(Throughout this appendix we will refer to a large number of transient events reportedly observed in the vicinity of the Moon, and will refer to them as they are listed in the works by Middlehurst et al. 1968, Cameron 1978, and Cameron 2006.)

Most TLP reports are visual and in recent decades originated from amateurs. Before 1900, however, many reports came from reputable, professional astronomers, even famous ones: Wilhelm Herschel in 1783–1790 with six TLPs (he also discovered Uranus, several moons, and infrared light); Edmond Halley in 1715 (Astronomer Royal, of Halley’s comet fame); Edward Barnard with several TLPs in 1889–1892 (showed novae are exploding stars, discovered 17 comets and a moon of Jupiter); Ernst Tempel in 1866–1885 (discoverer of 21 comets); Johann Bode in 1788–1792 (famous celestial cartographer); George Airy in 1877 with a TLP confirmed independently (famous Astronomer Royal); Heinrich Olbers in 1821 (confirmed asteroid belt); Johannes Hevelius in 1650 (pioneering lunar topographer); Jean-Dominique Cassini in 1671–1673 (director of l’Observatoire de Paris); Camille Flammarion in 1867–1906 (founded Société Astronomique de France); William Pickering in 1891–1912 (co-founded Lowell Observatory); Johann Schröter in 1784–1792 (first noticed the phase anomaly of Venus); Friedrich von Struve in 1822 (founded Pulkovo Observatory); Francesco Bianchini in 1685–1725 (measured Earth’s axis precession); and Etienne Trouvelot in 1870–1877 (noted astronomical observer). In the twentieth century noted astronomers reporting TLPs included Dinsmore Alter (in 1937–1959), Zdeněk Kopal (in 1963), and Sir Patrick Moore (in 1948–1967). Franz von Gruithuisen in 1821–1839 reported changing luminous and lunar obscured spots, yet also described the Moon inhabited and dotted by cities. (He also was first to conclude that craters result from meteorite impacts.)