Surface of the Moon lab- Megan Purgahn

Megan Purgahn

Surface of the Moon

 

Introduction

Background: In this lab, we looked at the different areas and characteristics of the surface of the Moon in great detail. We observed different landscape features, labeled them, and described them. We also looked at the far side of the Moon that is rarely seen by others and compared it to the visible side. Another part of our lab included comparing the Earth's moon to the surface of Mercury, as well as viewed the Apollo and Luna sites.

Objectives: By the end of this lab, we were able to identify and differentiate between different features of the Moon, such as mountains, mare, and craters.

Importance: This lab gave us insight into what NASA and other space organizations have been working on for many decades during the Apollo and Luna landings, by seeing the different features of the Moon and how they are characterized, labelled, as well as how they came about.

Procedures

We viewed multiple images, diagrams, and maps of the moon using tools including:

-"Sky and Telescope's Moon Map"

-Google Moon

-The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter map of the Moon

Results and Discussion

A. Procedure: The first area of the Moon that we studied was the distribution of the maria, mountains, and craters and how those features came about and their location.

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?

•  Of these features (maria, mountains, and craters) the maria are found mainly in the lunar lowlands, and the craters are found mainly in the lunar highlands.

2. Which of these features frequently act as borders between the lowlands and highlands?

• Of those features, the mountains frequently act as borders between the lowlands and highlands.

3. As reckoned on the moon, in which Quadrant of the side facing us are the maria mostly found?

•  The maria are mostly found in the north-western Quadrant of the side facing us.

B. Procedure: For this procedure, we studied the Mare Imbrium and Oceanus Procellarum on the Moon in great depth and recognized certain features of the areas, and determined the different ages of the features.

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 of the mare?

•  If we restrict our view the craters Plato, Archimedes, Wallace, and Cassini in Mare Imbrium and the craters Flamsteed, Letroone, Marius, Prinz, and Herodotus in Oceanus Procellarum, then it can be determined that the mare came before the craters. We know this because millions of years ago parts of the Moon were covered in lava which turned into mare, and created smooth areas of the moon; so the craters would have to come after in order to appear on the Moon, because the old craters were filled in with lava.

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.

• Looking at the craters Kepler and Copernicus located in Mare Insularum, I still believe the mare came before the craters for the same reasoning in the previous question.

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)

• Two examples of other mare and craters that are similar to those depicted in question 1 and 2 include Mare Tranquilitatis with craters Maskelyne, Lamant, and Ross; as well as Mare Nubium with craters Nicollet, Pitatus, and Bullialdus.

4. Comment on the history of the lava flows that produced the lunar maria relative to when crater production occurred.

• Some history of the lava flows that produced the lunar maria may consist of how the lava flows once had a major impact on the landscape of the Moon. At one time the Moon looked very different than it does now. It is believed that the Moon was covered completely with craters, but the lava began to flow and cover up many of the old craters, creating a smooth surface in some areas. Once the lava started flowing and became a hard surface, objects continued to crash into the moon, causing new craters on top of the mare. This explains the fact that the craters around and on top of the mare and newer than the mare.

C. Procedure: In this part of the lab, we studied and examined the large and small craters in the lunar highlands, making specific note to the peaks and overlapping of them.

1.Do most large craters have central peaks? Do most small ones?

• From what I observed, most large craters do not have central peaks because they have so much overlapping of smaller craters. Small craters also do not seem to have central peaks because their impacts were too small to cause them. A lot of the medium sized craters that I viewed had central peaks.

2. When overlapping occurs, do the larger or the smaller craters appear to be younger? why?

• When overlapping occurs, the smaller craters appear to be younger  than the larger craters because the smaller ones cover up and fill in the big ones. If the larger ones were younger then they would appear on top of the smaller ones.

3. Based on the evidence you see on the maps, what do you suspect the origin of the lunar craters to be? explain your reasoning.

• Based on the evidence that I saw on the maps, I suspect the origins of lunar craters to from asteroids and meteorites flying through space, because they are the size of asteroids and the Moon does not have any extremely large chunks missing to give the idea that it collided with a planet or another moon.

D. Procedure: For part D of our lab, we studied the mountain ranges that we viewed on the Moon, and gave particular attention to Apennine, Haemus, Caucasus, Carpathian, and Pyrenes.

1. What is the highest mountain or mountain range on the moon? What is the approximate elevation?

• From observation, the highest mountain on the Moon is Mons Huygens in the Apennine Mountain range at an elevation of 4.7 km.

2. In general, do the mountain ranges extend in straight of 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.

• In general, the mountain ranges extend in curved lines. Based on the evidence I saw on the maps, I expect the origin of the lunar mountains to be formed from the edges of old large craters that had been filled in partially with lava. My reasoning is that the mountain ranges look exactly like the edges of the larger craters .

E. Procedure: We studied the far side of the Moon in part E, and compared the features on the far side with those I have studied on the near side.

1. What seems to be the major differences between the two sides?

• The major differences between the two sides is that the far side does not have any visible mare at all, it has more craters, and more layering of craters.

2.What are the main similarities?

•  The main similarities of the two sides are the sizes and layering of the craters, both sides have craters ranging around the same sizes and have many layers of craters overlapping each other.

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.

•  In my opinion, the most prominent feature on the far side of the moon is a crater called Schrodinger. It is in the bottom left-hand corner of the far side of the Moon, and I believe that it was formed by an asteroid collision.

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)

• Yes, in my opinion the numbers of large and small craters appear to be the same on both sides of the Moon.

5. Do the shape and detail of the craters on each side seem to be the same? explain.

•  In my opinion, the shape and detail of the craters on each side seem to be the same, which may mean they are all caused by similar things like asteroids and meteorites.

F. Procedure: Now, we compared the features of Earth's Moon to the surface of Mercury.

1. What similarities do you find between the surface of the Moon and Mercury?

• Some similarities that I observed between the Moon and Mercury are that they both have different levels of elevation, and have some amounts of craters.

2. What major differences do you note?

• The major differences that I noted between the two are that Mercury has far less craters than the Moon, showing that Mercury is probably much younger than the Moon.

3. Suggest a reason for any differences or similarities.

• A reason for the differences between the amounts of craters is that the Moon may be much older than Mercury, giving it more time to get more craters.

G. Procedure: I examined different maps and images of the Moon from the six successful Apollo landings, and looked closely at the details of the lunar surface. I located the different landings and observed the surroundings of each position.

1. What is the most general appearance of each landing site, which lunar features did the astronauts learn most about, and what reasons can you see for picking each particular spot?

• The most general appearance of each landing sight includes:

• Apollo 11, 12, 14, and 17: mainly showed visuals of mare and mild cratering within the mare on the near side of the moon.

• Apollo 15: had a great view of the Apennine mountains.

• Apollo 16: among the highlands, surrounded by many small, shallow craters.

• The astronauts most likely chose these spots to get a variety of land features, so that they can test different ages of the Moon and test the composition and elements of the different areas. The astronauts mostly learned about the newer craters created inside of the mare because that is where the majority of the Apollos landed.

H. Procedure: This part we located the landings of the Soviet union on a map and examined their most notable successes from the lunar rovers that explored the surfaces.

1. What is the general appearance of each landing site, which lunar features were studied, and what reason can you see for picking each particular spot?

• The general appearance of each landing seems to be very similar, they all include the view of the mare with small craters on the near side of the moon with mainly smooth surfaces and empty spaces. I believe the features that they studied were mainly the surface of the mare and shallow craters. They most likely landed the rovers in these spaces because they are mainly open spaces that allow for the rovers to land, travel, and examine the surface.

Conclusion:

In this lab we examined the surface of the Moon, both the near and far side. We also looked at the different features of the moon, such as the maria, mountains, and craters. During the lab we learned the different features of the moon, and how old each part is based on the layering of cratering. We identified the differences between the two sides of the moon, the differences between our Moon and Mercury, and the different landing sites of the Apollo and Luna rovers. By the end of the lab we completed all objectives and were able to complete all procedures.