Rare Astronomical Sights and Sounds
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New Candidate Pits and Caves at High Latitudes on the Near Side of the Moon
52nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2021 (LPI Contrib. No. 2548) 2733.pdf NEW CANDIDATE PITS AND CAVES AT HIGH LATITUDES ON THE NEAR SIDE OF THE MOON. 1,2 1,3,4 1 2 Wynnie Avent II and Pascal Lee , S ETI Institute, Mountain View, VA, USA, V irginia Polytechnic Institute 3 4 and State University Blacksburg, VA, USA. M ars Institute, N ASA Ames Research Center. Summary: 35 new candidate pits are identified in Anaxagoras and Philolaus, two high-latitude impact structures on the near side of the Moon. Introduction: Since the discovery in 2009 of the Marius Hills Pit (Haruyama et al. 2009), a.k.a. the “Haruyama Cavern”, over 300 hundred pits have been identified on the Moon (Wagner & Robinson 2014, Robinson & Wagner 2018). Lunar pits are small (10 to 150 m across), steep-walled, negative relief features (topographic depressions), surrounded by funnel-shaped outer slopes and, unlike impact craters, no raised rim. They are interpreted as collapse features resulting from the fall of the roof of shallow (a few Figure 1: Location of studied craters (Polar meters deep) subsurface voids, generally lava cavities. projection). Although pits on the Moon are found in mare basalt, impact melt deposits, and highland terrain of the >300 Methods: Like previous studies searching for pits pits known, all but 16 are in impact melts (Robinson & (Wagner & Robinson 2014, Robinson & Wagner 2018, Wagner 2018). Many pits are likely lava tube skylights, Lee 2018a,b,c), we used imaging data collected by the providing access to underground networks of NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Narrow tunnel-shaped caves, including possibly complex Angle Camera (NAC). -
Exploring the Bombardment History of the Moon
EXPLORING THE BOMBARDMENT HISTORY OF THE MOON Community White Paper to the Planetary Decadal Survey, 2011-2020 September 15, 2009 Primary Author: William F. Bottke Center for Lunar Origin and Evolution (CLOE) NASA Lunar Science Institute at the Southwest Research Institute 1050 Walnut St., Suite 300 Boulder, CO 80302 Tel: (303) 546-6066 [email protected] Co-Authors/Endorsers: Carlton Allen (NASA JSC) Mahesh Anand (Open U., UK) Nadine Barlow (NAU) Donald Bogard (NASA JSC) Gwen Barnes (U. Idaho) Clark Chapman (SwRI) Barbara A. Cohen (NASA MSFC) Ian A. Crawford (Birkbeck College London, UK) Andrew Daga (U. North Dakota) Luke Dones (SwRI) Dean Eppler (NASA JSC) Vera Assis Fernandes (Berkeley Geochronlogy Center and U. Manchester) Bernard H. Foing (SMART-1, ESA RSSD; Dir., Int. Lunar Expl. Work. Group) Lisa R. Gaddis (US Geological Survey) 1 Jim N. Head (Raytheon) Fredrick P. Horz (LZ Technology/ESCG) Brad Jolliff (Washington U., St Louis) Christian Koeberl (U. Vienna, Austria) Michelle Kirchoff (SwRI) David Kring (LPI) Harold F. (Hal) Levison (SwRI) Simone Marchi (U. Padova, Italy) Charles Meyer (NASA JSC) David A. Minton (U. Arizona) Stephen J. Mojzsis (U. Colorado) Clive Neal (U. Notre Dame) Laurence E. Nyquist (NASA JSC) David Nesvorny (SWRI) Anne Peslier (NASA JSC) Noah Petro (GSFC) Carle Pieters (Brown U.) Jeff Plescia (Johns Hopkins U.) Mark Robinson (Arizona State U.) Greg Schmidt (NASA Lunar Science Institute, NASA Ames) Sen. Harrison H. Schmitt (Apollo 17 Astronaut; U. Wisconsin-Madison) John Spray (U. New Brunswick, Canada) Sarah Stewart-Mukhopadhyay (Harvard U.) Timothy Swindle (U. Arizona) Lawrence Taylor (U. Tennessee-Knoxville) Ross Taylor (Australian National U., Australia) Mark Wieczorek (Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, France) Nicolle Zellner (Albion College) Maria Zuber (MIT) 2 The Moon is unique. -
Lab # 12: Surface of the Moon
Name: Date: 12 Surface of the Moon 12.1 Introduction One can learn a lot about the Moon by looking at the lunar surface. Even before astronauts landed on the Moon, scientists had enough data to formulate theories about the formation and evolution of the Earth’s only natural satellite. However, since the Moon rotates once for every time it orbits around the Earth, we can only see one side of the Moon from the surface of the Earth. Until spacecraft were sent to orbit the Moon, we only knew half the story. The type of orbit our Moon makes around the Earth is called a synchronous orbit. This phenomenon is shown graphically in Figure 12.1 below. If we imagine that there is one large mountain on the hemisphere facing the Earth (denoted by the small triangle on the Moon), then this mountain is always visible to us no matter where the Moon is in its orbit. As the Moon orbits around the Earth, it turns slightly so we always see the same hemisphere. Figure 12.1: The Moon’s synchronous orbit. (Not drawn to scale.) On the Moon, there are extensive lava flows, rugged highlands and many impact craters of all sizes. The overlapping of these features implies relative ages. Because of the lack of ongoing mountain building processes, or weathering by wind and water, the accumulation of volcanic processes and impact cratering is readily visible. Thus by looking at the images of the Moon, one can trace the history of the lunar surface. 129 Lab Goals: to discuss the Moon’s terrain, craters, and the theory of relative ages; to • use pictures of the Moon to deduce relative ages and formation processes of surface features Materials: Moon pictures, ruler, calculator • 12.2 Craters and Maria A crater is formed when a meteor from space strikes the lunar surface. -
Glossary Glossary
Glossary Glossary Albedo A measure of an object’s reflectivity. A pure white reflecting surface has an albedo of 1.0 (100%). A pitch-black, nonreflecting surface has an albedo of 0.0. The Moon is a fairly dark object with a combined albedo of 0.07 (reflecting 7% of the sunlight that falls upon it). The albedo range of the lunar maria is between 0.05 and 0.08. The brighter highlands have an albedo range from 0.09 to 0.15. Anorthosite Rocks rich in the mineral feldspar, making up much of the Moon’s bright highland regions. Aperture The diameter of a telescope’s objective lens or primary mirror. Apogee The point in the Moon’s orbit where it is furthest from the Earth. At apogee, the Moon can reach a maximum distance of 406,700 km from the Earth. Apollo The manned lunar program of the United States. Between July 1969 and December 1972, six Apollo missions landed on the Moon, allowing a total of 12 astronauts to explore its surface. Asteroid A minor planet. A large solid body of rock in orbit around the Sun. Banded crater A crater that displays dusky linear tracts on its inner walls and/or floor. 250 Basalt A dark, fine-grained volcanic rock, low in silicon, with a low viscosity. Basaltic material fills many of the Moon’s major basins, especially on the near side. Glossary Basin A very large circular impact structure (usually comprising multiple concentric rings) that usually displays some degree of flooding with lava. The largest and most conspicuous lava- flooded basins on the Moon are found on the near side, and most are filled to their outer edges with mare basalts. -
Planning a Mission to the Lunar South Pole
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter: (Diviner) Audience Planning a Mission to Grades 9-10 the Lunar South Pole Time Recommended 1-2 hours AAAS STANDARDS Learning Objectives: • 12A/H1: Exhibit traits such as curiosity, honesty, open- • Learn about recent discoveries in lunar science. ness, and skepticism when making investigations, and value those traits in others. • Deduce information from various sources of scientific data. • 12E/H4: Insist that the key assumptions and reasoning in • Use critical thinking to compare and evaluate different datasets. any argument—whether one’s own or that of others—be • Participate in team-based decision-making. made explicit; analyze the arguments for flawed assump- • Use logical arguments and supporting information to justify decisions. tions, flawed reasoning, or both; and be critical of the claims if any flaws in the argument are found. • 4A/H3: Increasingly sophisticated technology is used Preparation: to learn about the universe. Visual, radio, and X-ray See teacher procedure for any details. telescopes collect information from across the entire spectrum of electromagnetic waves; computers handle Background Information: data and complicated computations to interpret them; space probes send back data and materials from The Moon’s surface thermal environment is among the most extreme of any remote parts of the solar system; and accelerators give planetary body in the solar system. With no atmosphere to store heat or filter subatomic particles energies that simulate conditions in the Sun’s radiation, midday temperatures on the Moon’s surface can reach the stars and in the early history of the universe before 127°C (hotter than boiling water) whereas at night they can fall as low as stars formed. -
Impact Cratering in the Solar System
Impact Cratering in the Solar System Michelle Kirchoff Lunar and Planetary Institute University of Houston - Clear Lake Physics Seminar March 24, 2008 Outline What is an impact crater? Why should we care about impact craters? Inner Solar System Outer Solar System Conclusions Open Questions What is an impact crater? Basically a hole in the ground… Barringer Meteor Crater (Earth) Bessel Crater (Moon) Diameter = 1.2 km Diameter = 16 km Depth = 200 m Depth = 2 km www.lpi.usra.edu What creates an “impact” crater? •Galileo sees circular features on Moon & realizes they are depressions (1610) •In 1600-1800’s many think they are volcanic features: look similar to extinct volcanoes on Earth; some even claim to see volcanic eruptions; space is empty (meteorites not verified until 1819 by Chladni) •G.K. Gilbert (1893) first serious support for lunar craters from impacts (geology and experiments) •On Earth Barringer (Meteor) crater recognized as created by impact by Barringer (1906) •Opik (1916) - impacts are high velocity, thus create circular craters at most impact angles Melosh, 1989 …High-Velocity Impacts! www.lpl.arizona.edu/SIC/impact_cratering/Chicxulub/Animation.gif Physics of Impact Cratering Understand how stress (or shock) waves propagate through material in 3 stages: 1. Contact and Compression 2. Excavation 3. Modification www.psi.edu/explorecraters/background.htm Hugoniot Equations Derived by P.H. Hugoniot (1887) to describe shock fronts using conservation of mass, momentum and energy across the discontinuity. equation (U-up) = oU of state P-Po = oupU E-Eo = (P+Po)(Vo-V)/2 P - pressure U - shock velocity up - particle velocity E - specific internal energy V = 1/specific volume) Understanding Crater Formation laboratory large simulations explosives (1950’s) (1940’s) www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/ numerical simulations (1960’s) www.lanl.gov/ Crater Morphology • Simple • Complex • Central peak/pit • Peak ring www3.imperial.ac. -
1 Resonant Kuiper Belt Objects
Resonant Kuiper Belt Objects - a Review Renu Malhotra Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA Email: [email protected] Abstract Our understanding of the history of the solar system has undergone a revolution in recent years, owing to new theoretical insights into the origin of Pluto and the discovery of the Kuiper belt and its rich dynamical structure. The emerging picture of dramatic orbital migration of the planets driven by interaction with the primordial Kuiper belt is thought to have produced the final solar system architecture that we live in today. This paper gives a brief summary of this new view of our solar system's history, and reviews the astronomical evidence in the resonant populations of the Kuiper belt. Introduction Lying at the edge of the visible solar system, observational confirmation of the existence of the Kuiper belt came approximately a quarter-century ago with the discovery of the distant minor planet (15760) Albion (formerly 1992 QB1, Jewitt & Luu 1993). With the clarity of hindsight, we now recognize that Pluto was the first discovered member of the Kuiper belt. The current census of the Kuiper belt includes more than 2000 minor planets at heliocentric distances between ~30 au and ~50 au. Their orbital distribution reveals a rich dynamical structure shaped by the gravitational perturbations of the giant planets, particularly Neptune. Theoretical analysis of these structures has revealed a remarkable dynamic history of the solar system. The story is as follows (see Fernandez & Ip 1984, Malhotra 1993, Malhotra 1995, Fernandez & Ip 1996, and many subsequent works). -
Tellurium Tellurium N
Experiment Description/Manual Tellurium Tellurium N Table of contents General remarks ............................................................................................................................3 Important parts of the Tellurium and their operation .....................................................................4 Teaching units for working with the Tellurium: Introduction: From one´s own shadow to the shadow-figure on the globe of the Tellurium ...........6 1. The earth, a gyroscope in space ............................................................................................8 2. Day and night ..................................................................................................................... 10 3. Midday line and division of hours ....................................................................................... 13 4. Polar day and polar night .................................................................................................... 16 5. The Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn and the tropics ........................................................... 17 6. The seasons ........................................................................................................................ 19 7. Lengths of day and night in various latitudes ......................................................................22 Working sheet “Lengths of day in various seasons” ............................................................ 24 8. The times of day .................................................................................................................25 -
Lunar and Planetary Science XXXII (2001) 1074.Pdf
Lunar and Planetary Science XXXII (2001) 1074.pdf VOYAGER IMAGES REVISITED: NEW VIEWS OF THE SATELLITES OF SATURN AND URANUS. P. J. Stooke1, 1Department of Geography, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5C2; [email protected]; www.uwo.ca/geog/faculty/stooke.htm Introduction: Voyager images of Saturn and its near the sub-Uranus point. At top near the planetshine moons are 20 years old, and images of the Uranian sys- terminator, the sinuous graben complex Kachina Chas- tem are 15 years old. Although much was learned from mata extends far into the northern hemisphere, possibly them, more may still be done using recent image proc- to the far limb. Additional details may be revealed by essing methods. Here I present results of a program of better noise removal. Unfortunately, few other Uranus reprocessing of images of the icy satellites of these two satellite images show useful details in planetshine. planets. Highlights include the identification of fea- Either the satellite is too far from the planet, and so tures illuminated by planetshine on the northern hemi- more weakly illuminated, or the ‘dark’ side is seen only sphere of Ariel, enigmatic markings on Enceladus and very obliquely in low phase angle views. the identification of new features on Rhea and Umbriel. This program will result in new maps of the Saturnian satellites in time for Cassini’s arrival. Images and Processing: This study makes use of all available images from the PDS Ring Node archive. An interesting observation, which this program will rectify, is that the USGS maps of all these satellites do not make full use of the image sets. -
Lunar Laser Ranging: the Millimeter Challenge
REVIEW ARTICLE Lunar Laser Ranging: The Millimeter Challenge T. W. Murphy, Jr. Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0424, USA E-mail: [email protected] Abstract. Lunar laser ranging has provided many of the best tests of gravitation since the first Apollo astronauts landed on the Moon. The march to higher precision continues to this day, now entering the millimeter regime, and promising continued improvement in scientific results. This review introduces key aspects of the technique, details the motivations, observables, and results for a variety of science objectives, summarizes the current state of the art, highlights new developments in the field, describes the modeling challenges, and looks to the future of the enterprise. PACS numbers: 95.30.Sf, 04.80.-y, 04.80.Cc, 91.4g.Bg arXiv:1309.6294v1 [gr-qc] 24 Sep 2013 CONTENTS 2 Contents 1 The LLR concept 3 1.1 Current Science Results . 4 1.2 A Quantitative Introduction . 5 1.3 Reflectors and Divergence-Imposed Requirements . 5 1.4 Fundamental Measurement and World Lines . 10 2 Science from LLR 12 2.1 Relativity and Gravity . 12 2.1.1 Equivalence Principle . 13 2.1.2 Time-rate-of-change of G ....................... 14 2.1.3 Gravitomagnetism, Geodetic Precession, and other PPN Tests . 14 2.1.4 Inverse Square Law, Extra Dimensions, and other Frontiers . 16 2.2 Lunar and Earth Physics . 16 2.2.1 The Lunar Interior . 16 2.2.2 Earth Orientation, Precession, and Coordinate Frames . 18 3 LLR Capability across Time 20 3.1 Brief LLR History . -
Moon-Earth-Sun: the Oldest Three-Body Problem
Moon-Earth-Sun: The oldest three-body problem Martin C. Gutzwiller IBM Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598 The daily motion of the Moon through the sky has many unusual features that a careful observer can discover without the help of instruments. The three different frequencies for the three degrees of freedom have been known very accurately for 3000 years, and the geometric explanation of the Greek astronomers was basically correct. Whereas Kepler’s laws are sufficient for describing the motion of the planets around the Sun, even the most obvious facts about the lunar motion cannot be understood without the gravitational attraction of both the Earth and the Sun. Newton discussed this problem at great length, and with mixed success; it was the only testing ground for his Universal Gravitation. This background for today’s many-body theory is discussed in some detail because all the guiding principles for our understanding can be traced to the earliest developments of astronomy. They are the oldest results of scientific inquiry, and they were the first ones to be confirmed by the great physicist-mathematicians of the 18th century. By a variety of methods, Laplace was able to claim complete agreement of celestial mechanics with the astronomical observations. Lagrange initiated a new trend wherein the mathematical problems of mechanics could all be solved by the same uniform process; canonical transformations eventually won the field. They were used for the first time on a large scale by Delaunay to find the ultimate solution of the lunar problem by perturbing the solution of the two-body Earth-Moon problem. -
236. “Stelle E Costellazioni Del Cielo”
Progetto RaPHAEL (www.raphaelproject.com ) - Incontro nº 236 del 10/07/2005 - Colore Grigio verde 236. “Stelle e costellazioni del cielo” Una parte della natura umana è terrestre , ma un’altra parte è cosmica e stellare , volendo riscoprire la totalità della nostra vera natura è molto importante ritrovare la risonanza con le dimensioni trans-terrestri, facendo anche riemergere memorie di vite passate dove non avevamo un corpo umano e dove l’esistenza si svolgeva su altri continuum spazio-temporali. Abbiamo già visto come la Fantascienza sappia risvegliare questa risonanza (ved. incontro n° 212 ) e come ci permetta di concretizzare a livello mentale esperienze che qualcuno potrebbe aver difficoltà anche solo a concepire, adesso focalizziamo un attimo l’attenzione sull’incredibile fascino che ispirano le stelle ad ogni essere umano di animo sensibile... interiormente una parte di noi sa di originare dalle stelle ed è là che aspira a tornare! Una buona parte del nostro DNA origina da altri sistemi stellari, le leggende comparate delle varie tribù native americane raccontano che ben 12 razze galattiche hanno contribuito a creare il DNA dell’Homo sapiens. Ebbene noi suggeriamo di lasciarvi guidare dalla meditazione e dal ricordo immaginativo per recuperare i “circuiti” atemporali legati al piano cosmico , attraverso esercizi rilassati di rimpatrio energetico ed esperenziale (ed un respiro consapevole) molte esperienze possono riemergere… I nomi sotto riportati, con la posizione relativa rispetto alla costellazione di appartenenza (alfa= 1,