MOON SHOT MONITORED FROM PALOMAR

NASA'S LCROSS moonshot to determine if there might be water on the Moon was monitored closely from a number of locations, but Palomar Observatory on Palomar Mountain probably delivered the highest resolution images of this event.

According to Scott Kardel, public information officer for the observatory, "No water detected yet, but that might come from elsewhere. No plume was seen from Palomar or elsewhere." Kardel spent a sleepless night on Thursday as the event unfolded.

Palomar likely delivered the highest resolution images of this event from any telescope on the planet. The BBC news came to the observatory to cover the event.

The lunar shot was aimed at the lunar crater. Cabeus crater was the target of the NASA LCROSS mission because it was thought to contain a substantial amount of ice. It was hoped by the LCROSS mission team that the impact would send an ejecta plume above the lunar surface, which could be observed from ground-based telescopes, but no plume was observed.

Pictures and some more info are up at:

http://www.astro.caltech.edu/palomar/lcross.html