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Permanently Shadowed Crater
A permanently shadowed crater is a depression on a body in the Solar System within which lies a point that is always in darkness. As of 2019, there are 324 known permanently shadowed regions on the Moon. Such regions also exist on Mercury and Ceres. Location Such a crater must be located at high latitude (close to a pole) and be on a body with very small axial tilt. The Moon has an axial tilt of about 1.5°; Mercury, 0.03°;Planetary Fact Sheets at http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov and Ceres, about 4°. On the Moon, permanent shadow can exist at latitudes as low as 58°; approximately 50 permanently shadowed regions exist in the 58°- 65° latitude range for both lunar hemispheres. The cumulative area of permanently shadowed lunar regions is about 31 thousand km2; more than half ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Main Erlanger Crater Large
Main may refer to: Geography * Main River (other) **Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany *Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries *''The Main'', the diverse core running through Montreal, Quebec, Canada, also separating the Two Solitudes *Main (lunar crater), located near the north pole of the Moon *Main (Martian crater) People and organisations * Main (surname), a list of people with this family name *Ma'in, alternate spelling for the Minaeans, an ancient people of modern-day Yemen *Main (band), a British ambient band formed in 1991 *Chas. T. Main, an American engineering and hydroelectric company founded in 1893 *MAIN (Mountain Area Information Network), former operator of WPVM-LP (MAIN-FM) in Asheville, North Carolina, U.S. Ships * ''Main'' (ship), an iron sailing ship launched in 1884 * SS ''Main'', list of steamships with this name * ''Main'' (A515), a modern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helium-3
Helium-3 (3He see also helion) is a light, stable isotope of helium with two protons and one neutron (the most common isotope, helium-4, having two protons and two neutrons in contrast). Other than protium (ordinary hydrogen), helium-3 is the only stable isotope of any element with more protons than neutrons. Helium-3 was discovered in 1939. Helium-3 occurs as a primordial nuclide, escaping from Earth's crust into its atmosphere and into outer space over millions of years. Helium-3 is also thought to be a natural nucleogenic and cosmogenic nuclide, one produced when lithium is bombarded by natural neutrons, which can be released by spontaneous fission and by nuclear reactions with cosmic rays. Some of the helium-3 found in the terrestrial atmosphere is also an artifact of atmospheric and underwater nuclear weapons testing. Much speculation has been made over the possibility of helium-3 as a future energy source. Unlike most nuclear fusion reactions, the fusion of helium-3 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prokofiev (crater)
Prokofiev is a crater near the north pole of the planet Mercury (planet), Mercury, named after the Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev. Data from the ''MESSENGER'' spacecraft indicates that it contains water ice and organic compounds. Although other craters in Mercury's north polar region are also believed to contain ice, Prokofiev is the largest of them, with probable surface ice along the southern crater floor that is in perpetual darkness. References Impact craters on Mercury Sergei Prokofiev {{crater-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), to give the U.S. space development effort a distinctly civilian orientation, emphasizing peaceful applications in space science. NASA has since led most American space exploration, including Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the 1968-1972 Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle. NASA supports the International Space Station and oversees the development of the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System for the crewed lunar Artemis program, Commercial Crew spacecraft, and the planned Lunar Gateway space station. The agency is also responsible for the Launch Services Program, which provides oversight of launch operations and countdown management f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kandinsky (crater)
Kandinsky is a deep crater on Mercury, located near the planet's north pole. It was named by the IAU in 2012 for Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky. Much of the floor of Kandinsky is a region of permanent shadow, which has a bright radar signature. This is interpreted to represent a deposit of water ice. The possible water ice was directly imaged by MESSENGER ''MESSENGER'' was a NASA robotic space probe that orbited the planet Mercury between 2011 and 2015, studying Mercury's chemical composition, geology, and magnetic field. The name is a backronym for "Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geoche .... References Impact craters on Mercury {{mercury-planet-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chao Meng-Fu (crater)
Chao Meng-Fu is a diameter crater on Mercury named after the Chinese painter and calligrapher Zhao Mengfu (1254–1322). Due to its location near Mercury's south pole (132.4° west, 87.3° south) and the planet's small axial tilt, an estimated 40% of the crater lies in permanent shadow. This combined with bright radar echoes from the location of the crater leads scientists to suspect that it may shelter large quantities of ice protected against sublimation into the near-vacuum by the constant temperatures. Radar evidence for ice Radar studies involving Arecibo (Puerto Rico), Goldstone (California, United States), and the Very Large Array (New Mexico, United States) detected a number of highly-radar-reflective depolarized areas on Mercury, including several locations at the planet's poles. Many of these reflective features appear to coincide with craters imaged by ''Mariner 10'', with the largest feature at the south pole corresponding to Chao Meng-Fu crater. The luminos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malapert (crater)
Malapert is a lunar impact crater that lies near the southern limb of the Moon. From the Earth this formation is viewed from the side, limiting the amount of detail that can be seen. The crater is also illuminated at very low angles, so that parts of the interior remain in almost constant darkness. The nearest craters of note are Cabeus to the west, and Shoemaker to the south-southeast and nearer to the south pole of the Moon. The rim of Malapert forms an irregular ring of peaks around the interior floor. The western side of the rim is overlain by what appear to be impact craters. There are also small craters overlying the southeastern rim. Much of the interior and details of the rim remain hidden by shadows. The southwestern part of the rim forms part of a 5-km-high rise in the surface that has been unofficially designated Malapert Mountain. This ridge appears wider along a line running roughly east–west, although details of the back side are hidden by shadows. The peak of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sylvester (crater)
Sylvester is a lunar impact crater that is located near the north pole of the Moon, along the northern limb in the libration zone. It lies just to the south-southeast of the craters Grignard and Hermite; the latter of which is within one crater diameter of the pole. South of Sylvester is Pascal Pascal, Pascal's or PASCAL may refer to: People and fictional characters * Pascal (given name), including a list of people with the name * Pascal (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** Blaise Pascal, Fren .... Due to its location, Sylvester receives sunlight at only a low angle. This crater is generally circular, with a sharp-edged rim that has received only a moderate amount of wear. There are no craters of note along the rim, although Sylvester intrudes into a smaller, shallow-rimmed crater to the southeast. The interior floor is relatively flat, but punctuated by several tiny craters. At the midpoint is a small central peak. Satellite craters ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erlanger (crater)
Erlanger is a very deep lunar impact crater that lies near the north pole of the Moon. Due to its position near the lunar north pole (and given that the Moon's axis is only tilted about 1.5°), sunlight only rarely falls on the bottom, and the 2008 Chandrayaan-1 probe hoped to find that ice from comet impacts had accumulated there. Erlanger is one of the Moon's permanently shadowed craters. The crater was named by the International Astronometrical Union on January 22, 2009, after the American physiologist and 1944 Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ... winner Joseph Erlanger. References * * * * * * * * * * * External links Article about Erlanger by Dr. Phil Plait USGS Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature entry for Erlanger {{Craters on the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shoemaker (lunar Crater)
Shoemaker is a lunar craters, lunar impact crater located near the lunar south pole, southern pole of the Moon, within half a crater diameter of Shackleton (crater), Shackleton. Crater It lies to the south of the crater Malapert (crater), Malapert, to the east of Haworth (crater), Haworth, and just to the west of the similar-sized Faustini (crater), Faustini. The rim of Shoemaker is circular and worn, with some small craters along the inner wall. Due to the lack of illumination (it is a crater of eternal darkness), the albedo of the interior floor surface remains unknown. Prior to being given its current name by the International Astronomical Union, IAU, this formation had been informally named Mawson (after the Antarctic explorer Douglas Mawson). It was officially named Shoemaker in honor of Eugene Merle Shoemaker, Eugene Shoemaker, the geologist whose remains were on board the Lunar Prospector spacecraft that impacted this crater floor. Cold trap deposits This crater became ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shackleton (crater)
Shackleton is an impact crater that lies at the lunar south pole. The peaks along the crater's rim are exposed to almost continual sunlight, while the interior is perpetually in shadow. The low-temperature interior of this crater functions as a cold trap that may capture and freeze volatiles shed during comet impacts on the Moon. Measurements by the '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft showed higher than normal amounts of hydrogen within the crater, which may indicate the presence of water ice. The crater is named after Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton. Description The rotational axis of the Moon passes through Shackleton, near the rim. The crater is in diameter and deep. From the Earth, it is viewed edge-on in a region of rough, cratered terrain. It is located within the South Pole–Aitken basin on a massif. The rim is slightly raised about the surrounding surface and it has an outer rampart that has been only lightly impacted. No significant craters intersect the rim, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shackleton Crater
Shackleton is an impact crater that lies at the lunar south pole. The peaks along the crater's rim are exposed to almost continual sunlight, while the interior is perpetually in shadow. The low-temperature interior of this crater functions as a cold trap that may capture and freeze volatiles shed during comet impacts on the Moon. Measurements by the ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft showed higher than normal amounts of hydrogen within the crater, which may indicate the presence of water ice. The crater is named after Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton. Description The rotational axis of the Moon passes through Shackleton, near the rim. The crater is in diameter and deep. From the Earth, it is viewed edge-on in a region of rough, cratered terrain. It is located within the South Pole–Aitken basin on a massif. The rim is slightly raised about the surrounding surface and it has an outer rampart that has been only lightly impacted. No significant craters intersect the rim, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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