Reconnaissance of infrared emission from the lunar nighttime surface

Introduction. The reconnaissance described in this paper was performed in 1964 and is an extension and refinement of the first observations (1962), in the 8- to 14-μ wavelength region, of the thermal emission from the lunar nighttime surface [Murray and Wildey, 1964]. The present investigation was intended to sample representatively enough of the lunar surface to determine the general character of the lunar nighttime emission and the relative abundance of nighttime infrared anomalies. More complete studies of the infrared emission with higher spatial resolution during eclipse were made at about the same time [Saari and Shorthill, 1965].