The Moon for All Mankind – The Malta Moon
9 July 2009
The moon is our closest celestial body and by far the brightest object in the night sky. It has fascinated man since antiquity.
The International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) celebrates the four hundred year anniversary since Galileo Galilei turned his telescope toward the night sky. He was the first to observe our moon in detail and some of the maps he made have been preserved.
The year 2009 is also the fiftieth anniversary of the first unmanned lunar landing and the fortieth anniversary of the first manned landing.
Malta is an archipelago of small islands in the Mediterranean with a population of just over four hundred thousand people. It has a rich history and is home to the oldest free- standing stone structures in the world. It is claimed that these temples, which are thousands of years old, were aligned to the solstice, demonstrating that a strong astronomical tradition has existed in Malta since antiquity.
The IYA2009 Malta committee has been very busy organising several astronomy events, and has put an emphasis on the moon and its exploration by robotic and manned spacecraft. These efforts have included the issuing of a stamp set commemorating Galileo, Apollo 11 and astronomer William Lassell's famous telescope in Malta. A highlight of the activities was a successful visit to Malta by the Apollo 17 lunar module pilot, the geologist and former U.S. Senator Harrison Schmitt. In addition, the IYA2009 Malta committee has presented several talks, seminars, exhibitions and observing sessions.
During the committee's early meetings, the chairman Dr Gordon Caruana-Dingli proposed that Malta should co-ordinate an international project for IYA2009. Mr Leonard Ellul-Mercer, who is a keen astrophotographer, had long wished to produce an astronomy image involving various countries. After discussions with Dr Alex Gatt, Gordon proposed forming an image of the moon composed of images taken by countries all over the world. Leonard then divided an image of the moon into numbered segments and all IYA2009 single points of contact with an email address were invited to take part. The response was overwhelming, with 40 countries submitting images from five continents -- one country for every year that has passed since Apollo 11 landed on the moon! Most of the images were taken during the May or June full moons of 2009, but some were far older, such as Italy's four hundred year old sketch by Galileo Galilei. The IYA2009 Malta committee also included an image from the European Union's Smart-1 spacecraft. These images were then painstakingly processed and pasted as a collage on the background of a full moon imaged by Mr Ellul-Mercer. This took up many hours of Mr Ellul-Mercer's time, especially after he decided to produce an audiovisual production of the project. Lynn Faure specifically composed and played the music for the animated feature.
The project commemorates the Russian Luna 2, which was the first unmanned spacecraft to land on the moon. The Moon For All Mankind also commemorates the Apollo mission that culminated in the first manned lunar landing on 20 July 1969, followed by another five landings. Other countries that have launched spacecraft to the moon include Japan, Europe, China and India. These probes are also featured in the image.
The font used in the project is Futura, the same font used on the plaque that was fixed to the Apollo 11 lunar module Eagle, which read:
"HERE MEN FROM THE PLANET EARTH FIRST SET FOOT UPON THE MOON JULY 1969, A.D. WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND"
This served as the inspiration for our project, The Moon For All Mankind.
Leonard Ellul-Mercer
Gordon Caruana-Dingli
International Year of Astronomy 2009 Malta Committee
Image available here: http://www.astronomy2009.org/resources/multimedia/images/detail/iya2009_moon_mankind/
Image Techincal Details
Australia
Imager: Robert T. Price
Location: Bethanga, Victoria, Australia
Telescope: C11
Camera: Imaging Source. DMK21 AU04.AS
Date: 7th May 2009
Brazil
Imager: Valmir Martins de Morais
Location: Juazeiro do Norte, Ceará
Telescope: Reflector 275 mm (11") aperture, f / 6
Camera: Toucam Pro II (CCD Sensor: Sony ICX098BQ)
Date: 8th June 2009
Canada
Imager: Patrick McDonald
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Telescope: Celestron 8
Camera: Canon EOS20d at the prime focus
Date: 12th December 2008
Chile
Imager: Rafael Gonzalez.
Location: Vicuña, near La Serena, IV Region, Chile
Telescope: Celestron telescope, D=114mm, 900 mm focal length
Camera: Panasonic, model Lumix fs-3, with 8 megapixels
Date: 10th February 2009
China
Imager: Mr. Wen Kou
Location: Beijing Planetarium
Telescope: MEADE 16"
Camera: Canon 5D Mark II
Colombia
Imagers: Mario Solarte-Sarasty
Marcela Teherán-Bravo
Iván Paz-Noguera
Location: Popayán, Colombia
Telescope: Newton reflector Konus-motor 500, 114 mm focal length,
Camera: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S730
Date: 7th June 2009
Cyprus
Imagers: Marios Iordanou
Agapios Elia
Rolandos Constantinides
Location: Nicosia
Telescope: Celestron C8-NGT
Camera: Kodak Z730
Date: 5th June 2007
Denmark
Imager: Michael Stauning
Location: Holbæk
Scope: Takahashi FS-60
Camera: Nikon D90.
Date: 5th June 2009
Egypt
Imager: Aymen Ibrahem
Location: Mahmoud Public Observatory, Cairo
Instrument: 5" refractor
Camera: Zenit
Film: Kodak Ultra 400
Date: 5th June 2009
EU
SMART-1
France
Imager: Jean Rousselot
Location: Zebbug, Gozo, Malta
Telescope: Celestron C8
Camera: DSI II col.
Germany
Imager: Michael Wilkes
Location: Cologne
Telescope: Vixen NP-80L refractor (80/1200, f/15)
Camera: Nikon D50 camera
Data: 9th May, 2009
Guatemala
Imagers: Students of Universidad de San Carlos and Universidad Rafael Landivar
Location: Observatorio Christopher Clavius de la Universidad Rafael Landivar
Telescope: Meade LX200GPS SCT Schmidt-Cassegrain F/10
356mm, focal length 356mm, Equatorial mount (with wedge)
Camera: Meade LPI Imager (Lunar Planetary Imager)
Hungary
Imager: Attila Jaksy
Location: Gyor (Western Hungary)
Telescope: 127/1200 mm TS achromatic refractor
Camera: Canon EOS 450D digital camera
India
Imager: Ajay Talwar
Location: New Delhi
Telescope: LX200 8"
Camera: Canon 450D
Iran
Imager: Alireza Azimi
Location: Tehran
Telescope: skywatcher 6 inch newtonian with EQ3 mount.
Camera: Canon 450D with 2x barlow.
Italy
Imager: Galileo Galilei
Date: 1609
Jamaica
Imager: Errol Rickman
Location 18.00016 North by 76.160 West
Telescope: 8 inch Newtonian F6 Reflector
Camera: Sony Digital Still Camera Model
Japan
Imager: Mr. Tabata
Location: Okinawa
Telescope: f 2200mm, direct focus with 40cm Newtonian
Camera: Canon EOS Kiss X2
Date: 7th June 2009
Korea
Imager: Sung-Lae Park
Telescope: VIXEN VC200L FL= 1800mm, (F9)
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Date: 13th June 2009
Madagascar
Imager: Marc Habran
Location: Antananarivo 18°52'48'' South 47°33'33'' East
Telescope : Takahashi Mewlon 210 mm
Camera: DMK31
Date: 7th June 2009
Malaysia
Imager : Karzaman Ahmad
Locality: Langkawi National Observatory
Telescope: RCOS 20" f/8.1
Camera: Skynyx 2-2M
Malta
Imager: Leonard Ellul-Mercer
Location: Apolen Observatory, Attard
Telescope: C11 on CGE mount
Camera: SBIG ST10-XME
Date: 8th November 2008
Mozambique
Imager: Helder de Sousa Geraldes.
Location: Cidade da Matola
Telescope: 150mm F8 Newtonian.
Camera: Samsung Digimax S600
Myanmar
Imager: boothee @ Henry Thaik Htun
Location: Yangon, Myanmar
Telescope: 1150mm, 254mm telescope
Camera: QHY5 Planetary Imager
Software: Registax4, iMerge, Photoshop CS3, Noel Tools
Paraguay
Imager: Eduardo Roberto Poissonneau, Norberto Martinez and Miguel Volpe
Location: Club Py Astrophysics and National Node Pyo. Hola
Telescope: MEADE ETX-125EC
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel XSi
Puerto Rico
Imager: Efrain Morales Rivera
Location: Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
Telescope: LX200ACF 12 in. OTA, CGE mount
Camera: DMK21AF Ccd
Romania
Imager: Nicu Dobescu (Astroclub Delta Orion)
Location: Tulcea
Telescope SkyWatcher 203/1200.
Camera: Nokia N82
Russia
Imager: Dmitry Makolkin
Location: Moscow
Telescope TAL-250 K - F/8.5
Camera: DMK31 AU03.AS
Saudi Arabia
Imagers: M. Hindi and A. Hejaili
Location: Jeddah
Camera: D3 Nikon
Telescope : Meade 12"
Serbia
Imager: Janko Mravik.
Location: Backi Petrovac
Telescope: Celestron 150/750 on eq6 sky scan pro and barlow 2.5x apo + barlow 2x
Camera: Canon 300d
Singapore
Imager: Albert Tan
Location: Yishun Sports Stadium
Telescope: Celestron Super C-8 .FL:2000mm. f/10 on Takahashi German Equatorial Mount
Camera: Nikon D700
Spain
Imager: Antonio Torres Montojo
Location: Madrid
Telescope: Refractor Astro-Physics 130 EDT f/8,35 with lens Barlow 2X
Focal length: 2170 mm
Mount: Astrophysics 900 GTO
Camera: SBIG STL 11000
Syria
Location: Damascus
Taiwan
Imager: Mr. Hung-Chin Lin
Location: Lu-Lin Observatory, National Central University
Telescope: RC Optical Systems 16 inch f/8.4 Ritchey-Chrétien
Camera: Apogee U42 CCD camera
Date: 2nd February 2007
UAE
Imager: Nazar Salam
Location: U.A.E - Abu Dhabi
Telescope: Celestron 80ED Refractor Spotting Scope
Mount: MEADE LXD75 - AT
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
United Kingdom
Imagers: Julia Gaudelli & John Axtell
Locality: Holmbury St. Mary near Guildford, Surrey
Telescope: William Optics 80mm refractor
Camera: Starlight Express SXVF-H9 l
Date: 7th June 2009
Uruguay
Imager: Sebastian Bruzzone
Telescope 35cm F5 modified Newtonian with a ST-8 ccd camera
USA
Imager: Mark Sebole
Location: Fife Lake Michigan
Telescope: LX200R at f/10It
Camera: DSI PRO III
Vatican
Imager: David Brown sj
Locality: Specola Vaticana at Castel Gandolfo (Rome)
Telescope: Zeiss visual refractor, aperture: 40 cm Focal length: 600 cm
Camera: Canon EOS 400D digital SLR camera
Date: 12th June 2009
Vietnam
Imager: Nguyen Anh Vinh
Location: Hanoi
Telescope: LX 2000
Camera: ccd ST 7
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