ATLUN
Mapping module of the
Virtual Moon Atlas
Documentation for the VMA version 8

The AtLun module is the main module of the Virtual Moon Atlas (VMA) since it allows
to generate lunar maps on the screen in the "Map" window. Its power is due to its linkwith the other components of the AVL: modules, databases, textures, historicaltextures, scientific layers, image libraries and now all documents outside the atlas
linked through the new module NoteLun.

THE "ATLUN MODULE" SCREEN

ATLUN screen on 16: 9/22 "monitor with:
Left : New texture "LOLA-Kaguya shaded"
Right : New texture "USGS Geological 2020"

"ATLUN" screen appears in a "Microsoft Windows style" window. As usual, you can
minimize or maximize the window, or choose its size with the buttons in the title bar,on right.
You can open simultaneously two map windows, permitting maps comparisons as on
the picture above. It's also possible to open the window of "DATLUN" (c), PHOTLUN(c), WEBLUN (c), NOTELUN (c), CALCLUN (c), and "PHOTLUN" (c).
This window includes:- The menu bar and buttons- The "Map" window can be split into two sub-windows as above- The "Information", "Ephemeris", "Notes", "Tools", "Settings" and "Terminator" tabs
with their associated windows that can be retracted or displayed on a second
separate monitor if you have such a configuration.
- The status bar with a lot of information displayed in real time.

The VMA can use Windows dark themes to limit glare or for simple aesthetic reasons

THE MENUS AND BUTTONS BARThis bar presents menus to access different functions and buttons to quick launch ofsome other useful functions.

THE "FILE" MENU

Traditional in all Windows softwares, this menu is used here to open DATLUN (c),save screen pictures, to setup printing, to launch Patrick Chevalley's freeware "Sky
Charts" if it's installed on your computer, and to quit the atlas.
"Databases" FUNCTION
This function opens a new window containing VMA database manager DATLUN"Snapshot" FUNCTION
This function can open a new small window containing a map window capture. You
can compare this capture with a new configuration applied to the map window.
"Save as" FUNCTION
This function permits you to save the "Map" window as a .jpg or a .bmp file"Printer setup" FUNCTION
This function permits you, with the use of the regular window selection, to choose
your printer and to setup it.
"Save ephemeris to file" FUNCTION

This function allows you to save in a file "ephem.csv". It opens a window for choosing
the deadlines, the recording step and the file saving directory. The "Compute" button
creates the file from the specified dates and times. The button to the right of the "File"field allows you to choose the recording directory.
"Print" FUNCTION
This function allows you to print the documents you chose in the printed documents(Map, ephemeris and / or information page).
"Sky chart" FUNCTION
This option is used to launch Patrick Chevalley's freeware "Sky Charts" to determine
Moon position according to stars and horizon. It can help you for star occultations forexample.
"Quit FUNCTION
You can leave the software using this option, closing all the open windows together.

THE "CONFIGURATION" MENUThis menu is used to adjust different parameters in VMA. It presents eight tabs
"General" tabObservatory coordinates
Selecting "Geocentric coordinates", you will see the lunar globe as if you werepositioned on the line joining the center of the Earth to the center of the Moon.
The software can instead use coordinates of your observing site to display a real time
lunar disk with computations including diurnal libration.
To do this, you have to de-activate "Geocentric coordinates" (uncheck it) and input
the latitude and longitude of your observing site.
Input also the time shift from GMT including eventual "summer time" in the "Timezone" field.
"Date / Hour" frame
The "Date / Hour" frame is used to precise the hour and the time zone to use.
Filling the box "Use computer hour and time zone" so that VMA use the computerinternal clock as a reference.
If you don't fill the box, you can specify your own time zone with the case displayed.
"Language" scrolling list
"Languages" scrolling list allows you to choose language used by the program anddatabase. In this version, beyond French and English are now available inalphabetical order :- Catalan- Czech- Dutch- German- Greek- Hungarian- Italian- Lituanian- Slovenian- Spanish
You can also download from VMA Internet site, translations of words used in themenus in some other languages. Translation pages indicate if database translations
are also available. You can also propose yoyrself to Patrick Chevalley if you areinterested to translate VMA in your language if it's not yet done.
We would like th thank here the authors of the existing translations for their support
to our action.

"Databases" tab"Databases" boxes
The displayed databases are those automatically recognized by ATLUN.
"Databases" boxes allow you to choose the databases used together by thesoftware.
Check only the one useful if your computer is not too powerful.
When all databases are selected, VMA has more than 1 300 000 entries to manage.
The "DATLUN Personal Databases" frame allows you to enter the access paths ofthe personal databases that you wish to link to ATLUN and DATLUN.
Please note, these databases must be in "csv" format and have the same fields as
the databases developed for VMA by Christian Legrand. The import procedure is
described in the DATLUN manual and in the DATLUN program itself.
New databases are constantly on work and are released with new VMA versions.

"Display" tabDisplay boxes
When clicking the "Show the phase" box, a penumbra zone is painted on the lunar
globe. Its limit follows the terminator for the date and hour set by the user (See
"Ephemerisis tab"). You can set the penumbra properties representation (See "Setuptab").
When clicking the "Show the libration" box, the lunar globe turns slightly so that it
shows the effects of the global libration for the date and hour set by the user (See
"Ephemerisis tab"). You can set the penumbra properties representation (See "Setuptab").
The libration display takes account of the latitude libration due to the Moon orbit
inclination and of the longitude libration due to the Moon variable speed on its
elliptical orbit. More, if you choose to input your observing site coordinates (See
"Observatory coordinates")., the Moon globe will takes account also of the diurnal
libration.
ColorsClicking on the small colored squares allows you to choose colors indicating pointand formation name label displayed on map.
You can also choose the color of the circles of the impact basins when this databaseis activated in the "Databases" tab.
You can also choose the color of the line materializing the lunar terminator in the"Map" window.

Labels and marks
Activating the corresponding boxes will make you display a point showing the chosenformation and / or its official name
When clicking on the "Mark the point of maximum libration" box, an arrow isdisplayed on the lunar limb where libration effects are maximum.
Activating the corresponding boxes, you display the point (mark) showing the chosenformation, its official name, and the names of the other principal formations visibleon the map.
You can choose to center or to place on the right of the formation when using or not
the "Center label on formation" box.
The button "Labels font" can be used to setup font type, size and style. The active
font name is displayed right to the button.
The slider "Label density" can be used to setup the number of names displayed.
You will certainly have several tests to determine the best compromise. These buttonand slider are also used to setup map printing because the printed map is exact
clone of the map displayed in the screen window.
These two setups are also used to set the maps impression since the printed map isthe exact copy of that displayed in the window.
"Textures" tabThis tab allows you to choose the textures to apply depending on the zoom level
reached.

-

Phase without relief (at the terminator)
Phase with dynamic relief depending of the lighting on the terminator
No texture (To use scientific overlays without relief underneath« Phases » frame

The three alternative boxes to check "Phase with relief", "Phase without relief" and"No texture" are used to choose whether or not to activate the dynamic display of
shadows at the terminator:

Phase without dynamic shadows on terminatorWith display "Not texture", blank globe that can receive a single scientific layer

Phase with regular "Dynamic shadows" display on the terminatorThis option gives a more realistic view, but doesn't permit a high power zoom. The
use of the new « Digital Elevation Model » coming fron LRO probe datas has
improved the shadows on terminator compared to our previous DEL and which canbe really compared to the eyepiece view.

.
Eyepiece field with special "LRO dynamic shadows" display on the terminator.
You don't dream. This is a computer generated view, not a digital picture taken at theeyepiece of an instrument !
Beware : remind that it's not possible to use scientific overlays when using
dynamic shadows.
Textures selection
This tab presents a matrix for selecting textures according to the applied zoom level.
This function is a very useful way for choosing the textures display.
The program will detect automatically which textures are present (High Resolution or
Very High Resolution) and will permet access to the maximum zoom level available
with them.

You can choose to keep the same texture for all zoom range or select as above a
progressive change parallel to the zoom change.
You have just to select the wished radio button. There can only have one texture
choosen for a given zoom level
If you don't want to see any texture, fill the "No texture / To use with an overlay
alone"We think that it's better to use textures with increasing resolutions according toincreasing zoom level. This is the choosen solution in the above exemple.
There are 6 resolution levels for the texture. The software loads automatically thelevels indicated according to the zoom applied to the map.
The "Airbrush Relief" textures with or without albedo and the "Negative Clementine"
texture have only 2 levels
The texture "USGS Geological 2020" and "China geological 2022" go to level 3
The “Positive Clementine” texture has 4 levels.
The “LAC” texture has 5 levels
The “LRO WAC”, “LRO WAC Big shadows”, “Photographic LOPAM”, “LRO-Kaguya
shaded” and “Chang’é 2” textures have 6 levels.
The textures "Airbrush with albedo", "Airbrush without albedo" show the details
visible in amateur telescopes up to 200 mm in diameter.
The textures "Clementine photographic" and "Chang’é 2 photographique" are used toshow the aspect of the formations under the highest possible solar lighting.
The "LRO-Kaguya" texture is particularly suitable for displaying scientific layers.

« Topographic textures » choice
The "matrix" checkboxes allow you to choose the high definition textures. The
screenshots below show you the Alphonsus crater at maximum zoom forcomparison. Twelve textures are available:
The following screen captures show you the Alphonsus crater area with maximum
possible zooming with each texture as in the above exemple. Six textures areavailable :- "Aerographe with albedo"(USGS aerograph drawing realized from Clementine probe pictures with a uniform
shadow, by David Seal from JPL and his team). In this "Expert" version, maximal
resolution "Full" is 1 km / Pixel.

- "Airbrush relief map"
(Aerograph drawing without albedo hues realized from Clementine probe pictures
realized by US geological Survey / USGS team, copyright USGS / Astrogeology).
Improved by ChristianLegrand. This texture reaches a definition of 500 m / pixel. It is
now of less interest given the addition of the LOLA-Kaguya-Shaded texture (Seebelow).

- "Clementine Photographic"(Mosaïc of Clementine probe pictures realized by professor Mark S. Robinson, andhis team of "Northwestern University", copyright USGS / Astrogeology).
This texture has a 200 m resolution. It's the most precise "albedo texture" presently
available in computer lunar atlases. It’s one of the textures showing lunar formations
without any shadow.

Important note : This texture has been built from Clementine original pictures
treated by USGS. This is a remarkable work according to the amount of difficulties
that have been encountered. This treatment can induce some formations distorsion
at the borders of the plates. Also the position of some formations can be shiftedslightly from its real place. We suggest you to confirm the exact aspect of a formation
with the aerograph texture if you want to realize a precise survey..
- "Clementine Negative"
Mosaic of original photographs of the Clementine probe produced by Professor MarkS. Robinson, with his team from "Northwestern University", copyright USGS /Astrogeology. The texture obtained was then "inverted". This texture reaches adefinition of 200 m / pixel. It is the only texture showing the "negative" formations,making it easier to visualize certain formations, in particular the ejecta of craters or
recent craters.

- "Lunar Orbiter Photographic VHR / LOPAM" (Mosaïc of Lunar Orbiters 1, 2, 3
and 4 probes pictures based on new USGS realease, (copyright USGS). In this "Pro"version, this texture has a variable resolution that goes to 60 m/pixel resolution on
the best places . It is a "texture with "shaded relief" benefiting from solar lighting at
about 45 °.

Important note : This texture has been built from Lunar Orbiter original pictures thathave been partially "destripped", redimensioned and rotated by USGS. This is aremarkable work according to the amount of difficulties that have been encountered.
This heavy treatment can induce some formations distorsion at the borders of theplates. Also the position of some formations can be shifted slightly from their realplace. We suggest you to confirm the exact aspect of a formation with the aerographtexture if you want to realize a precise survey.
- "Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Photographic VHR / LRO" :Mosaïc of original Lunar reconnaissance Orbiter pictures based on new USGS
realease, (copyright USGS). In this "Pro" version, this texture has a variable
resolution that goes to 60 m/pixel resolution on the best places . It's a "shaded relief
texture" realized with a more vertical lighting than the previous LOPAM.

Important note : This texture has been built from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
original pictures. It has the very big advantage to be calibrated with the most precise
lunar coordinates system available (Better than ULCN 2005) and this coordinates arealso used in the new IAU lunar formations nomenclature now included in the VMA
Pro 6 databases. So lunar formations are well centered with their labels on thistexture.
- "Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter Photographique VHR / LRO "Big shadows" "Mosaic of original Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter images from USGS data, copyright
USGS. In the present version 8, this texture has a variable resolution reaching 60 m /pixel in the best places. This is an "emphasized shadow relief texture" establishedwith more horizontal sunlight than the previous VHR/LRO texture.

Important Note: This texture was built from the original LRO images. It has theenormous advantage of having been calibrated with the most precise possible
coordinates of the lunar coordinate system (better than ULCN 2005) and thesecoordinates have been used in the new nomenclature of lunar formations of theInternational Astronomical Union included in the VMA 8 databases. Therefore, in the
VMA, the IAU lunar formations are well centered with their labels on this texture.

- "Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter - Kaguya Shaded"
Mosaic of the original images of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (USA) andKaguya (Japan) probes from USGS data, copyright USGS. In this version 7, thistexture has a variable resolution reaching 60 m / pixel in the best places. It is a"texture with shaded relief". It is not a photograph, it was established by computerfrom the altimetric data collected by the two probes to create a DEM (Digital
Elevation Model). The initial texture only includes areas between -60 ° and + 60 °latitude. Patrick Chevalley has reconstructed the polar zones from other LRO data.

This texture now advantageously replaces the "Aerograph ss albedo" texture.

"Aerograph ss albedo""LOLA-Kaguya-Shaded"- "Chang'é 2 photographic VHR"
Mosaïc of original Chang'é 2 probe published by chinese authorities in february 2012
pictures based on new USGS realease, (Copyright China National Space Agency /CNSA). In this version 8, this texture has a variable resolution that goes to 60 m
resolution on the best places . It's a "not shaded relief texture" as that of
Clementine. It's the most resoluted texture available without stripes (Not as LOPAM).

Important note : This texture has been built from Chang'é 2 original pictures. This
texture is not associated to the new lunar coordinates system of IAU. CNSA has
brought very attention so that this mosaic will be the most precise possible with theirown datas. Nevertheless, some formations labels can be slightly shifted from theirimage.
- "LAC"
Assembled scans of the Lunar Aeronautical Charts made by David O'brien of the
Lunar and Planetary Institute with permission from the Lunar & Planetary Institute(LPI) and kindly made available for use in the AVL/VMA. A big thank you to all for thisactive participation.

- "USGS Unified geological Map of the Moon"
Compilation of datas collected by various probes on the age and composition of lunar
terrans realized on 2019. This map drawn by Corey M. Fortezzo (USGS), Paul D.
Spudis (LPI), and Shannon L. Harrel (SD Mines) for the U.S. Geologic Survey /Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff makes différence of the terrans types bycolors. It's the most precise geological of the Moon today. We have applied it on the"LOLA / Kaguya Shaded" texture to associate it to the relief.

The caption is the following :This legend is accessible in the "Right click" menu of the mouse.
Important note: This texture was built by the USGS and LPI teams and is linked to
the new IAU lunar coordinate system.
- "CNSA Geological Map"
Compilation of data provided by various Chinese probes of the Chang’é class on theage and composition of the lunar terrains produced in 2021. This map drawn up by J.
Ji, D. Guo, J. Liu et al. differentiates the types of terrain by a color code. It is the mostaccurate lunar geological map to date. The original map can be downloaded at thefollowing address:
The 1:2,500,000-scale geologic map of the global Moon, Science Bulletin,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scib.2022.05.021

The associated legend in English describes in detail the different types of terrain
associated with the colors. There is a version with legend in Chinese.
This legend is accessible in the "Right click" menu of the mouse.
Important note: This texture was built by the teams of the Center for Lunar andPlanetary Science, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Guiyang 550081, China

Available historical textures list
The box "Historical" gives access to a scrolling list of the historical textures used by
VMA 8.

The following screen captures show you old maps extracts adapted to VMA. Four
textures are available today and several others will be processed soon.
Important note: These textures realized from old maps without any coordinates
system induce sometimes large shift between some formations and their labels.
More, as they are Nearside maps, when apllied on the whole Moon globe, theFarside is not drawn.

"Langrenus 1645"
Texture from a map established by Michael Florentius Langrenus on 1645 and called: "Plenilunii - Lumina Austriaca Philippica". Note the completely different names
compared to the present IAU nomeclature but some of them.

"Rheita 1645"
Texture realized from the map established by Anton Schylde de Rheita in 1645 andincluded in his "Oculus Enoch and Eliae sive Radius Sidereo Mysticus".

"Hevelius 1647" Color and black and white
Texture drawn on the basis of the map of Johannis Hevelii (or Ioanne Hevelio) andpublished on 1647 in his book "Lunae Descriptio". The orifinal map owns two
extensions for the NE and SW librations not available in the texture. There is also a
B&W version and some versions withouit any names. B&W versions can beengraved or gray scaled printed"Divini 1649"
Texture realized from the map established by Eustachio Divini in 1649. It is an
extrapolation of the map of Hévélius and not an own creation.

"Riccioli 1651"

Texture realized from the map established by Francesco Grimaldi in 1651 which
incorporated the nomenclature of Giovanni Riccioli, nomenclature which is still widelyused today.

"Cassini 1679"
Texture drawn on the basis of the map of Giovanni Domenico Cassini (Jeanbaptiste Cassini I) on the basis of observations with measures to the eyepiec andpresented to the French Academy of Sciences on 1679. It was the most precise lunar
map in its era. It was 52 cm in diameter and have been engraved on the basis ofdrawings by Sébastien Leclerc and Jean Patigny.

"Tobias Mayer 1791"
Texture built from the map of Tobias Mayeri on 1791 and published under the nameof "Tob. Mayeri Tabula Selenographica".

"Beer & Madler 1845"
Texture established from the map drawn up by Wilhelm Beer & Johann HeinrichMädler in 1841 and published under the name of "Mappa Selenographica".

"Neison 1881"
Texture established from the map established by Edmund Neison in 1881 andpublished under the name of "Unser Mond".

"Elger 1895"
Texture established from the map established by E. G. Elger in 1895.

"Fauth 1936"
Texture established from the map established by Fauth in 1936 and published under
the name of "Unser Mond".

"Lunar Albedo Reference 1967"
Texture established from the "Lunar Albedo Reference" map established in 1967.
This map was drawn by the Aeronautical Charts and Information Center of the US Air
Force on behalf of NASA in 1967 under the supervision of Gerald Kuiper.

"Overlays" tab

The VMA includes the possibility of applying an overlay over the texture chosen in
the "Textures" tab, the transparency of which can be adjusted to continue to see thetexture used below. These overlays are maps for transposing scientific data fromspace missions (Clementine, Lunar Prospector, Kaguya, Lunar Reconnaissance
Orbiter (LRO), Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL), Chandrayann 1,
Chang'é), but also layers of colors and finally, the geological map of the entire lunar
globe. This technique makes it possible to show for each lunar formation, its
relationship with the available scientific data.
The texture "LRO - Kaguya - Shaded is recommended for the application of scientificlayers. You can also choose not to display a texture in the" Textures "tab of the"Configuration "menu.
We are continually looking for new data posted online that can be incorporated into
the AVL.
"Show overlay" Box
If you fill the "Show overlay" box, you display the overlay choosen with the scrolling
list below over the choosen texture.

"Overlays" Scrolling list

If you activate the scrolling list, you can choose in the list the overlay that you need.
Here are the list of the overlays presently involved in VMA. We will add on our site
new overlays to download as soon as they will be available. You'll find :- Geological periods overlays- Colors and albedo overlays- Geological overlay- Topographical overlays- Elements concentration overlays- Neutrons emissions overlays- Gravity measurement overlays- Temperature overlays
Colors and albedos overlays presentation"Albedo" overlay

This overlay shows the Moon surface albedo. It's extracted from Clementine datas.
This overlay id very useful with the "Aerograph without albedo" texture because thisone doesn't present the albedo display. There is no caption since it's only an overlay.

"Natural colors" overlay

This overlay tries to show the Moon globe natural color. It's extracted from a color
mosaic realized with Clementine filtered pictures with an equilibrium between the 3
RGB channels.. There is no caption since it's only a color.

"Enhanced colors" overlay

This overlay has been obtained while pushing to maximum color contrast
enhancement in the three primal spectral colors. There is no caption since it's only acolor. It shows subtile colors variations between highlands and mare surface andalso shows different lavas flows in these marias.

"Clementine color ratio" overlay

This overlay has been obtained from the Clementine maps of the "PDS Map A
Planet" site. Colors variations indicate lunar surface composition variations.
The Clementine Ratio ("false color") views of the Moon are created by generating
ratio images using 3 of the 5 Clementine UV/Vis camera bands and combining these
into the red, green, and blue channels of a color image:
Channel Ratio (band/band)
Red 750 nm/415 nm
Green 750 nm/950 nm
Blue 414 nm/750 nm
The color ratio image product serves to cancel out the dominant brightness variationsof the scene (controlled by albedo variations and topographic shading) and enhancescolor differences related to soil mineralogy and maturity. The lunar highlands, mostly
old (~4.5 billion years) gabbroic anorthosite rocks, are depicted in shades of red (old)and blue (younger). The lunar maria (~3.9 to ~1 billion years), mostly iron-richbasaltic materials of variable titanium contents, are portrayed in shades ofyellow/orange (iron-rich, low titanium) and blue (iron-rich, higher titanium).
Superimposed on and intermingled with these basic units are materials from basinsand craters of various ages, ranging from the dark reds and blues of ancient basinsto the bright blue crater rays of younger craters. (Reference: Pieters, C.M., M.I. Staid,
E.M. Fischer, S. Tompkins, and G. He, 1994, A sharper view of impact craters from
Clementine data, Science, 266, 1844-1848)

Présentation des couches « Périodes géologiques »Couche "Byrne 1 Megabasins 4340 MY »

This layer was produced by Charles Byrne and his team and shows the formations
generated at the time of the creation of the great primordial basins shortly after theformation of the Moon and before the "Pre-Nectarian" period. It allows to visualize
the topography and the lunar surface altitudes during this period. 4340 MY means"4340 millions years ago". There is no legend for this layer.

Couche "Byrne 2 Prénectarian 4000 MY »This layer was produced by Charles Byrne and his team and shows theformations generated at the time of the creation of the great primordial basins shortly
after the formation of the Moon and before the "Pre-Nectarian" period. It allows tovisualize the topography and the lunar surface altitudes during this period. 4000 MY
means "4000 millions years ago". There is no legend for this layer.

Couche "Byrne 3 Nectarian 3900 MY »This layer was produced by Charles Byrne and his team and shows the formations
generated at the time of the creation of the great primordial basins shortly after theformation of the Moon and before the "Nectarian" period. It allows to visualize thetopography and the lunar surface altitudes during this period. 3900 MY means "3900
millions years ago". There is no legend for this layer.

Couche "Byrne 4 Lower Imbrian 3800 MY »This layer was produced by Charles Byrne and his team and shows the formations
generated at the time of the creation of the great primordial basins shortly after theformation of the Moon and before the "Lower Imbrian" period. It allows to visualize
the topography and the lunar surface altitudes during this period. 3800 MY means"3800 millions years ago". There is no legend for this layer.
Couche "Byrne 5 Upper Imbrian 3100 MY »This layer was produced by Charles Byrne and his team and shows the formations
generated at the time of the creation of the great primordial basins shortly after theformation of the Moon and before the "Upper Imbrian" period. It allows to visualize
the topography and the lunar surface altitudes during this period. 3100 MY means"3100 millions years ago". There is no legend for this layer.
Couche "Byrne 6 Upper Imbrian + Marias 3000 MY»

This layer was produced by Charles Byrne and his team and shows the formations
generated at the time of the creation of the great primordial basins shortly after theformation of the Moon and before the "Upper Imbrian" period. It allows to visualize
the topography and the lunar surface altitudes during this period. 3000 MY means"3000 millions years ago". There is no legend for this layer.

Couche "Byrne 7 Eratosthenian 800 MY»

This layer was produced by Charles Byrne and his team and shows the formations
generated at the time of the creation of the great primordial basins shortly after theformation of the Moon and before the "Eratosthenian" period. It allows to visualize thetopography and the lunar surface altitudes during this period. 800 MY means "800millions years ago". There is no legend for this layer.

Couche "Byrne 8 Copernician 0 MY»

This layer was produced by Charles Byrne and his team and shows the formations
generated at the time of the creation of the great primordial basins shortly after theformation of the Moon and before the "Eratosthenian" period. It allows to visualize thetopography and the lunar surface altitudes during this period. 0 MY means "today".
There is no legend for this layer.

"Temperatures" overlays presentation"Daytime surface temperature Chang’é 2 " overlayThis overlay has been realized with Chang'é 2 datas. It shows lunar surface temperature
with the sun at the higher point in the sky. It doesn't shows real time surface
temperature. The caption shows that temperatures range is between 240 °K (-33 °C)
at poles to 400 °K (127 °C) at the equator.
"Night time surface temperature Chang’é 2 " overlay

This overlay has been realized with Chang'é 2 datas. It shows lunar surface
temperature on the obscure part of lunar globe. It doesn't shows real time surface
temperature. The caption shows that temperatures range is between 240 °K (-33 °C)
at poles to 400 °K (127 °C) at the equator.

.
Couche "LRO Diviner temperature" / Chang’é 2 »The Diviner instrument on board the LRO probe made it possible to measure thetemperature of the lunar surface under different solar illumination conditions. It istherefore a whole set of temperature layers that are presented. Thanks to the team ofDr. Mark Robinson for this very exhaustive work.
Legends are in degrees Kelvin.
- LRO Diviner Average Full Moon temperature- LRO Diviner Early night temperature 20h to 0h

- LRO Diviner Early night temperature anomalies- LRO Diviner Late night temperature 0h to 4h- LRO Diviner Late night temperature anomalies

-LRO Diviner Maximum global temperature- LRO Diviner Mean nighttime brightness temperature difference- LRO Diviner Midnight temperature

- LRO Diviner Minimum global temperature-LRO Diviner Noon temperature"Topographic" overlays presentation"Clementine Altitude" overlay

The captions are in feet. The left column is based on a linear scale for color spectra,
while the right one is based on a linear scale for altitudes.
This overlay is conceived with altimetric datas recorded by Clementine probe andcompiled by Maria T. Zuber and her LPI team. The overlay allows you to locate
relative altitudes. It has been used to confirm the existence of the "South Pole /Atkein" impact basin in the Southern part of the Farside.

Altitude "ULCN 2005" overlay

This overlay is realized with a combination of altimetric datas recorded by Apollo
missions, Clementine and Lunar Prospector probes and Earth based datas, speciallywith radiotelescopes in radar mode. They are online at the USGS site maintained by
Brent Archinal and his team . It gives relatives altitudes of formations.
It's recommanded to use this overlay with the texture « Aerograph without albedo ».
There is no caption found for this overlay. So it's only indicative informations.
"Kaguya Altitude 2" overlay

This overlay is a second one realized with altimetric datas recorded by the japaneseprobe Kaguya and put online by JAXA team. It gives relatives altitudes of formations.
It's presently the most precise altimetric lunar planisphere.
« Geological and gravimetric » overlays presentations"Geological" overlay

This overlay has been realized with datas available on the USGS "Astrogeology /Webgis" and gathers several different Moon geological maps. Because each of thecomposing map has its own caption, the global caption, difficult to conceive, is notavailable presently.

"USGS Geological 2020" layerThis overlay has been realized with datas available on the USGS "Astrogeology /Webgis" and gathers several different Moon geological maps in 2020. It's like theequivalent texture and have the same caption. We recommand to use it with notexture"Rocks types" overlay

This overlay is realized with Clementine probe orbital datas compiled by Dr Maria T.
Zuber and her USGS team. It shows differences between surface rocks
compositions. There is no caption found for this overlay

"Water / Chandrayann" overlay

This layer is made from orbital data recorded by the Indian Chandrayann 1 probe andcompiled by ISRO and Shuai Li and Ralph E. Milliken in 2017. It allows to visualize
the presence of water in the surface rocks.
"Silicates LRO" overlay

This overlay has been realized with datas from LRO probe compiled by Dr Mark
Robinson and its team. It shows the silicates percentage in the surface lunar rocs.
"Surface roughness LRO" overlay

This overlay has been realized with datas from LRO probe compiled by Dr Mark
Robinson and its team. It shows the lunar surface roughness. It is recommended touse it with the “Globe without texture” option.

"Slope & surface roughness LRO" overlay

This overlay has been realized with datas from LRO probe compiled by Dr Mark
Robinson and its team. It shows the lunar surface roughness associated to theterrans slopes. It's useful to determine probes landing surfaces. It is recommended touse it with the “Globe without texture” option.

"Soil atomic mass" overlay

This overlay is realized with Lunar Prospector probe datas compiled by Dr Alan
Binder and his team. It shows soil atomic mass. It's visible that Nearside seas havehigher atomic mass showing heavy elements presence. The caption is in grams /mole.

"Crust thickness" overlay

This overlay is conceived with orbital variations datas recorded by Clementine probe
and compiled by Maria T. Zuber and her LPI team. The overlay allows you tovisualize the lunar crust thickness under the formations. It will confirm you that thisone is the lowest under the marias and the thickest on the Moon Farside.
"Bouger Gravity" overlay

This overlay is conceived with gravimetric datas recorded by Clementine probe andcompiled by Maria T. Zuber and her LPI team. They have been completed with Dr
Alan Binder and his team results from Lunar Prospector probe.overlay allows you tovisualize gravitic anomalies under the formations. The unit is milligals. The biggest
anomalies are under the marias showing the famous "mascons" presence. These
datas are corrected with the Bouger method taking account of the soil density in themeasurement site.
"Free Air Gravity" overlay

This overlay is conceived with gravimetric datas recorded by Clementine probe andcompiled by Maria T. Zuber and her LPI team. They have been completed with Dr
Alan Binder and his team results from Lunar Prospector probe.overlay allows you tovisualize gravitic anomalies under the formations. The unit is milligals. The biggest
anomalies are under the marias showing the famous "mascons" presence. These
datas are corrected with the "Free air" method taking account of the altitude above
the measurement site.
"Geoid anomalies" overlay

This overlay is conceived with graviimetric datas recorded by Clementine probe andcompiled by Maria T. Zuber and her LPI team. They have been completed with Dr
Alan Binder and his team results from Lunar Prospector probe.overlay allows you tovisualize Moon globe shape anomalies which is not perfectly spherical. It whows that
the Farside is less round than the Nearside.
"Free Air Gravity / GRAIL degree 2 to 700" overlay ("Free Air gravimetry withharmonic degrees less than 700")

This overlay is produced from gravimetric data recorded by the two GRAIL Ebb &Flow probes and compiled by Dr Maria T. Zuber and his team from the USGS. It is
expressed in milligals. It allows you to view gravity anomalies in the area offormations. We thus realize that strong anomalies correspond to the seas and betraythe presence of the famous "mascons". These data are corrected according to the"Free air" method which takes into account the altitude of the formations at themeasurement right. We have not found a legend for this overlay.

"Free Air Gravity / GRAIL degree 7 to 700" overlay ("Free Air gravimetry withharmonic degrees between 7 & 700")

This overlay is produced from gravimetric data recorded by the two GRAIL Ebb &Flow probes and compiled by Dr Maria T. Zuber and his team from the USGS. It is
expressed in milligals. It allows you to view gravity anomalies in the area offormations. We thus realize that strong anomalies correspond to the seas and betraythe presence of the famous "mascons". These data are corrected according to the"Free air" method which takes into account the altitude of the formations at themeasurement right. We have not found a legend for this layer.
"Bouguer Gravity / GRAIL" overlay ("Bouguer" Gravimetry)

This overlay is produced from gravimetric data recorded by the two GRAIL Ebb &Flow probes and compiled by Dr Maria T. Zuber and his team from the USGS. It
allows you to view gravity anomalies in the area of formations. It is expressed inmilligals. We thus realize that the strong anomalies correspond to the seas andbetray the presence of the famous "mascons". These data are corrected according to
the Bouguer method which takes into account the density of the soil at the right of themeasurement. We have not found a legend for this overlay.
"Crustal thickness / GRAIL degree 1 to 700" overlay

This overlay is produced from gravimetric data recorded by the two GRAIL Ebb &Flow probes and compiled by Dr Maria T. Zuber and his team from the USGS. It is
expressed in km. It makes it possible to visualize the variations in the thickness of thecrust at the level of the formations. We thus realize the strong under-thicknesses
corresponding to the seas which betray the presence of the famous "mascons".
« Elements presence » overlays presentation"Hydrogen" overlay

This overlay is conceived with Dr Alan Binder and his team results from Lunar
Prospector probe. This overlay allows you to visualize hydrogen repartition on thesurface. There is no caption available presently, but red is for high hydrogenconcentrations and blue for the lowest.

"Chandrayann 1 / Water" overlay

This overlay is conceived with ISRO results from Chandrayann 1 probe. This overlay
allows you to visualize waterrepartition on the surface.

"Iron" overlay

This overlay is conceived with Dr Alan Binder and his team results from Lunar
Prospector probe. This overlay allows you to visualize iron repartition on the surface.
Immediatly, you can see that Nearside marias are rich with iron.

"Iron oxyde / FeO" overlay

This overlay is conceived from Clementine probe datas. FeO (Iron oxydes) values
can be useful in identifying basalt-excavating craters, and so possible cryptomares(Basalt seas covered by more recent materials).

"Titane" overlay

This overlay is conceived with Dr Alan Binder and his team results from Lunar
Prospector probe. This overlay allows you to visualize titane repartition on thesurface. Immediatly, you can see that Nearside marias are rich with this metal.
"Potassium" overlay

This overlay is conceived with Dr Alan Binder and his team results from Lunar
Prospector probe. This overlay allows you to visualize potassium repartition on thesurface. The measurement unit is based on detection counts. Immediatly, you can
see that Nearside marias are rich with this element.
"Gadolinium" overlay

This overlay is conceived with Dr Alan Binder and his team results from Lunar
Prospector probe. This overlay allows you to visualize gadolinium repartition on thesurface. Immediatly, you can see that Nearside marias are rich with this element.

"Clementine FeO" (Iron oxydes)

This layer is established from data from the Clémentine probe. FeO (iron oxide)values can be useful to identify craters with basalt excavation and "cryptomares"(basalt seas covered by more recent materials).
Couche "LRO TiO2" (Oxyde de titane)

This layer is based on data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter probe. One
realizes immediately that the seas of the Visible Side are rich in this metal. Note thatthe readings do not cover latitudes over 60°. The abundance ranges from less than
2% by weight for blue to more than 10% for red.

« Radioactive elements repartition" overlays"Thorium" overlay

This overlay is conceived with Dr Alan Binder and his team results from Lunar
Prospector probe. This overlay allows you to visualize potassium repartition on thesurface. No caption is available presently, but red is for high hydrogen concentrations
and blue for the lowest.Immediatly, you can see that Nearside marias are also richwith this element.

"Uranium" overlay

This overlay is realized with japanese probe datas compiled by JAXA team. The
caption is based on uramium emitted particles count. It can vizualize roughly uranium
in formations. It's easily seen that Nearside seas are rich with this element.

"Radon" overlay

This overlay is conceived with Dr Alan Binder and his team results from Lunar
Prospector probe. This overlay allows you to visualize radon repartition on thesurface. The caption is based on radon emitted particles count. It can vizualize
roughly radon in formations.

"Polonium" overlay

This overlay is conceived with Dr Alan Binder and his team results from Lunar
Prospector probe. This overlay allows you to visualize polonium repartition on thesurface. The caption is based on polonium emitted particles count. It can vizualize
roughly radon in formations.

« Rocks types » layers presentation"Kaguya clinopyroxene" overlay

This layer is made from data from the Kaguya probe compiled by the JAXA team. It
makes it possible to visualize the distribution of clinopyroxene to the right of theformations. We immediately realize that the seas and the large impact craters arerich in this rock. Note that the readings do not cover latitudes over 60°. Abundance
ranges from 0% for black to 50% for red.

Pyroxenes are a family of minerals from the inosilicate group. They are common
components of igneous and metamorphic rocks. They are related to amphiboles.
Pyroxenes generally belong to the monoclinic (clinopyroxene), sometimes
orthorhombic (orthopyroxene) system.

"Kaguya orthopyroxene" overlay

This layer is made from data from the Kaguya probe compiled by the JAXA team. It
makes it possible to visualize the distribution of orthopyroxene to the right of theformations. We immediately realize that the seas and the large impact craters arerich in this rock. Note that the readings do not cover latitudes over 60°. Abundance
ranges from 0% for black to 50% for red.

Pyroxenes are a family of minerals from the inosilicate group. They are common
components of igneous and metamorphic rocks. They are related to amphiboles.
Pyroxenes generally belong to the monoclinic (clinopyroxene), sometimes
orthorhombic (orthopyroxene) system.

"Kaguya plagioclase" overlay

This layer is made from data from the Kaguya probe compiled by the JAXA team. It
makes it possible to visualize the distribution of plagioclase at the level of theformations. We immediately realize that the seas and the large impact craters arepoor in this rock. Note that the readings do not cover latitudes over 60°. Abundance
ranges from 50% for black to 100% for red.

Plagioclases are silicate minerals, tectosilicates of the feldspar family.

"Kaguya Olivine" overlay

This layer is made from data from the Kaguya probe compiled by the JAXA team. It
makes it possible to visualize the distribution of the olivine to the right of theformations. We immediately realize that the seas and the large impact craters arerich in this rock. Note that the readings do not cover latitudes over 60°. Abundance
ranges from 0% for black to 25% for red.

Olivine is a mineral of the group of silicates, subgroup of neosilicates. It crystallizes in
the orthorombic system.
"Chandrayann MAFIC" overlay

This layer is produced from orbital data recorded by the Indian probe Chandrayann 1
and compiled by ISRO. It makes it possible to visualize the distribution of mafic rocks
to the right of the formations. We immediately realize that the seas and large impact
craters are rich in this type of rock. The legend gives a scale from 0 to 17.5%. A
silicate or a silicate rock is called "mafic" when it is rich in magnesium and iron(Contaction of magnesium and ferric). Also called "ferromagnesian". this family
includes olivine, pyroxenes, amphibole and biotite. This layer therefore does notmake it possible to differentiate the components, unlike those of the Kaguya probe.

"Chandrayann Pyroxene" overlay

This layer is produced from orbital data recorded by the Indian probe Chandrayann 1
and compiled by ISRO. It makes it possible to visualize the distribution of pyroxenes
at the level of the formations. One realizes immediately that the seas and the large
impact craters are rich in rocks. The legend gives a scale ranging from 1950 to 2300
without further precision.
Pyroxenes are a family of minerals from the inosilicate group. They are common
components of igneous and metamorphic rocks. They are related to amphiboles.
Pyroxenes generally belong to the monoclinic (clinopyroxene), sometimes
orthorhombic (orthopyroxene) system.
« Neutrons emissions» overlay presentation"Neutrons epithermal" overlay

This overlay is conceived with Dr Alan Binder and his team results from Lunar
Prospector probe. This overlay allows you to visualize number of detected"epithermal" neutrons on the surface. The measurement unit is based on detection
counts. Immediatly, you can see that Nearside marias are powerful emiters.

"Neutrons broadband" overlay

This overlay is conceived with Dr Alan Binder and his team results from Lunar
Prospector probe. This overlay allows you to visualize number of detected"broadband" neutrons on the surface. The measurement unit is based on detection
counts. Immediatly, you can see that Nearside marias are powerful emiters.
"Neutrons fast" overlay

This overlay is conceived with Dr Alan Binder and his team results from Lunar
Prospector probe. This overlay allows you to visualize number of detected "fast"neutrons on the surface. The measurement unit is based on detection counts.
Immediatly, you can see that Nearside marias are also powerful neutrons emiters.

« Radiations emissions" overlays presentation"Gamma rays" overlay

This overlay is realized with japanese probe Kaguya datas compiled by JAXA team.
The caption is based on gamma rays level detected by the probe. It can vizualize
roughly gamma rays levels in formations. It's easily seen that this repartition is rather
uniform.
« Magnetism" overlays presentation"Moon magnetic sources depth"

This layer is made from data from Mark Wieczorek's article on the hypothesis of theorigin of "swirls". The legend indicates the depth of the magnetic source at the levelof the formations"Transparency" cursor

This cursor allows you to choose the transparency degree of the overlay appliedabove the texture. It doesn't operate on the texture. When the cursor is on the right,
the overlay very visible. On left, the underlaying texture is almost invisible. Choose
what degree you would apply to be able to see all the details together. (Example
shown without underlaying texture).

< Non transparent overlay< Transparent overlay"Grid " frame

The radio button « Show grid » displays or not a white grid with meridians andparallels on the lunar globe surface.
The cursor changes grid density. This one varies from 1° until 30 °.

1° Grid

5° Grid

30° Grid"Pictures" tabThis tab is used to sort the available pictures in the library because their number will
increase constantly, and the pictures display setup.
Pictures directories list
You can edit the list of the "picture directories". In addition to the "LOPAM","Clementine", "Probes", "Apollo", "Apollomapping", "CLA" and "Myimages"downloadable pictures, you can create one or more new directories to put inyour own webcam or CCD pictures, or pictures coming from other sources andlegally acquired, such as the "Best of amateurs series" present on VMA Web site..
"Eyepieces" tabThis tab is used to setup parameters of your own eyepieces so thet, you could
display the real Moon aspect when observed in your instrument with "Eyepiece"
context menu function ("LUN" is for "LUNETTE" = "REFRACTOR" in french).
Eyepieces list
You can enter directly your eyepieces parameters in list fields if you know them, as
shown by the exemple which can be erased. "Name of the eyepiece" is in the left
column and the "apparent field" in arc minutes in the right column. You can enter up
to 10 eyepieces. It's better to enter them in the increasing magnification way.
Eyepieces parameters computation
Eyepieces parameters can be computed with the help of our calculator. First enter
the "Instrument focal length". Then enter the "Eyepiece focal length". Then enter
the "Apparent eyepiece field of view" in the third field. This field is that indicated ineyepieces advertisements. For example, Plossl eyepieces apparent field is about 50°
and Ultra Wide Angle eyepiece is 82°.
Push the "Compute" button. In the "Real eyepiece field " frame, the area diameteris displayed in arc minutes. In the "Eyepiece magnification" frame, themagnification of the choosen eyepiece is indicated. After that, you have just to copy
these two values in the two colums of the lower table.
You can also input directly the orientation view effects according to your instrument
type by clicking in the boxes of the "<->" (Right - left inversion) and "N/S" (North /South inversion). If the rectangle is green, so the effect is activated. If it's red, so theeffect is not activated. For example : if you use a Schmidt-Cassegrain or a refractor,
the "<->" rectangle of the eyepiece must be green, but the "N/S" must be red. For a
Newtonian telescope, the "<->" rectangle must be green and the "N/S" must be green
too.
"CCD" tabThis tab allows you to enter parameters of your CCDs cameras or others pictures
makers to view their real field on the lunar map according to your instrument
specifications.
Cameras list
You can enter directly your cameras specifications in the list fields if you know them :Description in the left column "CCD Name" and field dimensions in pixels. An
exemple is shown by default. You can enter 10 products at maximum. It's better toenter them with their increasing magnification.
Computing cameras parameters
If you don't know your cameras parameters, a small calculator can help you. Just
enter the instrument focal length and capteur dimensions in pixels.
push the "compute" button. In the real field cases you will see the dimensions of thelunar area that will be imaged.

"Printing" tabThis tab is used to setup map printing parameters.
"Setup" button
This button shows the standard Windows printing setup window.

Printing format
This area is used to choose printing margins width and change the Description text
width.
Printed documents
These boxes are used to select the documents that will be printed. The printed map
is that of the last window map. Topographic maps are black and white and geologic
map are colored with color names in both types. Maybe you will have to change the
Description text width to better see printed names.
"Ephemeris" text contains orbital, phase and libration information according to thelast date and hour selected in the "Ephemeris" window.
"Description" text contains the information page of the last chosen formation on themap.
"Save map" frame
Displayed map can be printed on paper with white background around the lunar disk
to speed up printing and save ink!

"Help" MENUThis menu brings up help tools to aid using the atlas.
"Help" choiceThis choice displays the present manual in an independent window.
"Glossary" choiceThis choice gives access to a glossary containing more than 100 words andexpressions linked to the Moon and its observation.
The glossary is also in an independent window which is divided in three distinct parts
Upper part contains alphabet letters. Clicking on one of them gives access to thewords beginning with this selected letter.
Left lower part is a tree of letters and associated words.
Right lower part contains an explanation of the selected word or expression.
"Encyclopedia" choiceThis choice shows you a page with main dimensions of Moon globe and orbit.
"About" choiceThis choice shows the version of the program, and indicates how Christian Legrandand Patrick Chevalley divide their work in the creation and development of this atlas.

ZOOM CURSOR

Sliding this cursor from left to right increase zoom magnifying power of the map (See"Map window").
If cursor is on left, lunar globe is entirely visible. Moving it to the right increases zoom
power (zooms in).
Depending on the resolution textures chosen in the settings (See "Settings tab"),zoom will not show new details and map display can become fuzzy.

Display of labels and marks is a function of zoom factor and of labels density (See"labels and marks").
It can be increased or decreased with the label cursor further to the right on the
button bar.

"1:1" BUTTON

Clicking on this button returns the map to the whole lunar globe display in the "Mapwindow".

"Center" BUTTON

Clicking on this button will make the lunar globe center displayed on the center ofyour screen when zoom is 1/1. It also centers the formation you have selected.

"North / South " BUTTON

If you click on this button, you immediatly invert the North - South in the "Map"window. It must be used with the "East - West" button below to change from naked
eye view to Newtonian view.

"East / West " BUTTON

If you click on this button, you immediatly invert the East - West in the "Map" window.
It must be used to change from naked eye view to refractor or catadioptric telescope
view.

"Full globe / Rotation" button

When clicking on this button, you access to the most powerful function of ATLUN (c).
If the button is Up, the map window shows you the Near Side visible from the Earthwith phase and libration applied if you checked the boxes in the "Display" tab of the"Configuration" menu.
But if you click down on this button, you go to "Full globe" mode and the map
window displays a complete globe in three dimensions that you will be able toobserve on all its faces.

"Libration" BUTTON

If you click on this button, you display or remove the libration effect on the Moon
globe of the "Map" window.

"Grid" BUTTON

When clicking on this button, the grid choosen in the "Overlays" tab of the"Configuration" menu is displayed on the luner globe. The space between parallels
and meridians is that has been choosen in the tab, from 1 to 30 °.

"Phase" BUTTON

If you click on this button, you display or remove the phase display on the Moon
globe of the "Map" window.
If the "Dynamic shadows" option has been selected in the "Textures" tab of the"Configuration" menu, it's displayed.

"Terminator" BUTTON

The "Terminator" button allows displaying or removing a line materializing exactly thecolongitude of the lunar terminator. The color of this line can be chosen in the"Display" tab of the "Configuration" menu.

"Scale" BUTTON

When clicking on this button, a scale in angular dimension is displayed at the left
botton of the map window.

Beware ! This scale indicates the "visual" angular size. It doesn't indicate thedimensions on the lunar globe. For measuring distances on the globe, you must use
the "distance measure" tool comprised in the "Tools" tab.

"Labels" BUTTONThis button allows you to access the color choice window for map labels. Its use
helps a lot to adapt quickly the labels colours to the map hues context, specially with
scientific overlays use.

"Short labels" BUTTON

The "Short label" button is used to reduce the clutter of the display that may occur if
you use the databases of indexed craters and/or anonymous craters. If you checkthis box, the names of the "indexed" craters will be reduced to their index. Example:"ERATOSTHENES A" will be displayed as "A". But by clicking on it, it will again be
identified as "ERATOSTHENES A". In addition, the names of "anonymous" craters(Bases Unnamed 1 & 2) will not be displayed and they will be indicated by a single
star. If you click on a star, the data concerning said crater will be displayed in the"Information" tab
THE LABEL CURSOR

By adjusting this slider, you can adjust the number of labels displayed at the sametime on the selected "Map" window.
Completely to the left, the lunar globe is entirely devoid of labels. By moving the
cursor to the right, we increase the number of visible labels. This number also varies
depending on the zoom level.
Depending on the number of databases used, the display can be very crowded, evenat maximum zoom.

"Neighbor" BUTTON

When clicking on this button, a new picture that contains the names of the formationsin the neighborhood of the selected formation. You can click on one of them to go
directly there.

"PhotLun" BUTTON

The "Picture" button gives now access to PHOTLUN (c), the VMA Pro pictures
manager.

The "PhotLun" (c) window
The miniatures band appears with the menu bar.

This module allows a more easier choice for displaying pictures because of the previsualization miniatures pictures.You get the original image of the tab you clicked on
in a separate window.

We send you back to the specific PHOTLUN (c) documentation to discover all its
possibilities and specially the pictures treatment functions (Rotation, zoom, contrast
and luminosity).

The pictures library
The pictures library is modular, so you can add a number of sources. You candownload for this version picture files coming from various sources. These files haveobtained the necessary authorizations to be used only in VMA.
"LUNAR ORBITER PHOTOGRAPHIC ATLAS OF THE MOON" PICTURES"Aristillus" and "Vallis Alpes"

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 powerful software provided by Niels Noordhoek
Despite of this important work, about 150 formations haven't been recovered in the
LOPAM 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 hasgathered 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 the
picture 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 700
ones.
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 the
picture 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 probe
itself. Probes pictures are in the "Probes" sub-directory.
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 PROBE PICTURES

Arzachel crater picture taken by Clementine (Left) compared to that of 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 eachformation.

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 to
see the difference. For formations above these latitudes, shadows reappeared andmany pictures are better than LOPAM. Compare with Anaxagoras for example.
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) Web
site. 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 present
formation. 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. The
pictures can't be used outside of the present software.

SMART-1EUROPEAN PROBE PICTURES

These images were obtained from images taken by the European SMART-1 probe
and posted on the Japan_Aerospace_eXploration_Agency (JAXA) website. This
remarkable work can be consulted on the website:
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Missions/SMART-1/(result_type)/images
With the authorization of Professor Bernard Foing (Thanks to him!), ChristianLegrand was able to extract from each of the photos images of each formation thatwas there. He thus "harvested" 102 usable images. Smart-1 notably took images ofinteresting polar formations, which brings new data on the real shape of theformations (see Hermite above)
These images are provided under the general copyright of the "European
Space_Agency / ESA" holder of the reproduction rights and may not be usedoutside the software.

LUNAR RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER US PROBE OBLIQUE PICTURES

These images were obtained from images taken by the American LUNAR
RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER probe and posted on the Lunar Reconnaissance
Orbiter Camera website. This remarkable work can be consulted on the website:
https://www.lroc.asu.edu/posts
If the LRO probe maps the surface of the Moon, it also takes particularly impressive
images in oblique view. Thanks to the work of Mark Robinson's team (Thanks tothem!), Christian Legrand extracted from each of the photos images of eachformation that was there. He has thus "harvested" about thirty usable images so far.
These are images of formations taken obliquely, which provide new data on the realshape of the formations (see Mons Rümker above)
These images are provided under the general copyright of"NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University" copyright holder and may not be usedoutside of the software

LUNAR RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER US PROBE PITS PICTURESThese images were obtained from images taken by the American LUNAR
RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER probe and posted on the Lunar Reconnaissance
Orbiter Camera website. This remarkable work can be consulted on the website:
https://www.lroc.asu.edu/posts
If the LRO probe maps the surface of the Moon, it also takes particularly impressive
very high resolution images (50 cm/pixel!). It thus allowed the discovery of the “Lunarpits” which are cavities opening on old lava tubes. Thanks to the catalog put online
by Mark Robinson's team (Thanks to them!), Christian Legrand took the images ofthe pits and associated them with a "Lunar pits" database. The catalog, the database
and the present library contain 250 entries. Almost all of them are lined with 3D"Anaglyph" images allowing you to see the wells in relief with red & blue glasses.
These are images of formations taken obliquely, which provide new data on the realshape of the formations (see LUNAR PIT CENTRAL MARE FECUNDITATIS above)
These images are provided under the general copyright of "NASA/GSFC/ArizonaState University" copyright holder and may not be used outside of the 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 compiles best Moon pictures taken from Earth bysome great observatories as Catalina and Pic du Midi. Resolution of some pictures
are about 1 km. Only since little 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 of
the 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 a
special 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 and Paolo Lazzarotti. Others amateurs have been
contacted and their pictures will be added in this library whose pictures are very often
better than 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 Lazzarottiand Wes Higgins ar 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.
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.
ATTENTION: These images are provided under the copyright of each of theoriginal authors holding the reproduction rights and cannot be used outside
the VMA. Any other use must be explicitly requested from the original author.
We thank them for agreeing to include them 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 du Midi telescope which are the lunar pictures takenfrom the surface of Earth (Archimedes below).

- Best of Peach
It contains pictures taken by Damian Peach with his Celestron 14 et 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 picture relized 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 of
personal manufacture of 625 mm in diameter with a QHYSIII178M camera. It is themost supplied "amateur astronomer" library with nearly 700 very high resolution
images.

Best of Brahic: It contains images taken by Jean-Pierre Brahic with a
Celestron 14 and a 350 mm Ritchey-Chrétien (Bailly below). It is one of thelargest amateur libraries associated with the AVL with nearly 1000 images.

Best of Viladrich: It contains the images made by Christian Viladrich with a
Celestron 14 and a Ritchey-Chrétien 500 mm (Ptolemaeus below). It is thebiggest amateur library associated with the AVL with nearly 1100 images.

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 8 000 formations pictures available to VMA
users.

"DATLUN " Button

If you click on this button, you can open the "DATLUN" (c) window, which is the VMA
database manager :You can discover all the potential of this new software conceived by ChristianLegrand and written by Patrick Chevalley if you consult its user's manual.

"WEBLUN " Button

If you click on this button, you open the "WEBLUN" (c) window containing the lunar
Web sites database manager.

You can discover all the potential of this software conceived and written by Patrick
Chevalley if you consult its user's manual.

"CALCLUN " Button

If you click on this button, you open the "CALCLUN" (c) window containing the lunar
ephemerisis manager.

You can discover all the potential of this new software conceived and written by
Patrick Chevalley if you consult its user's manual.

"NOTELUN " Button

If you click on this button, you open the "NOTEUN" (c) window containing the lunar
external documents manager.

You can discover all the potential of this new software conceived by ChristianLegrand and written by Patrick Chevalley if you consult its user's manual.

"2nd Window" BUTTON

If you click on this button, the "Map" window separates in two windows with equal
width. This new window has the same properties as the main window. You obtain the"map" window, the "configuration" menu, the tabs and the buttons bar. Tomake active
one of the 2 windows and access to its setup, click in it. The active window is thensurrounded by a red borderThis new window opens with the same lunar area as the first. So, you can easily
compare the two windows and you can apply in this second window textures andoverlays different from those of the first window.

Screen capture showing VMA one window with "altitude" overlay and second
window with "iron" overlay.
The "Mother" window which is affected by the cursor is surrounded by a red border.
Just click on the other window so that it becomes active in turn and surrounded byred.
Beware ! This new function needs a powerful computer to be exploited with allits possibilities (If possible, processor frequency above 2 GHz, 512 Mb RAM
and a graphic card supporting OpenGL with 64 Mb video RAM)

"Full Screen" BUTTON

If you click on this button, the tabs on the right, the title bar and the status bar all
disappear, leaving only the map window or the double map window only on thescreen.

Fabulous for large monitors, LCD and plasma TV, and videoprojector !!!
It's also a very useful tool for lectures and planetariums about the Moon !
A click on the left button selects a formation.
Pressing the left button and moving the mouse moves the map. The mouse wheel
drives the zoom.
You have still access to the right click menu for managing the views.
To find menus & tabs, simply press the "Esc" key or go to the context menu of the"Right click" and click on "Back window".

"EYEPIECE" BUTTON

By clicking on this button, you can directly open the "Eyepieces" tab of the"Configuration" menu with direct access to the list of eyepieces that you haveentered.
"CCD" BUTTON

By clicking on this button, you can directly open the "CCD" tab of the "Configuration"menu with direct access to the list of cameras that you have entered.

"NOTES" BUTTON

By clicking on this button, you can directly open the "Notes" tab) on the right withdirect access to the note taking tool.
"EPHEMERISIS" BUTTON

By clicking on this button, you can directly open the "Ephemeris" tab with directaccess to the date & time scanning tool.

"TABS" BUTTON

By clicking on this button, you can temporarily "detach" the tabs on the right toenlarge the "Map" window (s) (in two-window mode). You can then position themwhere you want as in the screenshot below. The "Tabs" window has the "Windows"
buttons to put it in full screen (Global view of the "Information" data, for example "ordelete it. The arrow of the" Tabs "button will change direction and by clicking asecond time on it , you can redisplay the tabs.

"2ND MONITOR" BUTTON

If you have two monitors connected to your computer as in the photo below, by
clicking on this button >, you can temporarily display the tabs on the right on thissecond monitor to maximize the window or windows on your main screen " Map "(Intwo-window mode) without losing the tab information. Your mouse should be able tomove around on both monitors.
The arrow of the button will change direction and by clicking a second time on it, youwill be able to redisplay the tabs on the first monitor.

THE MAP WINDOW"Map" window is on the left of general window. At opening, it shows It shows
Nearside according to the options selected (See "Map display "). This window can't
be removed and is now independently sizable. Go with the pointer one the separationline with the right tabs. A new pointer appears. Stay with the mouse left button
pushed and move it. The "Map" window width will be set.

Slide bars appear according to the applied zoom factor (See "Zoom cursor").

THE GLOBE MAP
It's oriented in the same direction as Moon seen with naked eye or binoculars.
You can turn the map around its center to copy the eyepiece vision in a Newtonian.
You can display the map as in a mirror to see it as in a refractor or a SchmidtCassegrain instrument (See "Tools" tab).
"Near Side" map with inversion "<->"

If the "Libration" option (See "Configuration menu") is choosen, center of the map is
not absolutely the center of the presented drawing because of libration. "Expert"
version texture has been configured by Patrick Chevalley for an optimal display,specially for libration zones.
"Full globe" mapIt permits to view a complete lunar globe and to study the Far Side invisible from the
Earth (On the above screen capture, you can remark Mare Orientale). It's always thesame "David Seals" texture presenting details visible in a 120 mm (5") instrument
applied on a 3D sphere, but in that case with no limited move.
If the options "Display libration" and " Display phase " (See "Configuration menu ")are checked, the lighting of the lunar globe is as the real one, for the date and hourchoosen in the " Ephemerisis" tab.
Map move
As a zoom factor is applied to map, you will be able to move into it.
In the "Near Side" mode, you can also "grab" the map in left clicking on it andkeeping left button clicked while moving the mouse.
In the "Full Moon" mode, you can also "grab" the globe with a mouse left click andwhile keeping left button click, you can turn the globe in the East or West direction
when moving the mouse.
Mouse right click
A right click on the mouse and a context menu appear with several choices.

Information : Sends you to the information database window.
Notes : Send you to the "Notes" tabPicture : Displays the pictures list or the LOPAM picture of the selected formation.
Neighbour : Displays in a new window the formations list in the neighbourhood of theselected formation.
Center : Centers the map on the selected formation.
Zoom : Can setup directly the zoom factor to 1/1, 1/2 or 1/4.
Eyepieces : Allows you to choose the used eyepiece and have the exact view in theassociated instrument. A black mask with a round centered hole appears on the"Map" window. To cancel, just click the "None" option.

CCD : Allows you to choose your electronic camera and to vizualize its field on theMoon. A colored frame appear. If you want to remove it, just click on the "none"
option.
Distance : Activate the mode "Distance measurement" (Voir "Distancemeasurement")
Full screen : Allows you to remove the menus and tabs to assign the one or two"Map" windows (In two-window mode) to the entire screen area.
Orbit the Moon : Activated only in the "Full globe" mode. Activate an automatic
rotation to "scroll" the globe as in the case of a simulated "satellisation". Indicatedspeeds are in "degree of longitude per second", or the manual rotation with"Direction".
Overlay caption : Activated only when one overlay is displayed above the texture.
Note that some overlays don't have a caption as indicated above.

THE TABS
To the right of the "Map" window, the tabs allow you to provide as much informationas possible for the training selected at a specific time, without cluttering the screen.

THE "INFORMATION" TABSEARCH SCROLLING LIST
You can enter in this scrolling list some letters of the name of the formation you wantto find. It will accept "wildcards", so "*tri" will include in the scrolling list "Triesnecker"
and "Rimae Triesnecker", for example.
.

"Outline" FRAME

In this frame, outline of the formation selected within your search and whose
description is in the "Database window" is displayed (See "Outline" for more
information on the display). Here is a semi-graphic field presenting the formation
profile. This information is only provided when height is known.
Profile has not be constructed for some formations types :- Sea- Lake- Gulf- Marsh- Ocean- Probe- Human mission
The profile is generated according to the following description :Crater outline :Crater is presented so :A________________A< n characters>"A" characters show the slope height. The number of "_" characters shows the crater
width with the same scale as height.
Because the "A" character is twice high than wide on an html screen, in the above
example, the width / height crater ratio is 1/8.
The central mountain of crater has not been represented because their height hasoften not been found.
Don't forget that each formation has its own profile. You can't compare two craters
dimensions using their profile representation.
A__________A Profile of (Length =20 km & height = 4000 m)

A__________A Profile of (Length = 5 km & height = 1000 m)
On screen, these two profiles are identical, but as you can see, dimensions aredifferent.

Relief outline :For mountains, mountains ranges, wrinkle ridges or domes, an other viewing modeis selected :___A___"A" character shows the formation maximum height. The number of "_"characters shows the formation width with the same scale as height.

Rille outline :For rilles, rilles system and valleys, profile is shown like this :___ ___
V"V" character shows the formation maximum depth. The number of "_"characters shows the formation width with the same scale as depth.

THE UPPER BAND

Given the increase in the volume of data presented for the selected formation, thelinks presented in this banner allow you to go directly to the desired information
section by simply clicking on it.

THE DATABASE WINDOWThe Database window is organized to display formation information extracted fromthe database. It has a slide bar on the right if not all the data can be displayed in thewindow.
The version 8 database is the largest existing lunar database to date. The files
represent nearly 400 MB of text in French and as much in English ! It contains thedescriptive files of more than 1 million lunar formations with varying amounts of data
depending on the official bases from which they originate.
It is separated into twelve distinct bases:- NAMED FORMATIONS : The formations of the visible & hidden faces which have a
specific name validated by the UAI (ex: Clavius, Rima Hyginus, Montes Alpes ...):(1,800 entries approximately)- SATELLITE FORMATIONS: The formations of the visible & hidden faces which do
not have a specific name, but a lettered index backed by an official name and which
are validated by the UAI (ex: Clavius D, Hyginus A .. .): (Around 7000 entries)- SALAMUNICCAR UNNAMED FORMATIONS: The formations of the visible &hidden faces which do not have a specific name or an index and which are notvalidated by the UAI. These are from the work carried out by Goran Salamuniccar of
the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb and his
team (Base LU 78 287) who gave us permission to include them in the VMA (Thanks
to him!) . The name of these courses is represented by the LUN (Lunar Universal
Number) developed by Christian Legrand specially for the VMA: (approximately
69,600 entries)
WARNING ! Given the extremely large number of formations listed in thisdatabase that the software must display, it is advisable to use it only with zoom
levels corresponding to levels L4 to L6. The display of all formations may takesome time. We also recommend checking the "Short label" box in the"Configuration / Display" menu so as not to clutter the map too much withlabels.
- ROBBINS UNNAMED FORMATIONS: The formations of the visible & hidden faces
which do not have a specific name or an index and which are not validated by the
UAI. These are from the work of Stuart J. Robbins of the Southwest ResearchInstitute (Robbins Lunar Crater Database 2018-08-15) who gave us permission to
include them in the AVL (Thanks to him!). The name of these courses is represented
by the LUN (Lunar Universal Number) developed by Christian Legrand specially for
the AVL: (approximately 1,300,000 entries). This base contains only 4 fields takenfrom the base of S. J. Robbins so as not to weigh down the display performance of
the VMA.
WARNING ! Given the extremely large number of formations listed in thisdatabase that the software must display, it is advisable to use it only with zoom
levels corresponding to levels L4 to L6. The display of all the formations may
take some time depending on the configuration of your computer. We also
recommend checking the "Short label" box in the "Configuration / Display"menu so as not to clutter the map too much with labels.

- HISTORICAL SITES : Historical sites on both sides: The sites of all voluntary or
accidental impacts of human origin compiled specially for VMA by Christian Legrand(ex: Apollo 15 Base, Ranger 7, Luna 9, Apollo 17 S-IVB, Chang'é, Chandrayann 2 ...)
(59 entries)- PYROCLASTICS FORMATIONS : The list of pyroclastic deposits compiled by Lisa
Gaddis and her team (80 entries)- DOMES: A list of lunar volcanic domes compiled by the members of the ALPO
association (700 entries)- NELIOTA: The list of contemporary meteoritic impacts on the lunar surface listed by
the Athens National Observatory as part of the NELIOTA (Near Earth objects Lunar
Impacts and Optical TrAnsients) program piloted by the European Space Agency(ESA). Periodically updated.

- SINUOUS RILLES : A list of lunar winding volcanic rilles compiled by Debra Hurwitz
Needham who gave us permission to incorporate it into the AVL. Thank her! Specificinformation from this original database has been introduced in the description
paragraphs.

- IMP: A list of "Irregular Mare Patches" listed by Le Qiao in 2019 which gave us
permission to incorporate it into the AVL. Thank him! IMPs are formations probably ofrecent volcanic origin (10 million years) with a very special geological facies and ofsmall size. Only the largest of them (Ina, Sosignenes, Hyginus...) are perceptible inamateur instruments. Specific information from this original database has been
introduced in the description paragraphs.

- LUNAR PITS : A list of "Lunar Pits" put online by Mark robinson and the LROC
team listing the lunar cavities giving access to lava tubes. Thanks to them! These
cavities are sought because they could house hypothetical exploration bases This
database is associated with the library of “Lunar Pits” images which show what thesewells, inaccessible to observation, look like given their small size (a few tens ofmeters).

- IMPACT BASINS: A first list of the great impact basins which later gave rise to thelunar seas. A first list was compiled by Charles Wood in 2004. Since then, other lists
have been produced, including those of the GRAIL probe team (Maria Zuber et al.)and especially that of Charles Byrne in 2016. In order to agglomerate the maximumof information concerning these essential formations, we gathered these two bases in
the AVL base. Given that a number of impact basins remain putative, thisarrangement maximizes research possibilities. It is recommended to use thisdatabase with the functionality of tracing the contours of formations or with thescientific layer "Impact basins" in order to clearly visualize their respective extents.

Specific information from the original bases has been introduced in the description
paragraphs.

For each formation, available information is :- the formation name origin.
- the main lunar atlases for amateur astronomers page where to find the formation.
- the formation location on the lunar disc.
- the formation description.
- various useful information for serious observing.
- official 2020 IAU datas about this formation- datas from the Lunar Impact Craters Database
Given the mixed sources of the various databases, certain information may not be
available in a given database.
Warning : In such detailed work, the data will certainly contain some mistakes- mainly input mistakes. You can also report them to Christian Legrand so that hecan correct the database.
The authors thank you in advance for your cooperation. They will be corrected assoon as possible.
Informations of the VMA databases are copyrighted "(c) Christian Legrand"
and can't be used outside of the software. For any other use, please contact
the author.

DATABASE DETAILED INFORMATIONPRESENTATION
You can find more detailed informations about the databases in the DATLUN (c)user's manual, the database manager of VMA.

OFFICIAL NAME :This field presents the formation main name in Latin used officially by theInternational Astronomical Union in capital letters.
In the "Historical sites" database, it's the name of the mission (eg : Apollo 15 Base,
Ranger 7, Luna 9, Apollo 17 S IV B...)For anonymous craters, the "name" begins with the 3 letters AVL and uses after the
reduced LUN (c) defined below. For domes and pyroclastics deposits, it's the namein the original database.

LOCAL NAME :The main name of the formation translated into the language of the program when it
exists (Example: Platon / French name for Plato / Official UAI name)

LUNAR UNIVERSAL NUMBER / L.U.N. © :In order to be able to recognize formations that do not yet have an official name andto standardize the names used in the new databases, Christian Legrand has
developed the "Lunar Universal number" (LUN) allowing to know the nature and theposition training just by reading it.
Here are the LUN description :The LUN is composed by the assembling of the following characters chain :XX : 2 letters corresponding tothe “Descriptor term” of IAU. These 2 letters are
officially used by IAU. Attention, they are less numerous than the original VMA
formations types, so several VMA types can have the same “descriptor term”.
Here is the official list of IAU Descriptor Terms (Some of them are not used on theMoon presently) :Albedo Feature (AL)
Arcus, arcūs (AR)Astrum, astra (AS)Catena, catenae (CA)Cavus, cavi (CB)
Chaos, chaoses (CH)
Chasma, chasmata(CM)
Collis, colles (CO)Corona, coronae (CR)
Crater, craters (AA)Dorsum, dorsa (DO)
Eruptive center (ER)
Facula, faculae (FA)Farrum, farra (FR)
Flexus, flexūs (FE)
Fluctus, fluctūs (FL)
Flumen, flumina (FM)Fossa, fossae (FO)Insula, insulae (IN)

Geographic area distinguished by amount of reflected lightArc-shaped feature
Radial-patterned features on Venus
Chain of craters
Hollows, irregular steep-sided depressions usually in arrays orclusters
Distinctive area of broken terrain
A deep, elongated, steep-sided depression
Small hills or knobs
Ovoid-shaped feature
A circular depression
Ridge
Active volcanic centers on Io
Bright spot
Pancake-like structure, or a row of such structures
A very low curvilinear ridge with a scalloped pattern
Flow terrain
Channel on Titan that might carry liquid
Long, narrow depression
Island (islands), an isolated land area (or group of such areas)surrounded by, or nearly surrounded by, a liquid area (sea orlake).

Labes, labēs (LA)Labyrinthus, labyrinthi(LB)

Landslide
Complex of intersecting valleys or ridges.

Irregularly shaped depression on Titan having the appearanceof a dry lake bed"Lake" or small plain; on Titan, a "lake" or small, dark plain with
Lacus, lacūs (LC)discrete, sharp boundaries
Landing site name (LF) Lunar features at or near Apollo landing sites
Large ringed feature
Cryptic ringed features(LG)
Lenticula, lenticulae (LE) Small dark spots on Europa
Linea, lineae (LI)
A dark or bright elongate marking, may be curved or straight
Extension of plateau having rounded lobate or tongue-like
Lingula, lingulae (LN)boundaries
Macula, maculae (MA) Dark spot, may be irregular"Sea"; large circular plain; on Titan, large expanses of darkMare, maria (ME)materials thought to be liquid hydrocarbons
Mensa, mensae (MN)
A flat-topped prominence with cliff-like edges
Mons, montes (MO)Mountain
Oceanus, oceani (OC) A very large dark area on the moon
Palus, paludes (PA)"Swamp"; small plain
Patera, paterae (PE)An irregular crater, or a complex one with scalloped edges
Planitia, planitiae (PL)Low plain
Planum, plana (PM)Plateau or high plain
Plume, plumes (PU)
Cryo-volcanic features on Triton
Promontorium,"Cape"; headland promontoria
promontoria (PR)A large area marked by reflectivity or color distinctions from
Regio, regiones (RE)adjacent areas, or a broad geographic region
Reticulum, reticula (RT) reticular (netlike) pattern on Venus
Rima, rimae (RI)
FissureRupes, rupēs (RU)Scarp
A feature that shares the name of an associated feature. For
Satellite Feature (SF)example, on the Moon the craters referred to as "Lettered
Craters" are classified in the gazetteer as "Satellite Features."Scopulus, scopuli (SC) Lobate or irregular scarp
Sinuous feature with segments of positive and negative relief
Serpens, serpentes (SE)along its length
Sinus, sinūs (SI)"Bay"; small plain
Sulcus, sulci (SU)Subparallel furrows and ridges
Terra, terrae (TA)Extensive land mass
Tessera, tesserae (TE) Tile-like, polygonal terrain
Tholus, tholi (TH)
Small domical mountain or hill
Unda, undae (UN)
Dunes
Vallis, valles (VA)
ValleyVastitas, vastitates (VS) Extensive plain
Virga, virgae (VI)A streak or stripe of color
Lacuna, lacunae (LU)YYYYYN or YYYYYS for the digital value of latitude in 1/1000 ° deg. N and S
indicate North or South and are used to deparate latitude and longitude to clarify thecharacters chain. The last 3 digits on the right are those of the 1/1000 ° deg and arealways present, even if they are zeros. The first 2 left digits are absent if the latitude
is 00 °.

ZZZZZZ for the digital value of longitude in 1/1000 ° deg. The last 3 digits on theright are those of the 1/1000 ° deg and are always present, even if they are zeros.
The first 3 left digits are absent if the longitude is 000 °.
Here are two examples of LUN (AAYYYYYNZZZZZZ) :- AA2741S114220 : Crater located at 02,741° South and 114,220° East
- RI85000N000 : Rill which middle is situated about at 85,00° North et 0,00° East.
With all thes features, the LUN is always the shorter possible and it's always easily"readable". and this structure garantees always a lone LUN for each formation.

>>>> With the L.U.N. , you can find each lunar formation and thisallows you to share observations of this formation with others
colleages without any error
LUNAR UNIVERSAL NUMBER / L.U.N. REDUCED © :It exists a "Reduced LUN" which is the LUN with the « descriptor term »NAME TYPE :This field contains the category of the type of formation among:- Named formation- Satellite training- Registered formation- Anonymous formation (not named)

FORMATION TYPE :This field contains formation type according with tradition or International
Astronomical Union, plus some specific additions :- Cape- Cliff- Crater- Craterlet- Crater chain- Dome- Gulf- Lake- Marsh- Mountain- Mountains range- Plain- Probe- Rille- Rilles system- Sea- Tray- Valley- Walled plain- Wrinkle ridge- Wrinkle ridges system
The "Historical site" database contains specific types given that these sites are notofficially listed by the International Astronomical Union :- Human mission / soft landing- Inert equipment / voluntary impact- Inert equipment / unvoluntary impact- Probe / voluntary impact- Probe / unvoluntary impact- Probe / soft landing
TYPE OF UAI:
This field contains the abstract of the type of formation in accordance with thedefinitions of the International Astronomical Union (Cf "Descriptor term" of the LUN)
or traditional plus some specific adaptations:- TH (Tholus) was chosen to characterize the volcanic domes.
- Pyroclastic deposits have no type of UAI formations that can be applied directly.
They have been assigned the added type PD (Pyroclastic deposit).
- "Historical" sites have no type of UAI formation that can be applied directly. They
have been assigned the added type HS (Historical Site).
SUB-TYPE:This field contains categories of types specific to each type of formation (Example:
Craterlet / Crater / Plain walled for craters). This field has not yet been fully
documented in version 7.
FORMATION PROCESS:
This field contains information on the geological process at the origin of the formation(Example: Meteoritic impact / Extrusive volcanism / Tectonic extension ...)FORMATION PERIOD :This field contains information on the lunar geological period which saw theappearance of the formation concerned. This information is for the most part from the"Improved lunar craters database" produced by Charles Byrne, Don E. Wilhelms(USGS) and their team which allow the re-use of this data (Thanks to them).
The 6 periods generally accepted in current literature are:

The Pre-Nectarian: (-4550 MA to -3920 MA)
The Nectarian: (-3920 MA to -3850 MA)
Lower Imbrian: (-3850 MA to -3800 MA)
Upper Imbrian: (-3800 MA to-3200 MA)
The Eratosthenian: (-3200 MA to-1100 MA)
The Copernician: (-1100 MA to the present day)
MA = Millions of years
For some formations, it was not possible to find information concerning theimplementation period.
"Formation period not found" is then indicated.
For the "Historical sites" database, the mission launch date is indicated in this field.
SOURCE OF THE FORMATION PERIOD :This field contains information on the source which cites the probable lunar
geological period which saw the appearance of the formation considered. This
information is for the most part from the "Improved lunar craters database" producedby Charles Byrne, Don E. Wilhelms (USGS) and their team which allow the reuse ofthis data.
GEOLOGY :This field contains interesting geological information on the formation concernedfound in various sources.
SIZE :
The following four fields contain data relating to the dimensions of the formations.
These vary from source to source. We can therefore find values different from thoseof other works. Priority was given to data from the International Astronomical Union,
then to data from other sources when they seemed plausible. Finally, certain
dimensions were directly measured on maps or atlases when they could not be foundin the literature. In the "Historic sites" database, these fields are empty.
Dimensions:This field gives the length in kilometers of the formation and the width. In the case of
crater-like formations, the length is in most cases equal to the width since it is in fact
the average diameter of the formation.
This field has been revised with the values from the "Improved lunar craters
database" produced by Charles Byrne, Don E. Wilhelms (USGS) and their teamwhich allow the reuse of this data. Many thanks to them!

Height :You find here relative altitudes, not absolute ones referring to the mean lunar sphere.
It gives the formation height when it's known.
For craters, it's the difference between the upper part of the internal slopes and thefloor.
For other formations, it's the difference between the formation summit andsurrounding land.

For mountains and mountain ranges, it's a mean height and higher summits height isgenerally detailed in description fields.
For rilles and scarps, it's the difference between surrounding lands and the formation
lower floor.
The field has been revised with the values from the "Improved lunar craters
database" produced by Charles Byrne, Don E. Wilhelms (USGS) and their team.

Ratio :
This data is only indicated for formations whose height is known. It's very often given
for craters where it means the diameter / height ratio.

DESCRIPTION :This field is divided in four sections for the formation detailed description. But thisdivision is not really visible when consulting theformation form on screen or printing it.
Cardinal points are reference to indicate where the different details are
situated according to formation center. For a crater, reference point is the area
center.
If observed with naked eye, on the Moon, North is up, South is down, West is left andEast is right.
North
North-West___________________North-East
FormationcenterSouth-West_____________________South-EastSouthFor example, a craterlet located on a crater wall down left will be described as "Walls
ridden by a craterlet at South-West".
Craters are the most numerous formations. Their description is well divided in fourparts.
General description
First, information about shape, location and preservation of the formation.
External slopes description

Then, the external "slopes" are described. Generally, the comments are about their
inclination. If radial valleys are present, slopes are described as "tormented". Thispart also indicates craters and craterlets situated on external slopes.
Internal walls description
The "walls" which are described are the internal ones. They link the upper rim of theslopes to the crater floor. The walls are described as "little high when the altitudedifference is less than 2,000 m, "pretty high" between 2,000 and 3,000 m, "high"between 3,000 and 4,000 m and "very high" if more than 4,000 m. The indicatedinformation is that which seem the most believable according to important variations
in different bibliographical sources. This part also indicates craters and craterlets
situated on internal slopes.

Crater floor
The crater "floor" is described as "flat" if no hills can be found to "tormented" if
it's very irregular. The non circular shape is mentioned. If lava seems to have flooded
the crater floor, it has been indicated. This part also indicates craters and craterlets
situated on the floor.
Historical sites
In the "Historical sites" database, specific descriptions includes :- Launch date and hour
- Astronauts names for a human mission- Probe or spaceship description- Mission main phases dates and hours- Scientific results

ELGER DESCRIPTIONThis field contains the description of the formation as it has been published byThomas Gwynn Elger in his book "THE MOON, A FULL DESCRIPTION AND MAP
OF ITS PRINCIPAL PHYSICAL FEATURES" released in 1895. All formations aren't
described in this book. This description contains often interesting observational
details.

OBSERVATIONInterest :This field will help you to determine which formations to observe. It gives you
information on the formation interest. It has been defined by the authors according totheir own experience. Sure, you can disagree with them.
Formations are indicated as :- Low interest formation- Pretty interesting formation- Very interesting formation- Exceptionally interesting formation

Lunar month day for evening observation :This expression means "Day of lunar month permitting an evening observation of theformation". It has been observed that Eastern limb formations can only be wellobserved 2 days after New Moon.
The indicated day is the one for a null libration. It has been computed from formation
longitude. According of the real libration value, it can be shifted by one day more or
less.

Lunar month day for morning observation :This expression means "Day of lunar month permitting an morning observation of theformation". It has been observed that Western limb formations can only be wellobserved 2 days before New Moon.
The indicated day is the one for a null libration. It has been computed from formation
longitude. According of the real libration value, it can be shifted by one day more or
less.

Useful instrument :This field presents the smallest instrument needed to comfortably observe theformation. It has been computed from the formation width and from practicalresolution power (PRP) of the instruments defined as the double of TRP. It is
supposed to be obtained when using a magnification equal to instrument diameter incentimeters.
This data is provided for a Moon mean distance of 202,000 miles. An arc second isthen about 1 mile on the Moon.
This data depends on other external criteria such as instrument quality, observer's
eye health, seeing...).
- Naked eye (PRP = 10O miles)- x10 binoculars (PRP = 20 miles)- 2" refractor (PRP = 5 miles)- 4" reflector (PRP = 2.5 miles)- 6" reflector (PRP = 1.6 miles)- 8" reflector (PRP = 1.2 miles)- 10" reflector (PRP = 1 mile)- 12" reflector (PRP = 0.8 mile)

POSITION :Longitude :You can find here the selenographic longitude of the formation with a tenth of degree
precision or more. This data is provided by International Astronomical Union.
Longitude is negative to the West of central meridian. About craters, it's the center
longitude. For lengthened or irregular formations, it's an internal point the closest
to central.

Latitude :You can find here the selenographic latitude of the formation with a tenth of degree
precision or more. This data is provided by International Astronomical Union. Latitude
is negative to the South of lunar Equator. About craters, it's the center longitude. For
lengthened or irregular formations, it's an internal point the closest to central.

Quadrant :Information has been included to make easier the location of the formation on the
lunar disk. The location system is that of the International Astronomical Union since1988. When you look at the lunar disk with the naked eye, the North is up and theEast is right.
This first field indicates the lunar quadrant where is situated the formation according
to the "Lunar Quadrant Charts" by Arthur and Agnieray published by the University of
Arizona :- North-East- South-East- North-West- South-East

Area :
This field indicates clearly the lunar region where can be found the formationaccording to a more known one (sea, mountain or large crater) or according to theposition on the edge of the lunar disk (limb) or according to the center of the lunar
disk.

ATLAS :
This field contains pages, maps or picture of the main paper atlases presently
available on which the selected formation is indicated.

Rükl :
In honor to its author for his contribution to Astronomy popularization, we havementioned the map number of the "Atlas of the Moon" by Antonin Rükl on which isfound the formation.

Viscardy :Also in honor to its author for his contribution to Astronomy popularization, we havealso mentioned the page number of the "Photographic Atlas of the Moon" by
Georges Viscardy on which the formation is found with a text on it, or on which aphotograph shows the place where is situated the formation.
For this last work, when the formation does not figure on at least one photograph,
there is no page indicated. Similarly, if the formation appears on, at least, aphotograph, but is not described in the text, it is the page of the best photographwhere it is normally visible that is indicated.

Westfall :In honor to its author for his unique work, we have mentioned the maps numbers ofthe "Atlas of the Lunar Terminator" from Professor John E. Westfall on which theformation is found, because it's the only one that shows all librations variations.

Wood :We mentioned Charles Wood's articles on numerous formations edited in Sky andTelescope and the number of his "Lunar 100 list", with his courtesy.

LOPAM :

Adding to downloadable picture of the LOPAM, we have indicated numbers of "Lunar
Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon" pages on which you can find the selected
formation. Just click on this link and go to the Internet site of Jeff Gillis of Lunar andPlanetary Institute and you will admire the entire picture from which was extracted
the picture.
Nevertheless, if you are not permanently connected to the Internet, anotherpossibility is offered.

CLEMENTINE :We have mentioned the pages of the atlas established from the images of theAmerican probe CLEMENTINE and written by the late Paul Spudis & Ben Bussey
and published in 2004 by Cambridge University Press, pages on which the selected
formation appears

CENTURY 21ST :We have mentioned the pages of the atlas "21ST CENTURY ATLAS OF THE
MOON" established by Charles Wood & Maurice Collins from images of the LRO
probe and published by the two authors in 2005, pages on which the selected
formation appears.

HATFIELD :In honor to its author for his contribution to Astronomy popularization, we havementioned the map number of the "Hatfield Atlas of the Moon" republished byJeremy Cook on which the formation is found.

REISE :We have mentioned the pages of the "REISE ATLAS MOND" atlas written by Ronald
Stoyan & Hans-Georg Purucker and published in 2012 by Oculum, pages on which
the selected formation appears.

CHANGE1 :We have mentioned the pages of the atlas established from the images of theChinese probe CHANG'E 1 and written by Chunlai Li & al. and published in 2016 bySpringer Verlag, pages on which the selected formation appears

DISCOVER_MOON :We have mentioned the pages of the observation guide "DISCOVER THE MOON"
written by Christian Legrand and Jean Lacroux, and published in 1995 by Bordas
then Larousse, pages on which the selected formation appears.

TIMES_ATLAS :We mentioned the pages of the atlas "THE TIMES ATLAS OF THE MOON"
published in by Times Life in 1969, pages on which appears the selected formation.

KAGUYA :We have mentioned the pages of the atlas "THE KAGUYA LUNAR ATLAS"
established from the pictures of the Japanese probe SELENE / KAGUYA and written
by Charles Wood & Motomaro Shirao., and published in 2011 by Springer Verlag,
pages on which appears the selected formation.

BYRNE_NEAR :We have mentioned the pages of the atlas "LUNAR ORBITER PHOTOGRAPHICATLAS OF THE NEAR SIDE OF THE MOON" established from the images of theAmerican LUNAR ORBITER probes written by Charles Byrne, and published in 2005by Springer Verlag, pages on which appears the selected training

BYRNE_FAR :We have mentioned the pages of the atlas "LUNAR ORBITER PHOTOGRAPHICATLAS OF THE FAR SIDE OF THE MOON" established from the images of theAmerican LUNAR ORBITER probes written by Charles Byrne, and published in 2008by Springer Verlag, pages on which appears the selected formation.

SIX_INCH :We have mentioned the pages of the "SIX INCHES LUNAR ATLAS" written by Don
Spain in 2009 and published by Springer on which the selected formation appears.

DASE :We have mentioned the pages of the "FREE LUNAR FIELD ATLAS" written andpublished by Fred Dase on which the selected formation appears.

PAU :We have mentioned the pages of the Atlas "PHOTOGRAPHIC LUNAR ATLAS FOR
MOON OBSERVERS" written by K. C. Pau and published in 2016 on which theselected formation appears.

LUNA COGNITA :We have mentioned the pages of the three volumes of the remarkable work "LUNACOGNITA" by Robert Garfinkle and published in 2020 by Springer on which theselected formation appears.

LAC :We have mentioned the numbers of the "Lunar Astronautical Charts" published in1967 by NASA's "Aeronautical Chart and Information Center" on which the selected
formation appears.

NAME ORIGIN :Real name :This field presents the real name of the person whose name has been given to theformation. When it also exists, a nickname is indicated between parentheses.
For other formations than craters, the official name is first translated in English, andthen you can find the real name of the person whose name has been given to theformation.

Works :
This field indicates, for craters, the activities of the person whosename has been given to the formation.
Here is the list of the"works" you can find in the database:- Agronomist- Alchemist- Admiral- Anthropologist- Archaeologist- Archbishop- Architect- Artist- Astronaut- Astronomer- Astrophysicist- Aviator- Banker- Biologist- Botanist- Calif- Cartographer- Chemist- Clockwork- Consul- Cosmographer- Egyptologist- Engineer- Engraver- Explorer- Geodesist- Geographer- Geologist- Geometer- Geophysicist- God- Hero- Historian- Humanistic- Hydrographer- Inventor- Jurist- King- Manufacturer- Mathematician- Meteorologist- Mineralogist- Missionary- Mythological fame- Naturalist- Navigator- Oceanographer- Optician- Paleontologist- Pharmacist- Philologist- Philosopher- Physicist- Physiologist- Poet- Political man- Priest- Printer- Professor- Scientist- Sailor- Saint- Sismologist- Sponsor- Stateman- Technician- Theologian- Writer- Zoologist
Please note that some people have been credited with 2 or 3 works.

Nation :This field indicates the nationality generally attributed to the person whose name has
been given to the formation. It can be the birth nationality. You can also findnationalities no longer in existence.
Here is the list of nationalities present in the database:- American- Arabian- Australian- Austrian- Babylonian- Belgian- British- Byzantine- Brazilian- Canadian- Carthaginian- Castillan- Chinese- Cretian- Dalmatian- Danish- Dutch- Egyptian- English- Finnish- French- Greek- German- Hungarian- Indian- Irish- Italian- Japanese- Jewish- Macedonian- Mexican- Norwegian- Persian- Polish- Portuguese- Roman- Russian- Scottish- Soviet- South African- Spanish- Swedish- Swiss- Czech- Venetian

Birth place :This field indicates the birth place of the person whose name has been given to theformation when it has been possible to find it. If not found, it is indicated " ? ". Please
note that for imaginary persons, there is no birth place.

Birth year :This field indicates the birth year of the person whose name has been given to theformation if it has been possible to find it. If not found, it is indicated " ? ". Please notethat for imaginary persons, there is no birth year.

Death place :This field indicates the place of death for the person whose name has been given to
the formation when it has been possible to find it. If not found, it is indicated " ? ".
Please note that for imaginary persons, there is no place of death.

Death year :This field indicates the year of death for the person whose name has been given to
the formation if it has been possible to find it. If not found, it is indicated " ? ". Please
note that for imaginary persons, there is no year of death.

Prominent facts :This field describes prominent facts during the life of the person whose name has
been given to the formation if it has been possible to find it. If not found, it has been
indicated " ?? " .
This information is adapted from information given by the International Astronomical
Union, and additional data coming from various bibliographical sources.
Generally, you can find the discoveries, inventions and important works attributed tothe person, as well as distinctions obtained during life (nominations, price. ..) withassociated dates when they have been found.

Name author :This field indicates, when it's known or supposed, the organization or person namethat has given the name to the formation. Also included in this chapter is the year of
nomination when it has been found. In this paragraph, IAU means" International
Astronomical Union ". You can find mainly 3 origins:- Hevelius- Riccioli- IAU
When the origin has not been found, the field contains (??). Additionally, someuncertain origins end with "?".
These name origins are purely indicative and are not to be held as rigorously exact
because of numerous additions made during all periods to the lunar nomenclature.

In the "Historical sites" base, it's the country and the agency which conceived themission that are indicated.

Name given by Langrenus:
This field indicates the name given by Michel Florent Van Langren on his Moon map
in 1644. When the formation has not received a name, "Not named" is indicated.

Name given by Hevelius :This field indicates the name given by Johannes Hevelius on his Moon map in 1647.
When the formation has not received a name, "Not named" is indicated.

Name given by Riccioli :This field indicates the name given by Riccioli on the Moon map drawn in 1651 by
Francesco Grimaldi. When the formation has not received a name, "Not named" isindicated.

INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION DATASThese fields mention the official data of the lunar nomenclature of theInternational Astronomical Union published in 2012. They are the only ones torefer to.

IAU Feature Name :Official name given by IAU to the formation with all the additives on letters (Accents,
tilde, etc...) as they have been given to the honored character.

IAU Clean Feature Name
It's official IAU name above without all the additives on letters (Accents, tilde, etc...)so that they can be managed internationally by computers.

IAU Diameter
Approximate diameter or biggest dimension in kilometers.

IAU Center Latitude
Latitude of the center of the formation. Positive numbers indicates that the formation
is localized in northern hemisphere and negative numbers indicate that the formation
is localized in the southern hemisphere.

IAU Center Longitude
Longitude of the center of the formation. On the Moon, positive numbers indicateslongitudes towards East and negative numbers indicate longitudes towards West.

IAU Northern Latitude

Latitude the most on North of the formation. Positive numbers indicates that theformation is localized in northern hemisphere and negative numbers indicate that theformation is localized in the southern hemisphere.

IAU Southern Latitude
Latitude the most on South of the formation. Positive numbers indicates that theformation is localized in northern hemisphere and negative numbers indicate that theformation is localized in the southern hemisphere.

IAU Eastern Longitude
Longitude the most on the East of the formation. On the Moon, positive numbers
indicates longitudes towards East and negative numbers indicate longitudes towards
West.

IAU Western Longitude
IAU Western Longitude
Longitude the most on the West of the formation. On the Moon, positive numbers
indicates longitudes towards East and negative numbers indicate longitudes towards
West.

IAU Coordinates System
Coordinates system used for latitudes and longitudes. For the Moon, it'splanetographic with east longitudes as positive and counted from 0 to -180° and from0 to 180° from the meridian 0. It's ULCN 2005(Unified lunar coordinates network de2005). Mean lunar sphere is considered withe a radius of 1737,4 km

IAU ContinentContinent or great geographic divisin associated to the name.
Africa (AF)
Antarctica (AN)Asia (AS)Europe (EU)North America (NA)
Oceania (OC)South and Central America (SA)IAU Ethnicity
Ethnic or cultural or nationalty associated to the name.
AFRICA
Algeria
AngolaBantu
Benin
Botswana

AL
AN
BA
BE
BT

Burkina Faso (Upper Volta) BF
BurundiBR
Bushman
BU
Bushongo
BH
CameroonCR
Canary Is.
CI
Dahomean
DH
Egypt
EG
Ethiopia
ET
Gabon
GB
GambiaGA
Ghana
GHGold CoastGC
GuineaGU
Hottentot
HO
Ivory Coast
IC
Kenya
KY
LesothoLE
LiberiaLI
Libya
LB
Madagascar
MD
Malawi
MW
Mali
ML
Mande
MN
Mauritania
MU
MauritiusMA
MbunduMB
Mende
ME
MoroccoMR
Mozambique
MZ
NamibiaNM
Niger
NG
NigeriaNI
Pygmy
PY
Republic of Chad
CH
Republic of Seychelles
SY
RwandaRW
Semitic
SE
SenegalSN
Sierra Leone
SL
SomaliaSO
South Africa
SA
Sudan
SU
Swaziland
SW
Tanzania
TA
Togo
TO
TunisiaTNUgandaUnknown
Yao
Zaire
ZambiaZimbabwe
Zulu
ASIA
Afghanistan
AF
Akkadian (Accadian) AK
Altai
AL
ArabianAR
ArmenianAM
Assyrian
AY
Assyro-Babylonian AB
Azerbaijan
AZ
BabylonBY
BangladeshBA
Bhutan
BH
BuriatBR
Burma
BU
Cambodia
CM
China
CH
ChukchiCU
ElamiteEL
EvenkiEV
Georgia
GE
Hebrew
HE
Hindu
HI
India
IN
Indonesia
ID
Iran
IR
Iraq
IQ
IsraelIS
Itelmen
IT
Japan
JA
JewishJW
JordanJO
Kashmir
KA
Kazakhstan
KZ
Ket
KT
Korea
KR
KuwaitKU
Kyrgyzstan
KY
Laos
LA
Lebanon
LE

UG
-YA
ZA
ZM
ZI
ZU

Malaysia
Mansi
Mesopotamian
Minyong
Mongolia
Monguor
Nanai
Neghidhian
Nepal
NganasanOman
OstyakPakistan
PersianPhilippines
Phoenician
Sanskrit
Saudi Arabia
Scythian
Semitic
Siberia
Sri Lanka
Sumerian
Syria
TaiwanTajik
Thailand
Tibet
Tungu
TurkeyTurkmenistan
Tuva
Ulci
Unknown
UrartuUzbekistan
Vietnam
Yakutian
Yemen

MA
MS
ME
MY
MO
MG
NA
NG
NE
NS
OM
OS
PK
PE
PH
PO
SA
SB
SC
SE
SI
SR
SU
SY
TW
TJ
TH
TB
TN
TU
TK
TV
UL
-UR
UZ
VT
YK
YE

EUROPA
Albania
AndorraAustria
Bashkir
BelarusBelgium

AL
AN
AS
BS
BL
BE

Bosnia-Herzegovina BH
Bulgaria
BU
Byzantine
BZ
CaucasusCC
CelticCE
ChuvashCH
Croatia
CR
CyprusCY
Czechoslovakia
CZ
DenmarkDE
EnglandEN
Eskimo (Greenland) EK
EstoniaES
FinlandFI
FlemishFL
FranceFR
Germany
GE
Great Britain
GB
Greek
GR
Greenland
GL
Gypsy
GY
Hungary
HU
IcelandIC
IrelandIR
Italy
IT
KalmykKL
Karelia
KA
Komi
KO
Lapp
LP
Latin
LA
Latvia
LV
Liechtenstein
LE
Lithuania
LI
Luxembourg
LU
Macedonian
MA
Malta
ML
Mari
MR
Moldova
MD
Mordvinian
MO
Netherlands (Dutch) DU
NorseNSNorwayNO
Oscan
OS
Ostrogoth
OG
PolandPO
Portugal
PG
Roman
RM

Romania (Rumania) RO
RussiaRU
Scandinavian
SD
ScotlandSC
Scythia
SY
SlavicSL
Slovakia
SV
Slovenia
SI
SovietSO
Spain
SP
SwedenSW
Switzerland
SZ
TartarTT
Teutonic
TU
UdmurtianUD
UkraineUK
Unknown-WalesWA
Yugoslavia
YU
NORTH AMERICA
Aleutian
Algonquin
AmericanArikaraBlackfootCanadaCherokeeCheyenne
Chickasaw
Chinook
Choktaw
ChumashCreek
DakotaDominica
EskimoHopi
Iroquois
KlamathLakotaMandanMexicoNavajoOsage
PawneePequot

AU
AL
AM
AR
BL
CA
CE
CY
CH
CI
CO
CU
CR
DA
DO
ES
HO
IR
KL
LA
MA
ME
NV
OS
PW
PE

Potawatomi PO
PuebloPU
SalishSA
SenecaSE
Shoshoni
SH
Sioux
SX
Tlingit
TL
United States US
Unknown-Zuni
ZU
OCEANIA
Australia
AU
Caroline Is.
CI
Cook Islands
CO
Fiji
FJ
Guam
GM
Hawaii
HA
Marquesas Islands MA
Marshall Is.
MI
Melanesia
ME
Micronesia
MC
Nauru
NA
New Britain
NB
New Guinea
GU
New Zealand
NZ
Papua New Guinea PN
Polynesia
PO
Republic of Palau PA
Samoa
SA
Society Is.
SI
Toamotu
TU
Tonga
TO
Unknown-Vanuatu
VA
CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA
Argentina
AR
Auracanian
AC
Aztec
AZ
BarbadosBB
BoliviaBO
BororoRR
BrazilBR
Chile
CH
Chimalateco
CI
Colombia
COCosta Rica
CR
Cuba
CU
Dominican RepublicDR
EcuadorEC
El Salvador
ES
Falkland Islands
FI
French Guiana
FG
GrenadaGR
GuatemalaGU
GuyanaGY
Haiti
HA
HondurasHO
Inca
IN
JamaicaJM
Mayan
MY
NahuatlNA
Netherland (Dutch) Antilles DA
NicaraguaNI
PanamaPM
Paraguay
PA
Peru
PE
Puerto Rico
PR
SurinameSU
Unknown-UruguayUR
Venezuela
VE
Virgin Islands
VI

IAU Feature TypeIAU descriptor term ein greek or latin (cf Lunar Universal Number above)

IAU Feature Type Code
Code in two letters of the IAU descriptor term (cf Lunar Universal Number above)

IAU Quad Name
Specific quadrant where is localized the formation center.

IAU Quad CodeTwo letters code of the specific quadrant where the formation center is localized.

IAU Approval Status

Approval level of the formation in 2011.
1 Proposed (not currently used)
2 Task Group approval (not currently used)
3 WGPSN approval (not currently used)
4 Executive Committee approval (not currently used)
5 Adopted by IAU
6 Dropped, no longer in use
7 Never approved by the IAU

IAU Approval date
Date when the name has been approved by IAU. Complete dates begin at half
september 2006 and are recorded as (YYYY-MM-DD).

IAU Reference
Reference book from where the origin and the orthograph of the name are given.

IAU Origin
Short explanation of the formation name.

IAU Link
Internet link towards the official IAU site formation page.

LUNAR IMPACT CRATERS DATABASE
The named craters (NAMED) and the lettered craters (SATELLITE) are linked to thefields of the "Lunar Impact Crater Database" of 2015 carried out by Charles Byrne,
Don E. Wilhelms (USGS) and their team. They appear in the "Information" tab after
the fields relating to data from the International Astronomical Union. When an LICD
field does not contain a value, it is shown empty.
Some of these fields come from previous studies which are indicated in the title(Pike / Kring / Moore / Horz / Cintala...)Other formations do not show these fields in the "Information" tabList of LICD fields (Unit of measurement is in parentheses):
1. Name2. Diameter (km)3. Latitude (°)

4. Longitude (°)
5. East Longitude (°)
6. Radius (km)7. Radius (m)8. Apparent diameter (km)9. Transient cavity diameter for single craters (km)10. Transient cavity diameter for complex craters (km)11. Bottom diameter (km)12. Measured depth from ledge to bottom (km)13. Depth from ledge to bottom (km)14. Apparent depth (km)15. Transient Cavity Depth (km)16. Interior volume (km3)
17. Rim height (km)18. Width of ledge flank (km)19. Measured height of central peak (km)20. Height of central peak (km)21. Diameter of central peak (km)22. Area of the base of the central peak (km2)
23. Maximum diameter of ejected blocks coef 2 (km)24. Maximum diameter of ejected blocks coef 1 (km)25. Thickness of ejecta at a distance equal to a radius (m)26. Thickness of ejecta at a distance equal to two radii (m)27. Thickness of ejecta at a distance equal to three radii (m)28. Thickness of ejecta at a distance equal to four radii (m)29. Thickness of ejecta at a distance equal to five radii (m)30. Ejecta thickness at a distance of 10,000 m outside the rim according to Kring (m)31. Ejecta thickness at a distance of 10,000 m outside the rim according to Pike 9(m)
32. Ejecta thickness at a distance of 10,000 m outside the rim according to Pike 10(m)
33. Ejecta thickness at a distance of 10,000 m outside the rim according to Pike 12(m)
34. radial distance of continuous ejecta according to Moore (km)35. Radial distance of continuous ejecta according to Horz (km)36. Radius of ejecta cover greater than 10 m thick from Pike 9 (km)37. Minimum radius of ejecta cover greater than 10 m thick according to Kring (km)38. Radius of ejecta cover >10 m thick according to Kring - Best estimate (km)39. Maximum radius of ejecta cover greater than 10 m thick according to Kring (km)40. Radar Shining Halo Radius (km)41. Measured radius of bright halo to radar (km)42. Radar dark halo radius (km)43. Measured radius from dark halo to radar (km)44. Depth of excavation according to Cintala (km)45. Depth of excavation according to Stoffler (km)46. Melting depth according to Cintala 22 (km)47. Melting depth according to Cintala 23 (km)48. Melting volume (km3)
49. Melting volume with impact at 45° for basalt (km3)
50. Melting volume with 45° impact for anorthosite (km3)
51. Age
52. Age class
53. Remarks
54. Source of Age55. Other sources of age
56. Pelvis age group
57. Citation for first mention or citation for nomenclature
58. Approval by the UAI
59. Central Peak Lithology
60. Central peak olivine content from Clementine data according to Cahill (% vol)61. Central peak orthopyroxene content from Clementine data according to Cahill (%vol)
62. Central peak clinopyroxene content from Clementine data according to Cahill (%vol)
63. Plagioclase content of the central peak according to Clementine data according
to Cahill (% vol) 64. Mafic compound content of the central peak according to
Clementine data according to Cahill (% vol)65. Modeled ratio orthopyroxene to central peak clinopyroxene from Clementine dataaccording to Cahill
66. Mean abundance of plagioclase according to Kaguya according to Lemelin (%weight)
67. Average olivine abundance according to Kaguya according to Lemelin (% weight)
68. Average orthopyroxene abundance according to Kaguya according to Lemelin (%weight)69. Mean abundance of clinopyroxene according to Kaguya according to Lemelin (%weight)70. Average FeO abundance from Kaguya according to Lemelin (% wt)
71. Central peak lithology after Clementine according to Tompkins & Pieters
72. Status
73. Average location of the Christiansen element [µm] according to LRO according toSong
74. Average value of the optical maturity parameter according to Clementine
according to Song
75. Average FeO content from Clementine according to Song (% wt)
6. Range of the optical maturity parameter according to Kaguya according to Othake
77. Class of the modal abundance estimate of plagioclase according to Kaguya
according to Ohtake
78. Geological province
79. Degradation of the central peak
80. Location of the spectroscopic detection of the purest anorthosite after
Chandrayann 1 according to Donaldson
81. Rays

THE "EPHEMERIS" tabWhen you click on the "Ephemeris" tab, the right frame window fills with Moon sky
and orbit position data: This position can be set entering some parameters. You canalso continuously manage time with the "tape recorder" buttons.

DATE AND TIME INPUT
Observation date and hour can be set with upper case, either clicking and entering
them directly or using the arrows. The "Compute" button displays the map with thechoosen date and hour.
The "Now" button can show directly the Moon aspect at the current time. Date andhour used are those of your operating system. Verify if it's on time. This setting isvery useful when using the software "in the field".
The "Compute" button display the Moon as it looks like to the date and hour selectedwith the previous paragraph.
The "O h" button shows you the Moon at 0 h on the date selected with the previous
paragraph.

"VIDEO RECORDER" BUTTONS"Video recorder" buttons are a powerful provision meant for real Moon aspectchanges. They are very useful when using Open gL 3D display with the "Phase" and"Lib ration" options activated.
">>" and "<<" buttons can increase or decrease date with a one day rate. ">" and "<"buttons increase or decrease hour with a one hour rate.
These buttons allow you to observe the phase and librations evolution during time.
They can be used to detect best observing periods of formations which are near orinside the librations zones.

"PHASES CALENDAR"

This is a tool to help you for preparing next observing sessions. This part of the frameshows you a Moon phases calendar. It contains the next four phases. But, with thewhite arrows, you can navigate in the list and retrieve old or future phases dates.

THE "EPHEMERIS" WINDOWThe right frame window contains the following information on Moon position :Moon right ascension
Moon declination
Distance :Apparent diameter:
Phase angle
Lunation day
Illumination percentage
Solar inclination
Latitude libration value
Longitude libration value
Maximum libration position on limb
Moon rise hour
Moon meridian transit hour
Moon set hour
Moon rise azimuth
Moon set azimuth
The following informations are not displayed if you check the box "Geocentric
coordinates" in the "General" tab of the "Configuration" menu.

Moon rise hour
Moon meridian transit hour
Moon set hour
Moon rise azimuth
Moon set azimuth

THE "TERMINATOR" TAB

This option can list in the right frame window, a list of formations visible along theterminator according to date selected in the "Ephemeris tab". And more, you can
extract and sort these formations using some choices.

"INTEREST" SCROLLING LIST
You can set with the scrolling list "Interest" a filter for limiting your choice. You canchoose between :- All the formations

- The pretty interesting formations- The very interesting formations- The exceptional formations (The best ones)"INSTRUMENT" SCROLLING LIST
A second filter can be set to limit the listed formations to those which are visible in agiven instrument (See "Useful instruments "). You can choose this one in the scrolling
list. "999" doesn't limit the list (No applied filter).

You can see that most of the formations can yet be observable in a 100 mm (4 ")instrument.

"SORT" BUTTONS

These selections choose the presentation mode of the extracted formations list
- NameClicking this point sorts formations by alphabetical order- Latitude
Clicking this point sorts formations by latitude from equator to North pole and then,from equator to South pole.
- Interest
Clicking this point sorts formations by interest.
- Instrument
Clicking this point sorts formations by instrument capability

THE "NOTES" TAB

It's in this tab that you can input all your notes written during an observation of theselected formation. Each formation has its "notes sheet" waiting your commentaries.
These are stored in a personal special dtabase.
The "Update" button is used to input the notes you have just written in the database.
These personal notes will be integrated into the notes database, which also includes
links to articles or websites related to the training in question.
The list of notes specific to the selected formation appears in the frame.
For more information on this database, we refer you to the use of the NOTELUN (c)module and its specific manual.
Don't forget to click it or your notes will be lost, but ther is a security window
before closing the "Notes" tab.

THE "TOOLS" TAB"Tools" tab in "Telescope" mode

"Normal mode / Distance measure" BUTTONThis button changes cursor action mode on the map. It's a toggle button. Its captionchanges to allow you to go back to the other mode.
"Normal mode"
When in normal mode, the cursor is like a round bull's eye and is used to selectformations.
"Distance measure"

When in this second mode, the cursor changes its shape and is used for measuring
distances between lunar formations or for measuring dimensions of a selected
formation.
Put the cursor on the beginning of the distance to measure. Click with the left buttonand hold it down. Move the mouse. A color line originating at the first point appears.
You just have to go to the end of the distance you want to measure by moving themouse. Once there, release the mouse button. The line stays visible.
Up in the "Tools" panel, a box indicates the length of the drawn line in km and in arc
minutes. Spherical shape of the Moon in included in the computing method. So, near
the lunar limb, two perpendiculars lines with the same apparent length will indicate
different dimensions.
"Profile plot"
In "Distance measurement" mode, the "Profile plot" button allows you to draw asection of the terrain along the line drawn, thus allowing you to view the variation in
altitudes in relation to the mean radius of the Moon equal to 1734 km.
By clicking on it, a “DEM Profile” window appears displaying the graph obtained. Thiswindow can be made full screen by clicking on the square icon at the top left of thecross [X].

Profile plot of Copernicus
The text at the top left gives the following indications:- Longitude & latitude of the starting and ending point of the line drawn- The Digital Elevation Model used (Range 16 to 128)
- The length of the drawn line
- The minimum and maximum altitudes encountered on the line drawn in meters
relative to the mean radius of the Moon
The horizontal abscissa of the graph shows the distance in km and the verticalordinate the altitude in m with respect to the mean radius of the Moon indicated by 0.

The scale of the graph can be modified by clicking on the upper buttons (x1…Max)
The 1x button shows the reality. The 5x button shows the profile magnified 5 times.
The Max button uses the window to the maximum by tangenting the top and bottom
edges.

1x

Copernicus profile at
5xMax

If you hover the mouse cursor, at the bottom of the graph are displayed the distancefrom the starting point of the line drawn and the altitude at the point of the graphflown over.

The "Save profile" button gives you the choice of saving an image of the graph in"png" format or the distance / altitude values associated with the graph in a file in"csv" format that can be used in a spreadsheet.

Image sauvegardée

Fichier CSV

MAP ROTATION
You can turn the map so that it matches what you are observing through theeyepiece of a Newtonian telescope.

When clicking the "East" or "West" button, you rotate the map display with a slightangle in the choosen direction.

"Mirror" BOX
When you select this box and the "North" box together, the Moon map will show you
what you will see in an instrument as a refractor or catadioptric reflector as
Cassegrain, Schmidt-Cassegrain or Maksutov telescope.

"Local zenith up" BOX
When you select the box "Local Zénith up", the Moon drawing will be that you canobserve in an instrument on an altazimutal mount. You will have to check also the"Mirror" box if your instrument is a refractor or a Schmidt-Cassegrain. If it's a
Newtonian, you will have also to turn the map, but without checking the "Mirror" box.

"Telescope" Frame
This frame allows you to setup your "Goto" mount.

If you own a such computerized mount which accepts the ASCOM protocol, theVirtual Atlas of the Moon will track it directly on the Moon.
First of all be sure that you have installed the good ASCOM drivers on yourcomputer. If not, go on the internet to the site to download them. Install them.
http://ascom-standards.org/
Connect your mount to your computer. Start your computer and the version of thesoftware.
First initialize tour telscope as usually, then use the pad or a planetarium software topoint the Moon.
Click on the "Show menu" button and launch the connection.
Begin centering a well known formation in the eyepiece fieeld and select it on themap. Push the "Sync selection" button for initializing telescope coordinates on thisposition.
It's also possible to make this operation on a star near the Moon with the planetarium
program.
After, check the box "Track position" so that the map displays always the telescopeposition.
If your telescope can do automatic pointing, you can now click on a formation on themap, or choose it with the "Search" function of the "Information" tab and then clickon the "Goto selected" button
If you check the "Correct the Moon motion" box, you can choose the period
correction with the choice box below.

"Orbit the Moon" Frame

This frame can simulate the view you should have from a spaceship orbiting aroundthe Moon.
Choose the automatic rotationspeed in the scrolling list.
"<" et ">" buttons allows you to choose the rotation direction.
" II " button stops the automatic rotation.
"East view", "Center" et "West view" buttons send you to the Moon Equator on the
East or West limb or on the center of the Moon disk.
Names display is only effective when rotation is stopped.
"Orbit altitude" can be choosen from 100 to 2000 km by moving the cursor.
"Orbit inclination" compared to the lunar equator can be choosen from 0° (on theequator) to 90° (Passing on the two poles). The negative side of the cursor gives
retrograde motion.

Above : Copernicus rise simulation

THE "SETTINGS" TAB

This tab will allow you to choose the special settings for the display.

"PENUMBRA" CURSOR
This cursor sets the transparence of the "night" part of the Moon globe when the box" when the "Show the phase" box in the "Display" tab of the "Configuration" menu
is activated. We think it's better to choose an intermediate setting to give an "Ashen
Light" appearance to the rest of the globe. Cursor at left gives a night part completely
black. But if you want to use VMA as an atlas, put the the cursor to right or uncheckthe "Show the phase" box in the "Display" tab of the "Configuration" menu

"DIFFUSE" CURSOR
This cursor sets the general quality of the map.

"DIRECT" CURSOR
This cursor manages the transition zone between light and shadow width. At left, it's
maximal but not too realist. Ce curseur sert à gérer la largeur de la zone de transition
entre la partie éclairé et la partie nocturne de la face visible. Complètement àgauche, cette largeur est minimale. A droite, la transition est maximale, mais peu
réaliste. Il vous est conseiller d'adopter un réglage intermédiaire.

"RESOLUTION" CURSOR

This cursor manages the 3D sphere when textures is applied precision. At left, it's nota sphere but a rough polyedra with visible flat faces.
Moving the cursor at right increases the faces number, but this needs a more
powerful computer.
An image number indicator (fps) shows you the performance of your configuration.
Don't go under 4 fps to keep a sufficiently speedy display when handling the map.
But, going to a better spherical resolution also slightly increases the formations place
precision on the map.

"OPEN GL INFO" BUTTONThis button displays a window giving informations on your graphic card. Use it toknow what options are available on your compuuter and to check if it workw well.

"OPTIONS VALID AT NEXT STARTUP" FRAME
As indicated , changing one of the following options will be taken account only at nextcomputer startup.
"Force texture compression" :Normally, this option must be checked to avoid display flickering. Removing it cannevertheless improve performances with some graphic cards types.
"Anti Alias" :Try this option to remove scale effects on map window. Beware, only some graphic
cards can handle this option.

THE SEARCH ZONE
THE "TYPING SEARCH ZONE"

Elle vous permet de chercher de nouvelles formations en y entrant leur nom ou deresélectionner une formation recherchée récemment. Vous pouvez entrer dans cetteliste des lettres figurant dans le nom d'une formation et employer des "jokers". Ainsi,"*tri*" inclura dans la liste déroulante "Triesnecker" et "Rimae Triesnecker"

THE "FIND" BUTTON
When you click on this button, you display the first formation alphabeticallycorresponding to the search criteria choosen in the "Search" field".

THE "NEXT" BUTTONWhen you click on this button, you display the next formation alphabeticallycorresponding to the search criteria choosen in the "Search" field".

THE STATUS BAR"COORDINATES" DISPLAYS
Latitude and longitude of the pointer on the moon globe are displayed on the left sideof the status bar. Don't mix them with your observing site coordinates"ELEVATION" DISPLAY
The altitude on which the center of the cursor is displayed in the status bar at thebottom"DATE AND HOUR" DISPLAY
The date and time in the status bar corresponds to the time selected in the"Ephemeris" tab. It should not be confused with the date and time of your system!!!

"FIELD" DISPLAY
The field value corresponds to the visual apparent field of the map window selected.

"TEXTURE AND OVERLAY" DISPLAY
The used texture and its definition level, and the overlay eventually used are clearly
indicated in the status bar.

END OF ATLUN MODULE MANUAL OF THE VMA 8(This english version has been partially corrected by Jim Gartner. Thanks to him !
The authors thank in adavance users to inform them about every mistakeencountered in this manual in using the VMA Internet site forum.

Copyright Christian Legrand & Patrick Chevalley / 2023