PHOTLUN
Pictures manager of the
Virtual Moon Atlas
Documentation usable for the version 8

Welcome in"PHOTLUN" (c) the "Virtual Moon Atlas" pictures libraries
manger.
As amateur astronomers ourselves, we continue to improve VMA for designing a
useful software for lunar obsevers easy to use on the field.. We always try to define
new functionalities and a more user-friendly interface.
This is why we have decided to include in the VMA "Pro" version, a pictures libraries
manager called "PHOTLUN" (Copyrighted name) that allows you to select precisely
pictures of lunar formations interesting you, that allows you to link them to thecorresponding datas with "DATLUN" and that allows you to localize them directly on
the "Virtual Moon Atlas" mapThis first version include the functions that have seemed us the most useful. Sure,
we are yet thinking to other ones that will be included in future versions.
"PHOTLUN" is a powerful software dedicated to Moon survey and very powerful
because it gives you the possibility to apply a personal processing for each picture of
all the libraries. This manual is necessary for discovering all its possibilities panel. We
recommend to read it carefully while using the described functions.
Good use and we hope you will appreciate this new software and recommend it toyour lunar observers friends.
Thank you very much for your confidence.
Christian Legrand & Patrick Chevalley

THE PHOTLUN SCREEN

The basic PHOTLUN screen takes place in a "Windows" reduced window which size
can be modified with limits.
It's possible to open simultaneously ATLUN, DATLUN, PHOTLUN, WEBLUN,NOTELUN et CALCLUN, this allowing you for pictures visualization on the map anddatabase informations reading.
PHOTLUN window includes :- The Menu bar- The "Vignettes" window- The State bar

THE MENUS BARThis bar includes different menus accessing various functions lists.
.THE "FILE" MENU

Traditional in every Windows (r) software,It's used in PHOTLUN to select the pictures
libraries, to search for pictures of a selected lunar formatio in the libraries and to exit
the software.

"Library" FUNCTION

This function displays a list of the usable pictures libraries in which you can choose a
special one or the totality.

"Search" FUNCTION
This function allows you to display vignettes concerning a specific lunar formation.
Example : Here, only Mare Serenitatis pictures are visible.

" Libraries setup" FUNCTION
This function indicates to PHOTLUN the downloade or personal pictures librairies.
You must enter successively the boxes from left to right :- Rotation : This number indicates the general orientation of the pictures in thelibrary..
- Name : The generic name you wish to attribute to the library to remember it easily.
This name appears in the "Search" list..
- Directory : The access way to the directory contaning the pictures of the library.
To enter these datas, click on the box with the mouse left button and type the datas.

"Exit" FUNCTION
This function exits PHOTLUN and closes all the pictures librairies, keeping all theindividual specific setups for each picture and its miniature.

"VIGNETTES" MENUThis menu is used to setup the vignettes size and to sort them :"Size" FUNCTION

In the sub-menu that appears, you can choose among three vignettes sizes :- The small ones

- The median ones

- The biggest ones

Please note that the picture name is not displayed with the small miniatures.

"Sort" FUNCTION

This function is used to sort the vignettes within two possible choices :- Vignettes sorted by name- Vignettes sorted by pictures libraries

THE "PICTURES" MENU
Three new functions can be accessed by this menu. You can setup the general
pictures orientation, the maximal number of pictures windows opened and close all
the opened pictures windows.
" Mirror picture" FUNCTION

With this function, you can choose how to rotate the pictures when you open them.
- "No" Shows pictures as seen with the naked eye or binoculars.
- "East <> West" reverses East and West in the pictures.
- "North <> South" reverses North and South in the pictures.
So, you can visualize pictures as seen in your instrument"Windows number" FUNCTION
This function determines the the maximal number of pictures windows opened
simultaneously (until 10) Windows are displayed side by side.

"Close all" FUNCTION
As the name indicates, this function allows you to close all the opened pictures
together to clean your screen.

THE "DATABASE" MENUThis is not a menu, but a direct command that will show you the powerful association
between PHOTLUN and DATLUN. If you click it, you open DATLUN and will see inthe sheet the selected formation and if you have selected the "indiced" databases,
the "indiced" formations will be also displayed.

THE MENU "SEE ON MAP"
This is not a menu, but a direct command that will show you the powerful association
between PHOTLUN and VMA. If you click it, you open the "Virtual Moon Atlas
Pro"and you will see on the map the formations selected in PHOTLUN. .

THE "HELP"MENU

Traditional in all Windows softawre, in PHOTLUN, it shows you this documentation
with "Help" and displays credits in "About".

THE "PICTURE" WINDOWSThe "Picture" windows are independant and are put over the others opened windows.
You can resize them as a regular "Windows" window.
In the Title bar, the picture name is displayed.
In the Status bar, you can see the picture size and the picture zoom factor. This one
is set to "1:1" when opening the picture, but if picture is too large to be contained inthe screen.
The "Picture" windows present a buttons bar with 14 buttons accessing processing
functions on the picture These buttons are associted with info-bubbles remaining
their function whenstaying above them some seconds with the mouse pointer. Hereis the detail of the functions of these buttons from left to right :The "Default setup" button
This button shows you the original setup of the picture.
The "Record picture" button
This button records the setup of the picture if you modified its orientation, its lighting
or its contrast. The pictures personal setup are recorded in a special file and you will
recover the same picture with its own setup when you will reopen it. These setups
are also applied to the picture miniature.
The "Zoom +" button
The "Zoom +" button increases the picture magnification.
The "Zoom -" button
The "Zoom -" button decreases the picture magnification.
The "Real size" button
This button shows the picture in its real size. If it's larger than the window, lifters
appear to be used with the mouse.
The "Fill screen" button
This button adapts the picture size so that it will be completely shown in the window.
The "Up / Down " button
This button reverses Up / Down the picture to match the view in your instrumenteyepiece.

The "Left / Right" button
This button reverses Right / Left the picture to match the view in your instrument
eyepiece. To see the picture as in a refractor or a SCT, you only activate this button.
For a Newtonian, you activate this button and the "Up / Down" button.
The "Turn left" button
This button turns the picture on the left with a 15° angle until 165° .
The "Turn right" button
This button turns the picture on the right with a 15° angle until 165° .
The "Brighter picture" button
This button brightens the picture for better seeing details in dark parts.
The "Darker picture" button
This button darkens the picture for better seeing details in bright parts.
The "More contrast" button
This button increases the contrast for better seeing peculiar details.
The "Less contrast" button
This button decreases the contrast for better seeing peculiar details.

THE "PICTURE" LIBRARIESYou can download for this version picture files coming from various sources. Thesefiles have obtained the necessary authorizations to be used only in VMA.
"LUNAR ORBITER PHOTOGRAPHIC ATLAS OF THE MOON" PICTURESThese pictures have been extracted from the electronic version of the "Lunar Orbiter
Photographic Atlas of the Moon" (LOPAM) realized by Jeff Gillis and his team at
the Lunar and Planetary Institute. This remarkable atlas can be consulted on thesite
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/lunar_orbiter/
Christian Legrand has extracted from each of the more than 200 LOPAM photos,
pictures of each named formation. He compiled about 3000 pictures. Then, he chosethe best one for each formation. For some formations, which were spread on several
photos, it was necessary to cut and join several peaces. Some others need a neworientation. All these pictures were then compressed so that small size fordownloading that doesn't alter quality.
Please note that these pictures have been "lines removed" using the powerfulsoftware provided by Niels Noordhoek
Despite of this important work, about 150 formations haven't been recovered in theLOPAM photos because Lunar Orbiter 4 didn't photography the entire visible facewith sufficient resolution.
For those who don't wish to download all the pictures, Christian Legrand has selected
the more famous lunar formations (130) and has gathered them in the "Lunar stars"
library.
These pictures are under "Lunar and Planetary Institute" copyright and cannot
be used outside VMA.
LOPAM pictures are in the "LOPAM" sub-directory.

APOLLO MISSIONS PICTURES

With the goal to provide the most complete image of each lunar formation, ChristianLegrand has also selected in the Apollo missions pictures more than 400 pictures
related to more than 300 different formations. These pictures are very often from thehand-held Hasselblad pictures.
These pictures are provided under the general copyright of the "National Air
and Space Administration" (NASA) which own reproduction rights (http://www.nasa.gov ) and they can't be used outside of the atlas.
Picture name indicates the formation name and the Apollo mission that took thepicture when it's known : so COPERNICUS_A12.JPG is the name of a picture ofCopernicus taken during Apollo 12 mission.
APOLLO pictures are in the "Apollo" sub-directory.

APOLLO MAPPING CAMERAS MISSIONS

Theophilus seen by Apollo 16 Mapping Camera.
Put online by the "Lunar and Planetary Institute", "Apollo Mapping Cameras"
pictures, who were on board "Apollo Service Modules", are among the most detailed
ever realized. Christian Legrand has selected among hundreds of published frames,
those which give the most interesting views of Nearside formations as those above.
Christian Legrand has extracted about 1000 pictures and has choosen about 700ones.
These pictures are provided under the general copyright of the "Lunar andPlanetary Institute" and they can't be used outside of the atlas.
Picture name indicates the formation name and the Apollo mission that took thepicture when it's known : so COPERNICUS_A12.JPG is the name of a picture ofCopernicus taken during Apollo 12 mission.

APOLLO MAPPING pictures are in the "Apollomapping" sub-directory.

LUNAR PROBES PICTURES

Soviet Luna 17 pictured by mobile robot Lunakhod 1 (Left) and Tycho crater walls
panorama taken by american probe Surveyor 7 (Right).
Many other automatic probes than Lunar Orbiter 4 have measured and photographed
the Moon. These are american Ranger, Lunar Orbiter 1,2,3,5 and Surveyor. In thehistorical "Moon race" context, ex USSR has also launched a great number of Lunaprobes.
This picture library realized by Christian Legrand contains about 120 pictures takenby these probes. Found on the Web, these pictures are provided under the general
copyright of the "National Air and Space Administration" (NASA) which own
reproduction rights ( http://www.nasa.gov ) and they can't be used outside of theatlas. Soviet probes pictures have no identified copyright owners.
Picture name indicates the formation name and the probe or Apollo mission that took
the picture when it's known : The following code is used associated with XX as themission number :- AXX : Apollo- LOXX : Lunar Orbiter- LUXX : Luna
- RAXX : Ranger- SUXX : Surveyor
For example, LUNA 9_LU9.jpg is a picture of Luna 9 site taken by Luna 9 probeitself.
These pictures are provided under the general copyright of the "National Air
and Space Administration" (NASA) which own reproduction rights (http://www.nasa.gov ) and they can't be used outside of the atlas.
Probes pictures are in the "Probes" sub-directory.

CLEMENTINE PROBE PICTURES

Arzachel crater picture taken by Clementine (Left) compared to LOPAM (Right).
The other great source of lunar formations pictures is the american Clementine
mission. This small probe has mapped the lunar surface with à 100 to 200 m per
pixel.
Christian Legrand works on the general files and extracts pictures of each formation.
Clementine pictures are complementary to those of LOPAM. If their resolution andgeneral quality are better, they have a big defect for terrestriel observers. They weretaken with Meridian passing Sun, with the most vertical possible lighting that erases
shadows and gives the formation albedo.
For formations situated in a + 45 ° North and - 45 ° South, Pictures show first thealbedo. Compare for example with Bessarion LOPAM and Clementine pictures tosee the difference.
For formations above these latitudes, shadows reappeared and many pictures arebetter than LOPAM. Compare with Anaxagoras for example.
Connect periodically to our site to discover the new additions.
These pictures are provided under the general copyright of the "National Air
and Space Administration" (NASA) which own reproduction rights (http://www.nasa.gov ) and they can't be used outside of the atlas.
Clementine pictures are in the "Clementine" sub-directory.

JAPANESE PROBE KAGUYA PICTURE

Rupes Recta photographied by Kaguya (c) JAXA
These pictures have been obtained from datas returned by the japanese probe
KAGYA et put online on the Japan_Aerospace_eXploration_Agency (JAXA) Website. You can see the original pictures here :http://wms.selene.jaxa.jp/index_e.html
Christian Legrand has extracted from each original picture, a picture of each presentformation. 160 useful pictures have been collected today. The pictures are taken withan angle from the surface. This feature brings new informations about the real shapeof the formations. (see Rupes Recta above)
These pictures are provided under the general copyright of"Japan_Aerospace_eXploration_Agency" which owns the copyright. Thepictures can't be used outside of the present software.

CONSOLIDATED LUNAR ATLAS PICTURES
The best ever published lunar atlas for the lunar observer is the "Consolidated Lunar
Atlas " by Gerard Kuiper and al.
It copiles best Moon pictures taken from Earth by some great observatories as
Catalina and Pic du Midi. Resolution of some pictures are about 1 km. Only sincelittle time, amateurs equiped with webcams and large telescope begin to have better
results than those ones.
This atlas has an unvaluable value because, as "Georges Viscardy's Photographic
Atlas", it shows the formations under sevearl sun lightings and at the Full Moon.
For example, here are the pictures extracted for Archimedes :These pictures allows you to see the aspects of a given formation related to theobserving day. This library is presently not complete. It contains more than 2000
pictures and will be updated regularly. Priority is given to CLA pictures above
Clementine pictures because they are more useful for terestrial observers. And our"Clementine 500 m resolution" texture replaces them momentarily. Check regularly
our Web site to see if CLA library updates are available.
These pictures are under "Lunar and Planetary Institute" copyright and cannot
be used outside VMA.
This fabulous work is visible on the site :http://www.lpi.usra.edu
The CLA pictures are in the "CLA" sub-file.

LUNAR ASTRONAUTICAL CHARTS AND LUNAR MAPS PICTURES
The best drawn Moon maps ever published are the "Lunar Astronautical Charts" andthe "Lunar Maps". Their scale is 1 / 1 000 000. Most of them include altimetric levels
curves allowing to determine heights or depths of formations.

Christian Legrand has extracted from LAC / LM more than 800 formations pictures ofthe Nearside. Because of their precision and their colors, these pictures have notbeen compresses. This library is then heavy to download.
These pictures are under "Lunar and Planetary Institute" copyright and cannot
be used outside VMA.
This fabulous work is visible on the site :http://www.lpi.usra.edu
The Lunar Astronautical Charts and the Lunar Maps pictures are in the "LAC / LM"
sub-file.
All this unique set of pictures librairies provides you numerous views of formations forcomparing or studying them.

"BEST OF AMATEURS" LIBRARIES
Some of the world best lunar imagers have accepted to show their pictures in aspecial VMA pictures library only usable with VMA.. Compiled by Christian Legrand,
this new library contains presently more than 350 images from Craig Zerbe, Mike
Wirths, Wes Higgins, Zac Pujic, Paolo Lazzarotti, Damian Peach, Luc Cathalla
and the 1m Pic du Midi telescope team. Others amateurs have been contactedand their pictures will be added in this library whose pictures are very often betterthan those of Consolidated Lunar Atlas, and which rival sometimes with lunar
automatic probes.
Because of the great numbers of pictures they provided, pictures by Paolo Lazzarotti,
Wes Higgins, Damian Peach and Luc Cathala are in separate libraries.

Christian Legrand has treated, with the authorization of the authors some of thepictures for harmonicizing contraste and luminosity to boost the resolution.
ATTENTION : These pictures are provided under the copyright of the original
author who have the reproduction rights and can't be used outside the VMA.
Any other use needs an explicit demand to the original author. All our thanks
to these authors for permitting us to use their pictures in the VMA.
- T1MPDM / 1 meter Pic du Midi telescope : It contains pictures realized by JL
Dauvergne , F. Colas, C. Mansion, T. Legault and C. Villadrich with the 1 m Pic duMidi telescope which are the lunar pictures taken from the surface of Earth(Archimedes below).

- Best of Peach: It contains pictures taken by Damian Peach with his Celestron 14et un Celestron 9,25 (Bailly below). It's one of the most important amateur pictures
library.

Best of Lazzarotti
Contains pictures realized by Paolo Lazzarotti with his 12" Gladius (Aristoteles here)- Best of Higgins : Contains pictures realized by Wes Higgins with his 18" Dobson(Schiller here)- Best of Amateurs
Contains pictures realized by Mike Wirths (Hortensius domes here) and Craig Zerbe

Best of Cathala
It contains the images taken by Luc Cathala with a motorized Dobson telescope ofpersonal manufacture of 625 mm in diameter with a QHYSIII178M camera. It is themost supplied "amateur astronomer" library with nearly 700 very high resolutionimages.

Best of Brahic
It contains the images taken by Jean-Pierre Brahic with a C 14 telescope.

Best of Viladrich
It contains the images taken by Christian Viladrich with with a C 14 telescopePictures name indicate the formation name and that of the author. For example,
Plato_Lazzarotti.jpg is a picture of Plato crater taken by Paolo Lazzarotti.
These pictures are under the general copyright of Christian Legrand and eachcopyright of the author and cannot be used outside of VMA.
All these libraries give now more than 11 000 formations pictures available to VMAusers.

"PHOTLUN" USER'S MANUAL END
Copyright Christian LEGRAND & Patrick CHEVALLEY / 2023
The authors thank users for indicating all found mistakes in this manual using theVMA Web site forum..