I heard Chandryaan 1 is going to track the KAGUYA impact at 1830 hrs (UTC). I'm not sure if they will share the results or pass it on to JAXA but hopefully they will put it up online. They're pretty happy to let JAXA put it up on their website - since it was their mission.

Anyway, this crash also means that India will be the only country in orbit around the Moon over the next few days.

Pradeep

This map follows the various predictions of the Kaguya impact point, ending with the current prediction. The ESA map is for a previous prediction.

Phil

Click to view attachment

In honor of the Kaguya impact today, here is Japan's first lunar impact, using optical navigation images from Hiten (it is only colorized, the camera was 4-bit black and white).

Click to view attachment

Ted - very nice!

Pradeep - we should perhaps qualify your comment - the only country with an operating spacecraft at the Moon now. Japan's Ouna (Vstar) subsatellite is still orbiting. And actually so is Luna 10, the first spacecraft ever put into lunar orbit, but high enough that it's thought to be in orbit still. There was an article in - I think - Air and Space - a few years ago which identified four older orbiters thought to be still in orbit - must try to find it!... Explorer 49 might have been one of the others. Hagoromo, Japan's first orbiter, is another.

Phil

An update on ESA shows the impact just below Gill D...see more here --> http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMM5RVTGVF_index_1.html

John

The ESA report - nice to see those SMART-1 images - is not an update but a downdate... it uses the May 29 predicted location.

Phil

Thanks for the update Phil. (UMSF - why do I ever look elsewhere for information? )

BANG

Ouch!

Can somebody confirm it for sure?

Geesh..Twitter should be great for this kind of thing!
I thougt some info would be twitted already..
time to go tweet hunting..
jb

http://wms.selene.jaxa.jp/

A lot of data has been published moments ago. Tons of data! I don't know if this is related to today's impact.

the english link
http://wms.selene.jaxa.jp/selene_viewer/index_e.html
jb
edit:don't have the latest clips on it..dam

Some news confusión:
SMART-1 Maps Kaguya Lunar Impact Location
The Japanese lunar orbiter Kaguya has completed a productive operational phase and will conclude its scientific mission with a controlled impact on the lunar surface, scheduled for 20:30 CEST today. Still not yet a bang!

http://www.jaxa.jp/index_e.html

http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2009/06/20090611_kaguya_j.html

JAXA reports the impact.

Phil

... and check out LPOD!

Phil

http://lpod.wikispaces.com/June+10%2C+2010+-+KAGUYA+SPECIAL

A picture from Anglo-Australian Telescope: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0906/10kaguya/

Edit: picture's the same as LPOD Phil's link. You'll get only some comments

Which was 19:30 UK time, or 18:30 GMT...which was BEFORE I posted 'bang'.

Ops!, I misunderstood. CST (Central Standard Time -North America) -5 GMT is different than CEST +1 GMT)! Good point!

On the other way, the impact localization was fast and it showed up that the impact zone might be on the crest of a crater. If it is true, the impact force would be strong and if it has grazed on the surface, the impact force wouldn't be lower. The IPOD pictures of Kaguya's impact had showed a very clear flash.

Here's an updated map of spacecraft locations, including Kaguya and an updated location for Chandrayaan 1's MIP.

Phil

Click to view attachment

(EDIT: Thanks to Timo Keski-Petaja for pointing out I erroneously labelled Mare Nectaris as Mare Nubium. I will correct and re-post.)

Many new low-altitude images of the lunar surface:
http://wms.selene.jaxa.jp/selene_viewer/index_j.html

Just a remark: On the day after the impact, it was stated on the mission's homepage that the scientific data will be released to the public on 1st of November this year. It was mentioned right after the call for any observer who was able to capture the impact to send in the imagery for being put up on the website soon. For the life of me, I seem unable to dig out that particular article again. Anyways, I marked November 1st on my calendar. I can't wait to play around with the global elevation data...

Wait till Google get their hands on the data. Then we'll see "Moon" added to Google Earth. I can't wait for that!

Get a look at some of the last images taken by the HDTV on Kaguya! Very low altitude oblique views. Fantastic!
http://wms.selene.jaxa.jp/selene_viewer/jp...v/hdtv_077.html
Click on the images for full-size views. Click on the blue horizontal bar for a slide show.

Also some images by the TC:
http://wms.selene.jaxa.jp/selene_viewer/jp.../tc/tc_036.html

Are those the last observations before impact? The observation date and filenames seem to suggest so. If so, these could be near-realtime downlinks from the HDTV camera on the way to the ground.

Indeed, I think that the previous post about the HDTV pictures corresponds to the last impact thru the lowering angle of ilumination inclination from the first to the last picture and the impact was at dark side of moon.

Nice craft views indeed, but what about Earth views in the next few days?

The general area in which Kaguya went down will soon be coming into (illuminated) view from our own perspective on Earth -- I wonder will we see any signs of an impact crater? As it was a very low oblique impact, ejecta patterns like we see with Messier A or Proclus...etc., may have formed. This is being very optimistic, I know, however, one never knows what might turn up -- perhaps, one of the powerful space-scopes will have a look, or, LRO might set the area down as a future target?

The illumination of the general area is expected to occur around the 23 June (New Moon on 22 June ~ 19.35) with just a sliver of a waxing crescent Moon coming through. The best time to observe would be after sunset, but then one only has an hour or so to observe anything, however, the following days 24, 25, 26 June might suit better before too much illunimation makes it impossible to detect anything at all.

John
www.moonposter.ie

Not a chance. Hubble, for example, has a resolution on the moon of about 60m/pixel. A Kaguya like impact would make a crater perhaps half the size, with an ejecta perhaps of one pixel, maybe two. Certainly indistinguishable from normal Lunar gardening without a similar 'before' image to compare it to.

LRO will go hunting for it - I'm sure.

After interpreting the infrared pictures of Kaguya's impact, it showed a more or less circle shape. Thus I seemed that Kaguya impacted frontally against a wall of a crater. If the picture shows a elongated shape or eclipse, I might deduct that Kaguya was landing and rotating until it stops after a long line.

Also, please remember that cratering studies have proven that unless an impactor hits at an *extremely* shallow angle (like less than a degree or two), it still leaves a circular crater. Ejecta can be asymmetric, but the crater itself is almost always round. I know it's counter-intuitive, but it's a fact...

-the other Doug

Last HDTV shots:
http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2009/06/20090619_kaguya_hdtv_e.html

TC movie (12mins before impact)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxDNWXZpC3g

Last TC and MI images
http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2009/06/20090619_kaguya_tcmi_j.html

Optimistic John
www.moonposter.ie

Not sure if you found it already, but if you look at:

http://www.jaxa.jp/topics/2009/06_e.html

down under the June 11th update you will see some words to that effect and a link to this press release:

http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2009/06/20090611_kaguya_e.html

--Darin

http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2009/09/20090910_kaguya_e.html

Publication in Nature about the distribution of anorthosite.

Four new movies taken by the HDTV have been posted on YouTube. The links are on this page:
http://www.selene.jaxa.jp/en/new/index.htm#NEW_20091001A

Just exchanged emails with Shin-ichi Sobue from JAXA -- I inquired whether they were on schedule for their planned public data release. He said:Keep your eye peeled!

While we're waiting for the data release, we can watch some nice fly-along movies taken by the HDTV. Fifteen new ones have been posted on the Jaxa channel on YouTube.
http://www.selene.jaxa.jp/en/new/index.htm#NEW_20091028A

An interesting paper in the open access journal "Recent Patents on Space Technology"
The Result of SELENE (KAGUYA) Development and Operation