APOD: Rotating Moon from LRO (2020 Jul 19)

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APOD: Rotating Moon from LRO (2020 Jul 19)

Post by APOD Robot » Sun Jul 19, 2020 4:08 am

Image Rotating Moon from LRO

Explanation: No one, presently, sees the Moon rotate like this. That's because the Earth's moon is tidally locked to the Earth, showing us only one side. Given modern digital technology, however, combined with many detailed images returned by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a high resolution virtual Moon rotation movie has been composed. The featured time-lapse video starts with the standard Earth view of the Moon. Quickly, though, Mare Orientale, a large crater with a dark center that is difficult to see from the Earth, rotates into view just below the equator. From an entire lunar month condensed into 24 seconds, the video clearly shows that the Earth side of the Moon contains an abundance of dark lunar maria, while the lunar far side is dominated by bright lunar highlands. Currently, over 19 new missions to the Moon are under active development from eight different countries, most of which have expected launch dates in the next three years.

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RocketRon

Re: APOD: Rotating Moon from LRO (2020 Jul 19)

Post by RocketRon » Sun Jul 19, 2020 4:50 am

Are there any good proposed explanations why these 'lava seas' are all on 'our' side of the Moon ?

In the latest thinking, is this thought to be an artifact of the moons formation, or subsequent to that ?

heehaw

Re: APOD: Rotating Moon from LRO (2020 Jul 19)

Post by heehaw » Sun Jul 19, 2020 9:02 am

Really nice!

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Re: APOD: Rotating Moon from LRO (2020 Jul 19)

Post by XgeoX » Sun Jul 19, 2020 10:53 am

When are we going to get some images of NEOWISE?

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Re: APOD: Rotating Moon from LRO (2020 Jul 19)

Post by orin stepanek » Sun Jul 19, 2020 12:31 pm

OMG! Sounds like a lot of Lunar activity in the works! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_m ... evelopment
:shock: 8-)
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Re: APOD: Rotating Moon from LRO (2020 Jul 19)

Post by BDanielMayfield » Sun Jul 19, 2020 12:35 pm

RocketRon wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 4:50 am Are there any good proposed explanations why these 'lava seas' are all on 'our' side of the Moon ?

In the latest thinking, is this thought to be an artifact of the moons formation, or subsequent to that ?
wikipedia < moon wrote:The dark and relatively featureless lunar plains, clearly seen with the naked eye, are called maria (Latin for "seas"; singular mare), as they were once believed to be filled with water;[69] they are now known to be vast solidified pools of ancient basaltic lava. Although similar to terrestrial basalts, lunar basalts have more iron and no minerals altered by water.[70] The majority of these lavas erupted or flowed into the depressions associated with impact basins. Several geologic provinces containing shield volcanoes and volcanic domes are found within the near side "maria".[71]

Almost all maria are on the near side of the Moon, and cover 31% of the surface of the near side,[72] compared with 2% of the far side.[73] This is thought to be due to a concentration of heat-producing elements under the crust on the near side, seen on geochemical maps obtained by Lunar Prospector's gamma-ray spectrometer, which would have caused the underlying mantle to heat up, partially melt, rise to the surface and erupt.
Sorry, I cut the quote off to soon to answer Ron's 2nd question. Continuing...
Most of the Moon's mare basalts erupted during the Imbrian period, 3.0–3.5 billion years ago, although some radiometrically dated samples are as old as 4.2 billion years.[76] Until recently, the youngest eruptions, dated by crater counting, appeared to have been only 1.2 billion years ago.[77] In 2006, a study of Ina, a tiny depression in Lacus Felicitatis, found jagged, relatively dust-free features that, because of the lack of erosion by infalling debris, appeared to be only 2 million years old.[78] Moonquakes and releases of gas also indicate some continued lunar activity.[78] In 2014 NASA announced "widespread evidence of young lunar volcanism" at 70 irregular mare patches identified by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, some less than 50 million years old. This raises the possibility of a much warmer lunar mantle than previously believed, at least on the near side where the deep crust is substantially warmer because of the greater concentration of radioactive elements.[79][80][81][82] Just prior to this, evidence has been presented for 2–10 million years younger basaltic volcanism inside the crater Lowell,[83][84] Orientale basin, located in the transition zone between the near and far sides of the Moon. An initially hotter mantle and/or local enrichment of heat-producing elements in the mantle could be responsible for prolonged activities also on the far side in the Orientale basin.
Last edited by BDanielMayfield on Sun Jul 19, 2020 1:00 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by BDanielMayfield » Sun Jul 19, 2020 12:48 pm

heehaw wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 9:02 amReally nice!
Yes, but the stitched together pictures must have been taken at or near high noon, when no shadows are visible. It makes the terrain look flat.

A rotating vid where the daylight/nighttime terminator is in view would be >> "nice".
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Re: APOD: Rotating Moon from LRO (2020 Jul 19)

Post by starsurfer » Sun Jul 19, 2020 1:25 pm

I think a really good idea for a movie would be Superman vs Avengers on the moon. :lol2:

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Re: Help! I need some relief!

Post by schumach@texas.net » Sun Jul 19, 2020 1:46 pm

BDanielMayfield wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 12:48 pm Yes, but the stitched together pictures must have been taken at or near high noon, when no shadows are visible. It makes the terrain look flat.
It also looks flat because there is no perspective included in the transformation and stitching; the midpoint of the image does not bulge outward toward the viewer, as it would physically by virtue of being closer to the observer. It's as though the observer were infinitely far away and did an optical zoom on the Moon. Given that the image subtends something like 15 degrees on the screen it would look more natural if it were rendered as though the viewer were a few lunar diameters distant, so that the center of the image were closer and the limbs curved gently but perceptibly away.

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Re: Help! I need some relief!

Post by Chris Peterson » Sun Jul 19, 2020 2:07 pm

schumach@texas.net wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 1:46 pm
BDanielMayfield wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 12:48 pm Yes, but the stitched together pictures must have been taken at or near high noon, when no shadows are visible. It makes the terrain look flat.
It also looks flat because there is no perspective included in the transformation and stitching; the midpoint of the image does not bulge outward toward the viewer, as it would physically by virtue of being closer to the observer. It's as though the observer were infinitely far away and did an optical zoom on the Moon. Given that the image subtends something like 15 degrees on the screen it would look more natural if it were rendered as though the viewer were a few lunar diameters distant, so that the center of the image were closer and the limbs curved gently but perceptibly away.
I disagree. The image data has been properly projected onto a sphere and then animated into rotation. The geometry is perfectly fine.
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Re: Help! I need some relief!

Post by neufer » Sun Jul 19, 2020 2:33 pm

Chris Peterson wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 2:07 pm
schumach@texas.net wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 1:46 pm
BDanielMayfield wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 12:48 pm
Yes, but the stitched together pictures must have been taken at or near high noon, when no shadows are visible. It makes the terrain look flat.
It also looks flat because there is no perspective included in the transformation and stitching; the midpoint of the image does not bulge outward toward the viewer, as it would physically by virtue of being closer to the observer. It's as though the observer were infinitely far away and did an optical zoom on the Moon. Given that the image subtends something like 15 degrees on the screen it would look more natural if it were rendered as though the viewer were a few lunar diameters distant, so that the center of the image were closer and the limbs curved gently but perceptibly away.
I disagree. The image data has been properly projected onto a sphere and then animated into rotation. The geometry is perfectly fine.
Looks like a perfect opportunity to make a 3D (red/blue) movie (to debunk the Flat Moon Society).
Art Neuendorffer

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Re: APOD: Rotating Moon from LRO (2020 Jul 19)

Post by BDanielMayfield » Sun Jul 19, 2020 3:05 pm

RocketRon wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 4:50 am Are there any good proposed explanations why these 'lava seas' are all on 'our' side of the Moon ?
By design? The near side is much more varied, interesting and romantic. The far side is boring and too bright to make a good night light. :wink:
Just as zero is not equal to infinity, everything coming from nothing is illogical.

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Re: APOD: Rotating Moon from LRO (2020 Jul 19)

Post by johnnydeep » Sun Jul 19, 2020 3:22 pm

BDanielMayfield wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 12:35 pm
RocketRon wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 4:50 am Are there any good proposed explanations why these 'lava seas' are all on 'our' side of the Moon ?

In the latest thinking, is this thought to be an artifact of the moons formation, or subsequent to that ?
wikipedia < moon wrote:The dark and relatively featureless lunar plains, clearly seen with the naked eye, are called maria (Latin for "seas"; singular mare), as they were once believed to be filled with water;[69] they are now known to be vast solidified pools of ancient basaltic lava. Although similar to terrestrial basalts, lunar basalts have more iron and no minerals altered by water.[70] The majority of these lavas erupted or flowed into the depressions associated with impact basins. Several geologic provinces containing shield volcanoes and volcanic domes are found within the near side "maria".[71]

Almost all maria are on the near side of the Moon, and cover 31% of the surface of the near side,[72] compared with 2% of the far side.[73] This is thought to be due to a concentration of heat-producing elements under the crust on the near side, seen on geochemical maps obtained by Lunar Prospector's gamma-ray spectrometer, which would have caused the underlying mantle to heat up, partially melt, rise to the surface and erupt.
Sorry, I cut the quote off to soon to answer Ron's 2nd question. Continuing...
Most of the Moon's mare basalts erupted during the Imbrian period, 3.0–3.5 billion years ago, although some radiometrically dated samples are as old as 4.2 billion years.[76] Until recently, the youngest eruptions, dated by crater counting, appeared to have been only 1.2 billion years ago.[77] In 2006, a study of Ina, a tiny depression in Lacus Felicitatis, found jagged, relatively dust-free features that, because of the lack of erosion by infalling debris, appeared to be only 2 million years old.[78] Moonquakes and releases of gas also indicate some continued lunar activity.[78] In 2014 NASA announced "widespread evidence of young lunar volcanism" at 70 irregular mare patches identified by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, some less than 50 million years old. This raises the possibility of a much warmer lunar mantle than previously believed, at least on the near side where the deep crust is substantially warmer because of the greater concentration of radioactive elements.[79][80][81][82] Just prior to this, evidence has been presented for 2–10 million years younger basaltic volcanism inside the crater Lowell,[83][84] Orientale basin, located in the transition zone between the near and far sides of the Moon. An initially hotter mantle and/or local enrichment of heat-producing elements in the mantle could be responsible for prolonged activities also on the far side in the Orientale basin.
Hmm. Still nothing explicit there about just why the mares are on the near side. An "obvious" explanation I immediately thought of for why the mares are mostly on the near side is that the near side is simply heavier! That is, there are more heavy elements on or under the near side, with the result that that side ends up being the one tidally locked with the earth. Any evidence for this? Probably not since most immediately obvious explanations turn out to be wrong... :ssmile: Unless we are supposed to draw this conclusion based on the statement that the "concentration of heat-producing elements under the crust on the near side" is the cause. Since the heat producing elements would be the heavier ones?
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Re: APOD: Rotating Moon from LRO (2020 Jul 19)

Post by BDanielMayfield » Sun Jul 19, 2020 3:31 pm

@ johnnydeep: See my comment immediately preceding yours.
Just as zero is not equal to infinity, everything coming from nothing is illogical.

Sa Ji Tario

Re: APOD: Rotating Moon from LRO (2020 Jul 19)

Post by Sa Ji Tario » Sun Jul 19, 2020 3:45 pm

Piscolabis
The video shows a sequence as if the Moon was spinning or as if we were flying in its equatorial plane.
There are many ideas and myths on the face of the Moon. There was a time when the seen phase will be determined as a specular surface and what you will see will be the reflection of the Earth, so, to know the geography that you had only seen, it was necessary to know what our location would be.
Another assumption was the "Lunar bulge", which claimed to be a variable of the terrain in the direction of the Earth achieved by a gravitational effect when the material was still plastic and when we asked his "thinker" he replied that "... as it was a very high altitude, its atmosphere was light without trees and all the water and the air were in the hidden face ... "as in the populations of pedemontes.
In another era it was the mystery of eclipses until the Chaldeans arrived. one of the Sumerian peoples, who discovered the Saros period.
Galileo broke the myth of the immaculate purity of the lunar surface when he saw circular murals and maries of another color. There are more stories affected by the culture of ancient peoples and others forgotten.
Today about 150 movements are needed in its orbital plane, another 150 in the transverse plane and about 500 or 600 fewer than the other bodies in the Solar System.
In the Natural Sciences museum of my lares, NASA exhibited a small part of a moon rock in an acrylic cover, which visited several provinces of Argentina and to top it off its white light was always the inspiration of poets, bards, aedas, etc. . and directly responsible for being the cause of countless couples

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Re: APOD: Rotating Moon from LRO (2020 Jul 19)

Post by neufer » Sun Jul 19, 2020 4:20 pm

johnnydeep wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 3:22 pm
Still nothing explicit there about just why the mares are on the near side. An "obvious" explanation I immediately thought of for why the mares are mostly on the near side is that the near side is simply heavier! That is, there are more heavy elements on or under the near side, with the result that that side ends up being the one tidally locked with the earth. Any evidence for this? Probably not since most immediately obvious explanations turn out to be wrong... :ssmile: Unless we are supposed to draw this conclusion based on the statement that the "concentration of heat-producing elements under the crust on the near side" is the cause. Since the heat producing elements would be the heavier ones?
Tidal forces act on the quadruple moment of the Moon
so both the near side mares & the far side highlands
would need to be mass concentrations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon wrote:
<<The Moon is a very slightly scalene (i.e., tri-axial) ellipsoid due to tidal stretching, with its long axis displaced 30° from facing the Earth (due to gravitational anomalies from impact basins). Its (quadruple) shape is more elongated than current tidal forces can account for. This (quadruple) 'fossil bulge' indicates that the Moon solidified when it orbited at half its current distance to the Earth, and that it is now too cold for its shape to adjust to its orbit.>>
It has been suggested that the (already scalene) Selene solidified last on its near side due to radiation from a still molten Earth.
Art Neuendorffer

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Re: APOD: Rotating Moon from LRO (2020 Jul 19)

Post by BDanielMayfield » Sun Jul 19, 2020 6:13 pm

Opinions desired: Watch today's APOD video again.

(1) Which side of the moon is more attractive or pleasing to look at?

(2) Imagine that the Moon's sides had been reversed. Would human history have changed?
Just as zero is not equal to infinity, everything coming from nothing is illogical.

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Re: APOD: Rotating Moon from LRO (2020 Jul 19)

Post by johnnydeep » Sun Jul 19, 2020 7:31 pm

BDanielMayfield wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 3:31 pm @ johnnydeep: See my comment immediately preceding yours.
I saw it. Humorous, yes, but not very scientifically satisfying :D
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Re: APOD: Rotating Moon from LRO (2020 Jul 19)

Post by johnnydeep » Sun Jul 19, 2020 7:36 pm

neufer wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 4:20 pm
johnnydeep wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 3:22 pm
Still nothing explicit there about just why the mares are on the near side. An "obvious" explanation I immediately thought of for why the mares are mostly on the near side is that the near side is simply heavier! That is, there are more heavy elements on or under the near side, with the result that that side ends up being the one tidally locked with the earth. Any evidence for this? Probably not since most immediately obvious explanations turn out to be wrong... :ssmile: Unless we are supposed to draw this conclusion based on the statement that the "concentration of heat-producing elements under the crust on the near side" is the cause. Since the heat producing elements would be the heavier ones?
Tidal forces act on the quadruple moment of the Moon
so both the near side mares & the far side highlands
would need to be mass concentrations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon wrote:
<<The Moon is a very slightly scalene (i.e., tri-axial) ellipsoid due to tidal stretching, with its long axis displaced 30° from facing the Earth (due to gravitational anomalies from impact basins). Its (quadruple) shape is more elongated than current tidal forces can account for. This (quadruple) 'fossil bulge' indicates that the Moon solidified when it orbited at half its current distance to the Earth, and that it is now too cold for its shape to adjust to its orbit.>>
It has been suggested that the (already scalene) Selene solidified last on its near side due to radiation from a still molten Earth.
Very interesting. See, I told you my "immediately obvious" explanation was immediately suspect!
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Re: APOD: Rotating Moon from LRO (2020 Jul 19)

Post by MarkBour » Sun Jul 19, 2020 11:44 pm

XgeoX wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 10:53 am When are we going to get some images of NEOWISE?
LOL !
Mark Goldfain

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