170 CHAPTER 6 Pace of Discovery Discoveries such a the Van Allen belts remind us of how mich remains tobe lesrned, ‘even about our om planet Sach fundamental ds: ‘overs continue t be made, fer many easons. For example, the technology necessary to make certain ‘observations may jart have been developed, or ot tsuation that describe various phenomena may be- ome more compete, Sometimes these equations a $0 comple that their implications are not immed stely clear Progress in science requires unquenchable ‘iviosty and untaling pen-mindedness. Tights (aurea borealis) or the southern lghs (aurora astral), depending on the hemisphere in which the phenomenon observed (Figure 6-136) ‘Occivionaly, violent events on the Sun's surface clad solar ares and coronal mas ejections, send burt ‘of protons and electrons suaighr throug the Van All tes and ins the atmsphere, These solar events partily THE MOON: Vital Statistics Distance from Earth (center o cent: Orbital eccentricity: 0.055, FIGURE 614 The Moon's Vil States Qur Moon is one ‘of owe age satelites nthe solar ssi, The Moor dan ‘er of 3470 on (2158 sigh kes han he stance re deplete he ozone layer and case spectacular anrral ds plays that can often be sen over a wide range of lat fe and longitudes. Tes soar eves lo distur radio transmissions and can darmage communications satelices and deci transmission ines. In this era of burgeoning satelite usage and human space eave, the effects ofthe Suns eletromagnescra- ‘ition, along with the low of patel rom i and from ‘ther soures, on Earth's atmosphere and on atronaute fare incrensngl important. Asa esl, space wether sa lites ate ao cotinally monitoring ou neighborhood in space and warning about solar events that could im- etl bots humans and machines out thee, THE MOON AND TIDES Earth's only natural stelite provides one of the most Arama sights inthe nighttime sk. The Moon sso lege find so close ro us that some ofits suface features are readily vise to che naked ee, Even without telescore, you can ely see dak gay and light gray areas hat ov fr vast expanses ofthe Moon (Figure 6-4), People have Average: 264,400 kn ‘Maximum (apogee: 405,500 km Minimum ferigee 363,300 km wivuxs 06°F = 403K Traces of argon (A, helium (He), seam (Na), and potassium Synedic period of revolution 29.53 days ‘una phases Sidereal tation period 27.32 days (around Ear: Inntintion of equatorto omit 6.68" Inclination of orbit to ecliptic: 5.15" Diameter lecuatoral: 3476 ken = 2.272 Earth diamecer Moss: 7.5 x 10% ig = 0.012 far mass Average density: 3340 kg? Albedo (average): 0.12 Escape spond: 2.4 hrs ‘Average siface Day: 130°C temperatures: Night) 180°C © -292°F = 93 K ‘Aurnosphere: Serface gavity Earth = 1: 0.17 NewYork o San Francia Ths igo hows oughly half the Fie cing ear ha andl side we never see om ere, Foun the sie. INASreamed of visting our nearest neighbor in space for millenia. One of the fis moves evee made (1902) was {A Trip to the Moon, based on Jules Verne’ book From the Earth to the Moon. The wonder of actully sending poopl there fr the fst time was one ofthe few things thathas ever caused homanity to stop its quarzeling long, ‘enough to participae, even viceiosly, ina great advea~ tre, To date, 12 people have walked onthe Moon, Out exploration of ie begins with sto of ts surface 6-5 The Moon’ surface is covered with ‘rales, plains, ancl mountains Pechaps the most familiar and characteristic estures on the Moon ace its craters (Figure 6-1Sa) As discussed in (Chapter Son che formation ofthe solar system all nar craters that we have examined ate che raul of bom boardment by meteorite material {rathec tan voleanse activity). Nearly all ofthese eaters are crag indcat- ing that they were not mecely gouged out by stoderate- speed rocks, which would erent lopsided caters they . WIVUXS FHGURE 6-15 Lunar Craters (Tis htop, taken fom lurar ity astonais, nels the rater Ais, Nee ‘cue ental pels the collie teraed rate wal 3n the jets bane. Numerove aller cater resin fom the same inet poche sounding lun surat The the drawings othe eh sn he erate formation proces: {bra incoming rato (e upon pacts ulead and thesrace explodes ovvard and donwar 2) Arh pe the ground ebount, resting the cents pean eae Ingte crater also cole, Te lig eplon he ca bn a0 2004 Lane and Panay tao Spe EARTH AND THE MOON. 17 ‘crack the surface at an angle. Instead the high-speed [upward of 180,000 kwh oF 112,000 mil colisions with dhe Moon's surface vaporized the rapidly moving Aebris coming ia at any angle often with he power ofa lange nuclear bom. The zesling explosions of hot gt and rubble produced the round timed craters that we ‘observe today (Figures 6-15b, cand d. ‘Meteor impacs causes material rom the cater site to be ected onto the surrounding surface, This pulver faed rock is called an esta blanket, You can see some of the more recent eta bankers, which ate igtercoloed "han the alder ones, in Figures 6-14 and 65a. lhe in pacts relatively show and ata shallow angle (as contrasted ‘with head-on, dhe the ejecta blenkee can have a ming region. Laborstory experiments reveal thatthe impacting, body comes frm dhe desion without ‘et Figure 6-16. "jee blankets darken with te at theisurlacesroughen for impacts bythe solar wind and ‘other particles fom space. Therefore, the lightness of 2 agin Question 65 Whi ofthe named ser in gue 1503 the younga!| Meer ec172 CHAPTER 6 FIGURE 66 Shalow Ara Impact Crater Tas ete In ie Nubians theres fa ‘ay ow-sgle inp. Desi Themen ject beeen tw lies the spect ae Sill cela, cea How for he tng nas. The Fepating boy eae fen he ‘econ othe missing ec, NAN RIVERS, ‘eaer ject is one cl astronomers use 10 deere ow log ag a cater focmed. “Ceres lvger than about 20 km in diameter ofen foc ered pets ee Figure 6-15) These features occur because the impact compeeses the eater floor 30 mach thee afcewaed the crater eebound and pushes the cewer Upward. Aste ental peak goes up the rater wall o- Tape and form termes “Thuough an Earth-based telescope, some 30,000 c= ters with dameters ranging fom 1k ro mote than 100, lemvarevsble Following a tation established in thes neon centr, the most prominen eters are nared her astronomers, physi, mathematicians, and pis ‘phe sch as Kepleg Copernicus, Pythagoras, Piso, nd ‘sete. Closeup phorogaphs fom lunar orbit seve milions of craters 0 sal o be seen with Eanh-based {eeseopes lndesd extreme cose-up phors fue M's Shrface reves cuties microscopic erates (Figure 6-17 "Enth, by comparison, has only 178 now craees caused by impacts. Many craters on Earth have ben pulled inside our planet by plate tectonie motion end berated. Many other craters ofa few klometrs in tlameter and smaller have been worn away (eroded) by wencering effects of wind and water Earth's atro- phere vaporized countless space socks that would cth- rere hare crated smal raters hee, Moreover, those {hat do it ae lowed down by the atmosphere ao chat they prove smaller craters han they otherwise would have, We wll discuss Earth's erates frther in Chapt 9. ese its esters the most obvious characteris of the Moon visible fom Earth s that is surface varius ‘Shades of gay (ee Figure 6-14) Mos prominent aethe Inege, dak gray plains called ara (pronounced ns cou The singular form ofthis tem, mare (pronowoeed ‘maray) means "sea" ia Latin and was inerotuced inthe feventcenth century when observers using erly. tle Scopes thot thar deve fearures were large bodies of tvater We kaowe now thar no liquid water exis on our ‘Selle, Nevertheless, we retain these poetic, fail RIVUKG FIGURE 6.17_A Microscopic Lar Crater Thi phctgraph, {ake though a icoscope shows any coca kesh {rum actos ona lee of Moon rock NASA names, including Mare Trangilitats (Sea of Trang {ty}; Mace Nubium (Se of Clouds}, Mare Neca (Se of ‘Necta] and Mare erent (Sea of Serenity). Asintro- tdaced in Chapter $ and as we wil discuss further shorty, Imari are basis on the Moon chat were filed i with lava during the Lave Heavy Bombardment (ee Section 5-7). One ofthe largest ofthe maria is Maze trian (Gen of Showers)This mares roughly cular and ea ‘hres 1100 kam (700 mi i diameter (Fgare 6-18) Figure 6-18 Mate Imbium and the Surrounding, High {os ve Imbsumy the lage ofthe da plains that dominate the Earvacing se of the Moon. singed By fighercolered fghlsnde sewn wih cers and towering tuna The glands were cated by atid impacts Phin and tgether NASH