An anomalous brightening of the lunar surface observed on March 26, 1970

An anomalous enhancement of brightness of the lunar surface was observed on March 26, 1970, during photometric and polarimetric observations of the Moon made by the 91-cm reflector of the Dodaira Station of the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory. The region near the Aristarchus was 0.3 mag. brighter compared with that corresponding to the ordinary brightness variation curve. The polarimetric results also showed evidence quite consistent with the phenomenon of the luminescence. The colour index diminished by about 0.1 mag. The results of the photographic photometry also confirmed the enhancement of brightness over a wide part of the lunar surface that night. This brightening may be related to the large solar flare observed on March 25, 12h UT, 1970, twenty-nine hours before our observations.