Surface of the Moon Lab Report
Astronomy 115, Honors, Plavchan
Brooke Masterson
Introduction:
Since Galileo first turned his telescope to view its surface, the Moon
has been a prime object of human curiosity. Since then, we have photographed the entire surface of the
Moon, have samples of the Moon, and knowledge about its interior. Needless to say, our knowledge of the
Moon has grown exponentially and we still want to learn more.
Procedure:
Students in the Astronomy 115 Honors lab were asked to learn more about
the Moon than before with online websites and tools given to us in the
beginning of this lab.
Our
own Sky and telescope Moon map
Google
Moon https://www.google.com/moon/
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter map of
the Moon (released in 2015)
http://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/visit-the-moon-without-leaving-your-desk/ and http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/sim3316
and https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/revisited/
I will answer the questions given to me in the Procedure
section of my lab report below.
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 (on a blog post):
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 lunar lowlands are filled with maria, while the lunar highlands are
covered in craters.
2.
Which of these features frequently act as
borders between the lowlands and highlands?
Out of all of these features, I
would say that the craters act as borders between the lowlands and the
highlands. The mountains are
definitely not the borders because they rest in the middle of the lunar
lowlands and maria.
3.
As reckoned on the moon, in which Quadrant of
the side facing us are the maria mostly found?
On the side of the Moon facing
Earth, the Western Quadrant is littered with maria (Insularum, Imbrium,
Cognitum, Humorum, Nubium), but there are more maria on the North-eastern
quardrant as well, including Mare Crisium, Serenitatis, Tranquilitatis, and Mare Frigoris spans
both the North-eastern and North-western 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.
I think the craters were first, and
then the mare came second. I say
this because in all of these craters mentioned above, especially in comparison
to pictures of new Moon craters found on Google images, these craters had
smoothed edges, are less deep than newly formed craters usually are, and have
less rays (if at all!) coming from the impact. And these craters do not have smooth edges and filled in
looking craters due to erosion, because I don’t believe that erosion on the
Moon (which has no atmosphere) would be capable of making so many craters so
smooth looking or filled in looking like these craters look like.
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.
I think that the mare was there
first, then the craters came second.
I believe this because these craters match the characteristics of the
pictures of new Moon craters found on Google images. These craters have rays, deep impacts (deeper than the
craters listed above in question 1), and rough edges.
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).
- Examples of craters that came
before the mare they crashed into would be the crater Le Monnier and Gambart
(#61 and #64 on Sky and Telescope’s Moon Map).
- Examples of when mare came before
the craters that impacted into (when craters were second) would be the craters
Aristarchus, Manilius, and Menelaus (#57, 73, 74 on the Sky and Telescope’s
Moon Map).
4.
Comment on the history of the lava flows that
produced the lunar maria relative to when crater production occurred.
From what I found online, lava
flows on the Moon occurred near the mares from 4 billion years ago to as recent
as 1 billion years ago. According
to the researchers at Oregon state, some bigger impact craters in the mare (on
the near side of the Moon) in that time period helped create the lava
flows. The Moon is not like the
Earth when it comes to lava flow.
On the Earth, most lava flows are due to tectonic plates and their
movements. Instead, the Moon
experiences lava flows due to huge craters impacting on the thin crusted near
side of the Moon. As we know, the
near side of the Moon has many mares.
Therefore, the impacts of the craters in the mares created lava flows in
the mares that flowed evenly and smoothly and over large distances over the
mare’s surface. This is how
craters, like the ones mentioned in question 1, are filled in and smoother than
the craters mentioned in question 2.
It is because some of those craters impacted on the mares before 1
billion years ago. That means lava
was flowing on the Moon’s near side in the mares (due mostly to the bigger
craters that impacted the mares) and those lava flows filled in those
craters. Therefore, the craters
that are not filled in or smooth in appearance and are very deep impacted with
the mares after 1 billion years ago, when the lava flow stopped on the
Moon.
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?
Yes, most large craters have central
peaks. However, most of the small
ones do not.
2.
When overlapping occurs, do the large or the
smaller craters appear to be younger?
Why?
When overlapping occurs, the
smaller craters appear to be younger.
I think this because the small craters either are impacted the Moon’s
surface INSIDE of the earlier crater – therefore making the small craters have
a deeper impact in the Moon’s surface.
Also, the smaller craters have more rays around them and are rougher in
texture than the larger 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.
I suspect the origin of lunar
craters are from extraterrestrial (not from the Moon, I mean) impacts, like
meteors. There is nothing on the
Moon’s surface that could create explosions to project objects in the air only
for them to come back down and impact the Moon. I know that the Moon doesn’t have volcanic
reactions/tectonic plate reactions due to the website I cited earlier in
question 4, Section B of the lab.
Therefore, my conjecture is that meteors impact with the Moon to create
these craters.
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?
The highest mountain on the Moon is
known as Mt. Everest, which is taller than the Earth’s Mt. Everest. The Moon’s Mt. Everest is approximately
10786 meters tall, which is 1938 meters taller than Earth’s Mt. Everest. I have a picture of it from NASA below
and the link to the website.
2.
In general to 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.
- Based on my observations from
the Sky and Telescope Moon Map, most of the mountain ranges extend in curved
lines. They surround one of the
most northern marias, Maria Imbrium.
However, there are mountain ranges that extend in straight lines, like
Caucasus Mountains in the Northern Quadrant of the Moon facing us.
- Without any prior knowledge, I thought the Moon’s mountains
were created from the impacts of craters like ripples are created from a drop
of water in a pond. The
right answer (which I had predicted) was presented in the Oregon state website
and the LROC website, listed below.
Both stated that mountain ranges are indeed produced from the impact
large craters have on the Moon’s surface.
(The Moon doesn’t create mountain ranges like the Earth does with
tectonic plates, because the Moon doesn’t have any.) http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/217
E)
Using Google Moon or the LRO maps, study the
“far side” or the 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 major differences between the
two sides are that the near side of the Moon has maria and lunar lowlands while
the far side of the Moon mainly has craters. There is also a difference in the elevation of the two sides
– the near side has a lower elevation than the far side.
2.
What are the main similarities?
The main similarities are that
…
the Moon’s North and South poles are covered in craters.
…
the Moon’s North and South poles are lunar highlands.
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.
Craters are the most prominent
feature on the far side of the Moon.
They cover almost every part of the far side of the Moon’s surface,
which makes it slightly impossible for me to count. However, I’ll speculate that there are at least 200,000
craters, ranging in small to large sizes, on the far side of the Moon.
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)
The amount of craters on the far
side outweighs the amount of craters on the near side of the Moon. I think there are more large craters on
the far side of the Moon than the near side, though, based on the pictures
given to us in the lab.
5.
Do the shape and detail of the craters on each
side seem to be the same? Explain.
The shape and detail of the craters
appear to be the same for each side.
The large craters have central peaks and the smaller craters usually
don’t. Besides the fact that there
are more craters on the far side, both sides of the Moon have craters and they
appear to be the same. They both
definitely have rays. (Take into
account that the far side of the Moon doesn’t have maria, so the craters that
were filled in by the lava flows on the near side of the Moon won’t have any
look-a-likes on the far side of the Moon.)
F)
After studying the surface of the Moon, study a
picture of Mercury’s surface:
1.
What similarities do you find between the
surface of the Moon and Mercury?
Both experience
cratering from large and small objects.
Both have low and
high areas of elevation.
Both of their
South poles have a lot of crater impacts.
2.
What major differences do you note?
The Moon has
heavier cratering than Mercy does.
The Moon has
higher elevation (in general) than Mercury does.
The Moon has a
very heavily cratered North AND South pole, while Mercury’s South pole is the
only heavily cratered pole it has.
3.
Suggest a reason for any differences or
similarities.
I think that the distance from the
Sun might have something to do with the amount of cratering Mercury
experiences. Perhaps the close
distance Mercury has to the Sun heats up any small particles that would impact
Mercury to a point that they burn up in space before reaching Mercury. Also, the Earth and the Moon are closer
to the asteroid belt than Mercury is.
Perhaps that has something to deal with how the Moon experiences more
cratering than Mercury. Those are
just my personal speculations, though.
G)
Between 1969 and 1972, the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (NASA) 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,
latitutde and longitude.
LRO
was able to image the landing sites in enough detail to see the bases of the
landers of the equipment left behind on the surface of the moon. Follow this link to explore our first
steps as a species on another world:
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 sit:
What is
the most general appearance of each landing site? Which lunar features did the astronauts learn most
about? What reasons can you see
for picking each particular spot?
Apollo 11: The
reason I speculate that NASA landed there was to explore a double crater, a
single crater, and the mare on the Moon.
The most general appearance of this landing site is the mare.
Apollo 12: I
speculate NASA wanted to land there was to discover more about craters. There were three craters near this
landing site. Also, maybe they
explored the lower elevation on the Moon, since it was only 2 km high.
Apollo 14: I
know that the astronauts on this adventure wanted to explore the Cone Crater,
but sampled a boulder instead because they couldn’t find the crater.
Apollo 15: I
speculate the astronauts wanted to explore the wide canyon known as the Hadley
Rille and some Dunes. They were
also able to sample some high-reflectance rocks and boulders.
Apollo 16: On this mission, the astronauts were able to see
the rays that are produced from a meteor impact, the edges of the Smoky
Mountains and the Stone Mountain on the Moon. They were also able to experience the medium level of
elevation on the Moon as well as another crater (small).
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 landing 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, which
lunar features were studied, and what reason can you see for picking each
particular spot?
Luna 16 – the general appearance
of this spot is that it is a mare.
Actually, it is the Mare Fecunditatis, which is in the middle eastern
part of the Moon’s near side. I
think this spot was chosen because no Apollo missions were near it, and it
explores yet another mare on the surface of the Moon.
Luna 17 – the general appearance
of this spot is it is in the Mare Imbrium, and the Luna 17 landed near the Jura
Mountain range. Therefore, the
mountain range and the mare were the prime object of exploration for this
mission. Also, this spot was, like
Luna 16, far away from any other Apollo mission.
Luna 21 – the border of the Mare
Serenitatis was the main object of the mission. The border of the mare and all of its craters were also another
object of the mission, I’m guessing.
Like the other Luna missions, it covered a mare that the Apollo missions
hadn’t explored yet.
Conclusion
In
this lab, we were expected to know more about the Moon than before. I did not know about how the lava flows
on the Moon happened, when they occurred, and how they affected craters on the
Moon’s appearance. I learned about
the Apollo and Luna missions, that the United States and the Soviets were in
charge of, where they landed, and speculated why they landed there. I looked at the far side of the Moon for
the first time and compared it to the near side of the Moon. I also compared the Moon to
Mercury. The Moon, needless to
say, is very interesting. That is
why it has captivated our attention on Earth and continues to do so. That is why it still captivates my
attention, and will continue to do so for the rest of my life. This lab was very good at helping me discover more about our Moon.
No comments:
Post a Comment