Virtual Moon Atlas Version 9.0

For Windows 7 to 11 and Linux

2025: NEW VMA VERSION 9.0

The first version of the AVL was released in 2002. For its twentieth anniversary, we presented version 8.0.
Three years after the release of version 8, in 2022 for the AVL's 20th anniversary, we are releasing the new version 9 of the VMA.

As usual, we have added a large number of new features in this version regarding modules, databases, textures & overlays, and images.

We hope this will make your observations and studies of the Moon even more exciting.

NEW MODULES FEATURES

CcLun:

• New representation of the lunar disk showing the variety of textures and layers:

AtLun:

• Added new “Textures”, “Layers”, “Databases”, “Profile”, “Filtering”, and “Window Pairing” buttons to make these functions easier to use.
  

• Added sliders in windows in “full globe” mode
• New “Formations Labels” tab to filter the display of formations types
  

• Display of the profile of the person who gave their name to a formation in the “Information” tab
• Reorganization of the databases separated into “integrated databases” and “connected databases”
• Reorganization of the layers taking into account their scientific objective and origin for easier searching and updating of the “Overlays” tab
  

PhotLun:

• New, sleek design with image thumbnails displayed as a mosaic instead of a banner.

NEWS IN GENERAL TEXTURES:

• New “LRO WAC Shaded Colors” texture presenting the altitude variations of lunar formations with clearly differentiated colors
  

NEW HISTORICAL TEXTURES:

• Introduction of 10 new historical textures:
  • Claude Mellan / 1635
  • Julius Schmidt / 1856
  • Justus Perthes / 1868
  • James Nasmyth / 1885
  • Camille Flammarion / 1887
  • Julius Grimm / 1888
  • Johann Krieger / 1898
  • Walter Goodacre / 1910
  • Théophile Moreux / 1949

NEW FEATURES IN THE SCIENTIFIC OVERLAYS:

• Overlays have been reorganized based on their scientific purpose and origin for easier research.
  • Colors
  • Elements
  • Geology
  • Gravimetry
  • Magnetism
  • Minerals
  • Period
  • Radioactivity
  • Topography
• 2 new overlays “Geological China” & “Hydrogen Lunar Prospector”
  

NEWS IN DATABASE FEATURES:

• Reorganization of databases separated into “integrated databases” (Named / Satellites / IMP / Pyroclastics / History, etc.) and “connected databases” (Atlases / Descriptions / ILCD / UAI)
• Update of the “Historical” database with 9 new sites:
  • HAKUTO-R M1
  • CHANDRAYAAN 3 - VIKRAM - PRAGYAN
  • LUNA 25
  • SLIM - LEV1 - LEV2-SORA Q
  • NOVA-C IM1 ODYSSEUS
  • CHANG E 6
  • CHANG E 6 ASCENT STAGE
  • FIREFLY BLUE GHOST
  • NOVA-C IM2 ATHENA
• Introduction of pages from 6 new “printed” atlases:
  • Practical Guide to the Moon by Tom Kerss
  • Duplex Moon Atlas by Ronald Stoyan
  • Atlas of the Moon by Vincent de Callatay
  • Cambridge Photographic Moon Atlas
  • Great Moon Atlas by Serge Brunier & Thierry Legault
  • A Lunar Portfolio by Harold Hill
• New database of anonymous craters “Wang & Wu”

NEW IMAGES LIBRARIES :

• New “Best of Pelissard” image library
• New “Best of Heuly” image library
• New “Historical Sites” image library created by LROC / ISRO / CNSA
• New “Characters” image library from Wikipedia

Our thanks to all these scientists allowing us to use their work in VMA.

NEW DOCUMENTATION:
We have updated the illustrated documentation of the VMA with screenshots and photos in situation showing the new possibilities offered by this new version 9.

Many users have asked us how they can support our work. First of all, remember that it remains above all voluntary and free and we are not asking for any financial aid for this action which only reflects our respective astronomical passions: study of the Moon for Christian Legrand and astronomical programming for Patrick Chevalley.

Clearly, this production requires costly periodic upgrading of the computers and software we use.

To meet your wishes, we felt that we could not refuse voluntary donations. If you wish to be at the origin of such a donation, go to the page "How to make a donation?" For more details. So that the benefit of your support comes back to you anyway, we will allocate these funds as much as possible to the purchase of computer and/or astronomical material or library resources usable for the improvement of VMA or the realization other astronomical products or actions for amateur astronomers (Books, other software, conference equipment, observation and shooting equipment, etc.).

And to support us, you can also acquire the SD card.

We thank you in advance for your support.

Christian Legrand and Patrick Chevalley

This program carried out by Patrick Chevalley and Christian Legrand makes it possible to visualize the appearance of the Moon for any date and time, to pilot telescopes with computerized mounts on the Moon and to study in detail the lunar formations using a database of over a million entries and a strong image library of nearly 13,000 photos compiled by Christian Legrand.

It is designed to be easy to use and in particular “in the field” according to the particular needs of an observation, but also to be able to study “in the room” the Moon and its relief. It is interfaced with “Cartes du Ciel” freeware developed by Patrick Chevalley. This set is undoubtedly one of the most complete sets on the market. Note also that the VMA is entirely “autonomous” and does not require an Internet connection for its operation.

Better than a long description, we invite you to look at the screenshots and to browse the documentation to get a more precise idea of ​​its possibilities.

This program was designed according to the needs of the majority of Moon observers. But it is also thought to be a tool for people interested in selenography on a personal or professional basis.

The authors are determined to constantly evolve it towards new functionalities. However, if you think it lacks a useful function for everyone, please let us know. It may be possible to add it in a future version, if it has not been planned and if the software structure allows it.

It is possible to choose the language used by the program. Currently 2 languages ​​are available in the basic version: French and English. We maintain an English version to benefit American amateur astronomers because the majority of the data used in the VMA is American. Other translations can be downloaded.

The authors hope that other passionate amateurs will volunteer for translation into their own language in order to make this program accessible to amateurs around the world.

Why is it free?
This program was born from the collaboration between Christian Legrand, passionate about lunar observation, co-author of the guide "Discover the Moon" published in French by Larousse, but also in English, German and Spanish, with Patrick Chevalley, author of the free planetarium "Skychart" worldwide appreciated.

The authors make it available free of charge to the general public, amateur astronomers observers or photographers of the Moon, students to approach selenography and professional astronomers. They thus hope to promote observation and knowledge of our satellite, which remains one of the next steps in human space exploration.

Terms of use

The “Virtual Moon Atlas” is free software; you can redistribute it and / or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even an implicit guarantee of MERCHANTABILITY or CONFORMITY TO A PARTICULAR USE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

Textures, scientific layers, database information and images are subject to external copyrights and can only be used with the Virtual Moon Atlas, the authors of which have obtained authorizations for use.

This program is entirely written with Lazarus.

Source code is available from https://github.com/pchev/virtualmoon

The calculations of the ephemeris of the Moon use the JPL ephemeris. The ephemeris DE421 is included with the program.
The CalcLun module use the SPICE library for the computation.

Many calculations are based on the essential “Astronomical Algorithms by Jean Meeus”.

The OpenGL display uses GLScene.

The database is managed with SQLite and Libsql.

Trademarks: Microsoft, Windows Seven, Windows 10 are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

The names “Virtual Moon Atlas”, “AtLun”, “PhotLun”, “DatLun”, “WebLun”, “PocketLun” and “L.U.N. / Lunar Universal Number ”are copyrighted by Ch. Legrand.

For all question about Virtual Moon Atlas usage please use the user forum.
To report a problem with the software please use the bug tracker page, then check if a similar problem is already described.

If you have any questions, suggestions or remarks about the software, you can contact Patrick Chevalley.

If they are about the overlays, the databases or the pictures libraries, please contact Christian Legrand.