Photometric function variations observed on the near side of the Moon: Mapping

During two lunations, telescopic imaging of the near side of the Moon was performed at the Maidanak mountain observatory (Uzbekistan) with the use of digital cameras based on CMOS detectors. In different ranges of phase angles, the slope of the phase function of the lunar surface was mapped at a wavelength of 0.52 μm with the method of phase ratios. It has been shown that when the phase angle is gradually decreasing, the correlation between the phase-function slope and the albedo first disappears, and then even changes its sign at small phase angles.