural impacts, the observation of a collision in dry soil conditions can be used as experience for controlling to a future impact aiming the diagnosis of the polar ice of the Moon.

The interest for the contribution of large telescopes from the Earth in this project lies in its easiness for collecting a great number of photons in angular resolutions lower than 0,4 second of arch or still in the use of its adaptive optic system for the detection of the flash of the impact, making possible the observation of the structure of the ejected materials and its dynamics, or yet some traces and dynamics of gas clouds of the hydrazine with a resolution lower than 100 meters.

The works in land aim the capturing of infrared images of the evolution of the thermal flash and the observation under Earthshine and under solar light - either at visible conditions or at infrared - of the speed and the dynamics of unfastened clouds of dust, as well as the spectroscopic features of this material, which may generate improvements in the understanding of other processes, such as the degree of hollowing and the effects related to the gravitational force.

The spectral distribution of the energy and the comparative observations of the reflectance of the dust can supply quantitative features such as the mineral composition, the porosity, cristallinity and the distribution and analysis of the thin layers (until a meter of depth) of the lunar surface. These upper layers, exposed to cosmic rays and to solar particles, are modified in such a way that they weaken their mineral signature when spectroscopic analyses are carried out.

The observations in infrared, in particular the infrared range from 2-20 microns, would allow a constraint on the present lunar minerals (pyroxene, olivine) on the main aims, which would complement the SMART-1 diagnostics - high resolution multicolor camera (lower than 40 m/píxel) AMIE used in the band of 0.95 micron of the pyroxene and spectrometry infrared – SIR, on 0.9-2.5 microns band. A special care is needed for limiting and correcting the light that comes from the illuminated part of the half moon, beyond the 60 seconds of arc in the east of the terminator.

After a short lasting thermal flash, there might be a remaining increase of the temperature of the lunar soil, which reaches about -173°C (100ºK) at night. The cooling can be monitored by some hours through the thermal images in infrared.

The impact will not be visible at naked eye.It is expected that the dust cloud generated by the impact might be visible (with telescopes) during some minutes.

It is difficult to estimate precisely the reflexibility, the size of particles (therefore normalized by area) and the amount of the ejected material. It is probable, however, that this cloud may have a lower visual magnitude or yet higher than the one initially calculated. Because of this, we insist that the amateur astronomers join and carry out observations of the event.

The dry air during the time and in the observation spot, of course, will collaborate to the recording of the occurrences after the impact. The humid air which disperses the brightness of the Moon (moonlight), which increases extremely the brightness of the sky, will make it difficult to see the dust cloud raised during the event.

The use of webcams will be extremely useful.By allowing the recording of hundreds of images in a short space of time, frame-by-frame occurrences can be detected, and the weak details can be enhanced to improve its visualization.

The observers who will pursue the ejected material in the Earthshine or under solar light through the images in high resolution at visible light or with the use of filters, through CCD or video, should not forget that, due to the brevity of the event, that the images must have accurate the time and place of the event inserted on the frames in order for having any scientific value.

It is also requested that from now on, in order to be used later as evidence – after the impact and after the falling of the ejected materials, possible changes of colors, topography or other new characteristics - high resolution images of the points of impact in different lunar phases (angles of observation and illumination) are captured with or without the use of filters.

In Brazil, the Lunar Section of Astronomia Observacional's Net-REA http://www.reabrasil.org/lunar/, is developing and coordinating a nationwide observation project named SL/REA SMART-1 Lunar Impact Project http://www.reabrasil.org/lunar/smart1impact.htm which is coordinated by Ms. Rosely Gregio - rgregio@uol.com.br Chief Coordinator of the Lunar Section, Mr. José Serrano Agustoni - agustoni@yahoo.com Manager of Lunar Impact Projects and Mr. Valmir Martins de Morais - valmirmmorais@yahoo.com.br Member of the Team of Observers of the SL/REABr (Lunar Section - REA-BRASIL) and of the international campaign Moon SMART Impact: Predictions and Observation Campaign that Juan also counts in its rows with the observing Brazilian Miguel Hodar Muñoz - Manager for the Project Lunar Topography of the SL/REABr.

Campaign SL/Lunar REA SMART-1 Impact Project will coordinate and collect all the data, comments and images preliminary and gotten of the event for the observers in the country and will directly send they for study and analysis to the general coordination of Moon SMART Impact: Predictions and Observation Campaing - ESA Scientific - SMART-1 under the responsibility of the Dr. Bernard H. Foing, e, from it, for several other interested scientific institutions.

These data will have to also be inserted in the site of the national project and will be the disposal of the researchers and centers of research.

The Association of Lunar & Planetary Observers- ALPO is, at the moment, developing a program called ALPO Smart Impact Project - http://www.zone-vx.com/alpo-smartimpact.html .
Its coordinator, Mr. Brian Cudnik - cudnik@sbcglobal.net , will compile and submit to the ESA, the preliminary and the captured observations of the event for the lunar observers of this project. The Website maintenance: William M. Demboswki, FRAS - mailto:mdembowski@zone-vx.com

Let’s remember that: " Astronomy is contribution ". Words of Júlio Lobo

Calibration of the observations

Eartshine in 11-03-2005. credit: NASA






















Earthshine. Credit of the illustration: Robert Knop




In order to get familiarized with the impact area, with the calibration and reduction of the aspects of stray light , the observations and the acquisition of images at visible light and with filters in this region will be held within months before the event is carried.

Perform some images of the impact site (which is in the dark...) to check the straylight level. For PR purposes, do some tests with the illuminated part in the field of view (if your field of view is large enough) and do some tests with the illuminated part in the field of view (if your field of view is large enough).

Perform some image the complete Moon at the same phase as during the impact.

Perform some long-exposure images to see the unilluminated side of the Moon in earthshine - this we would use during the actual impact to search for ejecta clouds at visible light and with filters.

The conditions – including technical - must be similar to the ones which will be carried in September - same instruments, closes, filters, same lunar phase (interval of 29.53 days), darkness and distance from the terminator.

Obeying to these criteria, the observations must be held during the following days:
5th to 6th of July and 3rd to 4th of August.

It is strongly encouraged that the observer use this time (or the days preceding or following if the day of choice is clouded out) to practice with their setup, assess stray light problems and take steps to minimize this.