The Hubble Space Telescope, the Keck telescope in Hawaii, and many others will be trained on the Moon as astronomers look for signs of water vapor expelled from the crash site. Amateur astronomers can also watch for visible signs of this weekend's Lunar Prospector crash. Undaunted by the slim prospects, hundreds of amateur astronomers plan to monitor the Moon for signs of impact. If a unexpectedly bright plume arises, amateurs somewhere will almost certainly record it.
Dry air observing sites are best.
If the air is humid it will scatter the moonlight, greatly increasing the brightness of the sky and making a faint plume that much more difficult to see. The moment of impact was chosen so that the Moon would be visible at night from Hawaii and Texas where important telescopes are located. The best potential viewing sites for the collision range eastward from the mid-Pacific to central North America. Not only are these cameras quite sensitive, but they allow the recording of hundreds of images in a short space of time which can later be searched and enhanced to show very faint details. Mission scientists emphasize that the failure to observe a plume, by professionals or amateurs, does not signify a lack of water on the Moon.