The origin of the Moon flash of May 23, 1985

Lunar Transient Phenomena: What Do the Clementine Images Reveal?

“…About two-thirds of LTP have been reported in the Aristarchus region, one of the youngest areas of the lunar surface which includes many volcanic features, and where Apollo 15 detected an excess of radon gas (Robinson 1986). Brightenings and red spots; two gas spectra obtained (Kozyrev 1959, Harris 1967, Middlehurst 1968 (Kolovos et al 1992), but likely a satellite (Maley 1991, Rast 1991 Another source of candidates for this study is a catalog of events provided to us by the force of amateur astronomers that dedicated many nights to scrutinizing the Moon throughout the Clementine mission (Darling, personal communication, 1996, Cameron et al 1997). Many of their reported LTP occur in the "classical" locations of dozens of previous reports.…”

“…Two subsequent investigators (Maley 1991, Rast 1991 claimed that the event was in fact a glint of sunlight reflected from the Earth-orbiting satellite 1998-042A. Subsequently, Kolovos et al (1992) presented additional evidence that the event occurred just above the lunar surface. Nothing unusual appears in the Clementine image of this area (Fig.…”

“…A Clementine E-filter image of Palus Somni, where a recent photographed event was observed, at the arrow (Kolovos et al 1988(Kolovos et al , 1992.…”

“…Several gaseous spectra and electronic photometric measurements of events have been obtained by professional astronomers (Kozyrev 1959, Sanduleak andStock 1965). Interest in LTP has dwindled over the past two decades, even as additional observations continue to be made (e.g., Kolovos et al 1988, 1992, Dollfus 2000. No completely satisfactory explanation for LTP has ever been published, and most lunar geologists and professional astronomers express skepticism about them.…”