Table Of ContentPatrick Moore’s Practical Astronomy Series
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The Moon
in Close-up
A Next Generation Astronomer’s Guide
John Wilkinson
JohnWilkinson
ISSN1431-9756
ISBN978-3-642-14804-0 e-ISBN978-3-642-14805-7
DOI10.1007/978-3-642-14805-7
SpringerHeidelbergDordrechtLondonNewYork
#Springer-VerlagBerlinHeidelberg2010
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Preface
Throughout history, our Moon has been a constant source of fascina-
tion. Ancient civilizations worshipped it and used it to measure time
and predict the rise and fall of the oceans. The Moon is also the most
dominant member of the night sky being much brighter than all the
planetsandthebackgroundofstars.TheMoonissolargeandsocloseto
Earththatsomeofitssurfacefeaturesarereadilyvisibletothenakedeye.
Withoutatelescope,youcaneasilyseedarkgreyandlightgreyareasthat
cover vast areas of the Moon.
The invention of the telescope in 1608 enabled observers such as
Galileo to observe for the first time the various features on the Moon’s
surface.Galileowasabletoobservethecraters,mountainsand“seas”on
theMoon.Astelescopesimproved,sodidthequalityofobservationsand
ourunderstandingoftheMoon’sroleintheSolarSystem.Then,50years
ago, space travel changed everything.
ThefirstspacecrafttoreachtheMoonwastheUSSR’sLuna1in1959.
Sincethenmorethan70spacecrafthavevisitedtheMoon.Someofthese
spacecrafthavebeenroboticwhileothershavebeenmanned.Amongthe
roboticspacecraftwastheJupiterboundprobenamedGalileo.Scientists
tested Galileo’s instruments with Moon observations before it made its
historic journey to explore the Jupiter system.
Perhaps the most outstanding technological achievement in space
traveloccurredinJuly1969whenUSAastronautNeilArmstrongbecame
the first human to walk on the Moon’s surface. Since then, a total of
12 astronauts have walked on the Moon’s surface and returned to Earth
with samples of lunar rocks. These rocks greatly improved our under-
standing of lunar geology.
v
vi Preface
Currently robotic spacecraft from around the world are working
together to launch a new era of lunar science. Plans are underway to
send astronauts back to the Moon as part of a larger strategy to explore
other planets in our solar system. A number of countries have begun
exploring the Moonvia unmanned spaceprobes. The USA has been the
most active with the probes Clementine (1994), Lunar Prospector
(1999), and Smart 1 (2003). More recently, the USA’s unmanned Lunar
ReconnaissanceOrbiter(2009)issearchingfordepositsofwatericethat
prospectiveMooncolonistscouldusetomakeair,fuelandperhapseven
grow food. Other space probes are charting the Moon for valuable
mineral deposits. Three other countries have also active lunar explora-
tion programs – Japan (Kaguya probe, 2007), China (Chang’e program,
2007) and India (Chandrayaan program, 2008).
Information collected by these recent space probes has changed our
knowledgeandunderstandingoftheMoon,particularlyitsgeology.This
book presents those findings in a way that is useful for amateur astron-
omers,students,educatorsandanyoneinterestedintheMoon.Thebook
combinesnewlyacquiredscientificunderstandingwithdetaileddescrip-
tionsandphotographsofthemanylunarfeatures.Amateurastronomers
using telescopes and binoculars can observe these features from Earth.
This book is special in that the final chapter is divided into 17 Study
Areaswith eachareacontaining photographic mapsofthelunarsurface
forreaderstousetoexploretheMoonwithbinocularsoranastronomi-
cal telescope. Readers using the photographic maps will gain a better
understanding about the Moon’s topography and geology.
John Wilkinson
Acknowledgements
The author and publisher are grateful to the following for the use of
photographsinthispublication:NationalAeronauticsandSpaceAdmin-
istration (NASA), Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI/USA). All photo-
graphsusedasmapshavebeensourcedfromtheConsolidatedLunarAtlas
producedbytheLPIwithpermission.Allotherphotographsaresupplied
bytheauthor(JW).Creditforeachphotographisgivenattheendofeach
caption. While every care has been taken to trace and acknowledge
copyright, the author apologises in advance for any accidental infringe-
mentwherecopyrighthasprovenuntraceable.Hewillbepleasedtocome
to a suitable arrangement with the rightful owner in each case.
vii
.
Contents
Preface .................................................................. v
Acknowledgements ................................................... vii
Chapter 1 Introducing the Moon .................................. 1
What’s New?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Early Ideas About the Moon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Landmarks in Lunar Astronomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Orbit and Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Libration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Phases of the Moon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Sidereal and Synodic Month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Features of the Moon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Terms Used When Observing the Moon . . . . . . . . . . . .26
Maps of the Moon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
Gravity and Tidal Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
Atmosphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31
Water. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
Temperature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
Magnetic Field. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34
Far Side of the Moon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
Web Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
Chapter 2 Probing the Moon ..................................... 39
What’s New?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40
ix
