AST115-999
Surface of the Moon
Lab Report 2
Gates Bartz
Introduction
In this lab we looked at the surface of the moon and
its many features in as much detail as possible. The purpose of this was to
determine some of the moon’s history as to how it may have developed over time,
or what may have caused some of the features that we see on the moon today.
Procedures
For this lab, we had access to several physical maps
as well as several online maps and other sources. Below are links to the online
resources. The only resources used were these and our general observations from
them.
Results
and Discussion
A.
Study
the surface details and markings on your map and the maps linked to above, noting
particularly the distribution of maria, mountains and craters. Read the descriptions
and keys on each map and note the coordinate systems. After you are familiar
with the general features on the maps, answer the following questions:
1. Which
of these features (maria, mountains and craters) are found mainly in the lunar
lowlands and which are found mainly in the lunar highlands?
· The lowlands are covered in maria and the highlands appear much more
covered in craters and mountains
2. Which
of these features frequently act as borders between the lowlands and highlands.
· Where lowlands and highlands meet, there are often craters that
dissolve off into the mare at the lower elevation. In other places that are
often separated by mountains raised from these craters.
3. As
reckoned on the moon, in which Quadrant of the side facing us are the maria
mostly found?
· The upper left quadrant
B.
Study
in detail Mare Imbrium and Oceanus Procellarum, noting the craters appearing in
each. Keep in mind that astronomers have determined that the maria (seas) were,
at one time, liquid lava.
1. If
you restrict your view to the craters Plato, Archimedes, Wallace and Cassini in
Mare Imbrium and to the craters Flamsteed, Letroone, Marius, Prinz and
Herodotus in Oceanus Procellarum, which would you say came first, these craters
or the mare? Explain your reasoning.
· These craters appear to have happened while the mare was still in a
liquid state (though perhaps as it was nearer solidifying), the impact appears
to have thrown rock and debris up to a higher elevation forming a ring. Then
the lower elevations were filled in with the flowing molten rock.
2. Now
look at the craters Kepler and Copernicus located in Mare Insularum, next to
Oceanus Procellarum, and explain which came first, these craters or the mare?
Explain your reasoning
· These craters are more likely to have formed after the mare had
solidified. You can clearly see the bowl shape of the crater, as well as debris
and dust scattered far into the distance.
3. Which
other maria and craters could be used as examples of the scenarios depicted in
questions 1 and 2 (two examples of each will suffice).
· Pitatus and Ptolemaeus are good examples of the first question.
· Aristarchus and Bullialdus are good examples of the second question.
4. Comment
on the history of the lava flows that produced the lunar maria relative to when
crater production occurred.
· Foreign objects have clearly been hitting the moon for a long while.
The mare appears to have stayed liquid for the longest amount of time, so that
when something would hit them, the resulting ring from the crater would be left
because of its higher elevation and the lower areas would fill with molten
rock. After the mare did finally solidify, it continued to be hit with craters,
as did the rest of the moon, only then they left regular craters.
C.
Study
the large and small craters in the lunar highlands. Note the type of craters which
have high peaks and those which do not. Also, note the overlapping of craters on
craters in certain regions.
1. Do
most large craters have central peaks? Do most small ones?
· Medium to large craters seem to most often have central peaks. The
smallest craters do not.
2. When
overlapping occurs, do the larger or the smaller craters appear to be younger?
Why?
· The smaller craters appear to be younger, as the larger ones hit
first, and have been spotted with more recent smaller ones since.
3. Based
on the evidence you see on the maps, what do you suspect the origin of lunar
craters to be? Explain your reasoning.
· Most likely the craters are the result of foreign objects of various
sizes impacting the moon over time. Because the moon has little to no
atmosphere, there would be virtually nothing to stop these objects from making
full-speed impact with the moon.
D.
Study
the mountain ranges in general, paying particular attention to the Apennine, Haemus
Caucasus, Carpathian and Pyrenes ranges.
1. What
is the highest mountain or mountain range on the Moon? What is the approximate
elevation?
· Montes Cordillera appears to be the highest elevation of mountain
range at around 9000 Meters.
2. In
general, do the mountain ranges extend in straight or curved lines? Based on
the evidence you see on the maps, what do you suspect the origin of lunar mountain
ranges to be? Explain your reasoning.
· Consistently, the mountain ranges appear in curves or even complete
circles. The origin of these is fairly obvious, clearly they are more impact
craters from extremely large objects. These foreign objects were so large that
they raised the ground around the impact craters so high that they could be
considered mountains. This was also long ago, so they have long since been
covered with more and more smaller craters.
E.
Using
Google Moon or the LRO maps, study the “far side” (or “hidden”) part of the Moon’s
surface. Compare the features on the far side with those you have studied on the
near side.
1. What
seems to be the major differences between the two sides?
· The Mare is much more prevalent, there are many more lowlands, and
there are fewer large craters on the nearer side when compared to the farther
side.
2. What
are the main similarities?
· They both obviously contain a mass amount of cratering and appear to
be made of the same compositions.
3. What
would you say is the most prominent feature on the far side of the Moon? What
kind of feature is it? Speculate on how it may have formed.
· Mare Moscoviense, to me, appears to be the most interesting feature
on the back side of the moon. It looks as though it was hit by an object so
large that it caused volcanic activity beneath where it landed to spring up
from the center of the impact crater.
4. Do
the numbers of large and small craters appear to be the same on both sides of
the moon? If not, what differences do you note? (Do not count the maria as
craters).
· Many craters appear on both sides of the moon in all sizes, but at a
certain point, the craters on the farther side of the moon tend to be much
larger than the ones facing the Earth and the biggest craters appear on the far
side.
5. Do
the shape and detail of the craters on each side seem to be the same? Explain.
· For the most part, yes. No two impacts are going to be exactly the
same but they are all going to be some sort of circle exploding outward from
the initial impact. On the farther side, there tends to be more evidence of
larger craters.
F.
After
studying the surface of the Moon, study this picture of Mercury:
1. What
similarities do you find between the surface of the Moon and Mercury?
· Many, many craters. Rays of debris coming from impact craters on the
moon and Mercury
2. What
major differences do you note?
· The major difference is that mare appear on the moon and don’t
appear on Mercury.
3. Suggest
a reason for any differences or similarities.
· They have both clearly been impacted with craters for a very long
time. Mercury’s volcanic activity must have stopped much earlier than that of
the moon’s as is does not show any mare, or if Mercury did have mare, it has
since been covered by craters meaning that it gets hit more often than our
moon.
G.
Between
1969 and 1972, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration made six
successful Apollo manned landings on the Moon in order to learn details about
the Lunar surface and interior not obtainable from the Earth. Below are the selenographic
(lunar) coordinates for each of these landing sites, latitude and longitude
LRO
was able to image the landing sites in enough detail to see the bases of the
landers and equipment left behind on the surface of the moon. Follow this link
to explore our first steps as a species on another world: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/revisited/#.Vpq7tfH19ks
Find the positions of each on your Sky and Telescope Moon map, and then on
Google Moon. Briefly comment on the following questions for each site:
1. What
is the most general appearance of each landing site.
2. Which
lunar features did the astronauts learn most about.
3. What
reasons can you see for picking each particular spot?
· Apollo
11 0.8°N, 23.5°E
1) This appears to be a flat spot near the edge of a mare
2) They mostly learned the composition and close appearance of the
moon’s surface, as they did not have very much time to explore
3) It was a good choice as it had a relatively flat surface and was
close to mare as well as higher areas so they could sample both.
· Apollo
12 3.2°S, 23.4°W
1) This site also appears to be relatively flat and not heavily
cratered, though it seems to be a good place to observe smaller craters.
2) The astronauts on this mission provided important information about
how materials survive in the lunar environment and their samples of the surface
led to important discoveries about lunar geology.
3) The main reason they landed here was to retrieve components from the
surveyor.
· Apollo
14 3.7°S,17.5°W
1) This mission was placed fairly near Apollo 12
2) The astronauts on this mission explored the Fra Mauro region.
3) It seems a good place to land and explore near an already known
area.
· Apollo
15 26.1°N, 3.7°E
1) This mission appears to have landed near the Apenninus mountain
range.
2) During this mission the austronauts explored the Hadley-Apennine
region. They were able to stay longer and were able to mover farther with aid
of vehicles.
3) It is an interesting area to investigate and you can learn more
about the composition of the moon are around the crater sites that cause these
mountains.
· Apollo
16 9.0°S, 15.5°W
1) This landing site appears to be in the middle of mare Smythii
Nubium.
2) The testing and collecting samples of the mare was their main
exploratory objective at this site.
3) Flat area where they were abler to get good samples of the moon’s
surface in the mare
· Apollo
17 20.2°N, 30.8°E
1) This site is right near the edge of a crater in the mare.
2) This location was picked primarily because rocks both older and
younger than those previously brought back to earth were present at this spot.
3) The rocks from a crater (especially a large one) might provide some
clues as to when impacts of this size would have been occurring on the moon.
H.
The
Soviet Union also landed spacecraft on the Moon, but they were unmanned. However,
the most notable successes are those which returned lunar samples to Earth and
those which had a lunar rover for exploring the surface. The coordinates for three
of these landings are given below:
Find
the positions of these sites on your moon map and Google Moon and briefly
comment
on the following questions for each site:
1. What
is the general appearance of each landing site
2. Which
lunar features were studied.
3. What
reason can you see for picking each particular spot?
· Luna
16 0.7°S, 56.3°E
1) This landing was made in the area betwee highlands and mare again
2) Luna 16 managed to retrieve a small sample from the Mare Fecunditatis
3) Mixed compositional area of the moon near mare as well as highlands.
· Luna
17 38.3°N, 35.0°W
1) Right in the center of a large amount of mare.
2) Luna 17 traveled over 10km in ten months over the mare. This is
pretty incredible when you compare it to Oportunity (the Mars rover) that has
traveled about 12km in six years.
3) Very young part of the moon, easy for a rover to explore.
· Luna
21 27.0°N, 31.5°E
1) Very close to the landing site of apollo 17, right next to
Posidonius crater.
2) Luna 21 explored Le Monnier crater for about four months when it
sadly overheated.
3) This would be interesting for intense detailed exploration of a
crater.
Conclusion
In this lab, we explored the surface of the moon and
what might have happened in the past to cause the surface that we see today. We
know that the mare was once liquid rock and is much younger than the rest of
the moon. This can be observed by looking at the difference between craters
that seem to have happened while the mare was still liquefied, as well as
craters that happened after it solidified. We also can tell by looking at the
cratering history of the moon, that our earlier solar system was a violent
place where objects collided quite often.
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