| Piú votate - SMART-1: the Moon from ESA |
06-Smart-1_waning-Earth.jpgWaning Earth, from SMART-1106 visiteTerra "calante", vista dallo Spazio: ecco una serie di spettacolari fotogrammi ad HD che provengono dalla Sonda ESA "SMART-1". Tra i compiti maggiori di questa piccola Sonda c'è, a detta del Centro Controllo Missione, quello di fornire una mappatura ultra-dettagliata della superficie Lunare, alla ricerca di qualche "posto buono" per la creazione di insediamenti umani permanenti (o, se preferite, di "Colonie Lunari").
I "picchi della Luce Eterna", ad esempio (un'espressione davvero suggestiva per indicare alcune zone della Luna, situate a ridosso dei Poli, le quali potrebbero essere perennemente illuminate dalla luce del Sole), fanno parte dei posti (teoricamente) buoni per pensare ad un insediamento permanente efficace.
E per il sostentamento?
(3 voti)
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09-D-CIXS_calcium-detection2.jpgWhat the Moon is made of...According to SMART-1145 visiteUna premessa necessaria: il giorno 15.01.2005 una possente eruzione solare (solar flare) ha investito la Luna. Le particelle provenienti dal Sole, abbattendosi sul nostro Satellite, hanno interagito con la sua superficie ed i suoi elementi.
L'output globale di questa interazione è stato registrato da SMART-1 usando lo spettrografo D-CIXS.
"Top Left: GOES X-ray spectrum showing the Solar input. Note the flares around 06:00 UT on 15 January 2005 (GOES Data Courtesy NOAA).
Lower Left: D-CIXS spectrograms showing fluorescence emission from the Moon as a response. The 3 panels show the summed outputs of the 3 separate D-CIXS facets.
Top Right: Area of the Moon overflown during this observation, running from 15° to 45° North, at 60° East long., including Mare Crisium in the southern part of the region.
Bottom Right: The derived X-ray spectrum, indicating lunar elemental composition. Note the prominent Calcium feature, as well as visible Aluminium, Silicon and Iron".
(10 voti)
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16-Lunar Alps_H_SEMG9R7X9DE.jpgThe Lunar Alps106 visiteOriginal caption:"The European Alps were formed over millions of years by slow-moving sections of Earth’s crust pushed together, squeezing the land to form a giant arc of upthrust mountains, but the Lunar Alps were formed in an instant. It is thought that the Moon collided with a huge object, such as an asteroid, 3850 million years ago. The collision formed a huge crater, about 1000 Km in diameter. This crater was later filled with basaltic lava, forming the dark circular basin known as Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains). After the explosive collision, fragments, rocks and dust fell back to the surface. While there is considerable debate as to the actual mechanism which formed the concentric rings, it is agreed they are not 'fallback' material. Some scientists argue that the the impact caused the lower layers to act as a liquid and that the rings then 'froze' in place. A flood of lava covered the lower inner one, but the outer one remains as a series of arc-shaped mountain ranges.
In places these mountains rise over 3000 metres. Their inner walls are steep and well defined, but their outer slopes become more broken as elevation decreases away from the impact site. Early European astronomers named them after familiar mountain ranges, such as the Juras, the Apennines and the Alps.
Seen in this image, Vallis Alpes (Alpine Valley) is a spectacular feature that bisects the Montes Alpes range. This valley was discovered in 1727 by Francesco Bianchini. It extends 166 kilometres from Mare Imbrium, trending north-east to the edge of the Mare Frigoris (Sea of Cold). The valley is narrow at both ends and widens to about 10 kilometres across.
The valley floor is a flat, lava-flooded surface that has narrow sinous ‘rille’ running down the middle. It is generally considered to be a 'graben', an area between two parallel faults which has dropped below the surrounding area. This is believed to have formed after the formation of the basin, but before the full maria lava flows. The rille corresponds to a ‘lava tube’ formed in a later geological episode by high-speed and low viscosity magma.
"SMART-1 is studying the signature of violent processes that took place during the formation of these giant impact basins, as well as the sequence of late volcanic history over the lunar surface until 3000 million years ago,” said ESA’s SMART-1 Project Scientist Bernard Foing.
(12 voti)
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