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Sinus Iridum
Sinus Iridum (Latin ''sinus īridum'' "Bay of Rainbows") is a plain of basaltic lava that forms a northwestern extension to the Mare Imbrium on Earth's moon. It is surrounded from the northeast to the southwest by the Montes Jura range. The protruding part of the range at the southwest end is named Promontorium Heraclides, while that at the northeast end is called Promontorium Laplace. This bay and the surrounding mountains is considered one of the most beautiful features on the Moon, and is a favorite among lunar observers. Sinus Iridum is formed from the remains of a large impact crater, which was subsequently flooded with basaltic lava, inundating the "sea" wall. The bay itself does not contain any notable impact craters, but does include the satellite crater Heraclides E in the south, Laplace A along the eastern edge, and Bianchini G in the north. The surface is level, but is marked by a number of wrinkle ridges (dorsa). Sinus Iridum is one of the largest craters of Upper ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Golden Handle
The Golden Handle is a visual effect at the Terminator (solar)#Lunar terminator, lunar terminator. About 10 to 11 days after new moon the valley of the rainbow bay (Sinus Iridum) is still in shadow, while the mountain peaks of the adjacent Montes Jura are already reached by sunlight due to their height of up to 2700 meters. Because of its concise shape, reminiscent of a handle, and the yellowish light reflected from the Moon, this formation received the name "Golden Handle". The Golden Handle is visible once within a month for several hours. It can be observed with binoculars and can be taken by cameras with telephoto lenses. Goldener Henkel Februar 2017.jpg, 6 February 2017 22:27 MEZ (UTC+1) Goldener.Henkel.9.6.2022.P1139248.jpg, 9 June 2022 22:25 MESZ (UTC+2) Mare_Imbrium_-_Sinus_Iridum.jpg, 1 April 2012 19:30 UTC−3 mit benachbarten Mondstrukturen (telescopic/rotated image) External links {{Commons category, Golden handle Waxing moon with Golden Handle EarthSky.or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is a NASA robotic spacecraft currently orbiting the Moon in an eccentric Polar orbit, polar mapping orbit. Data collected by LRO have been described as essential for planning NASA's future human and robotic missions to the Moon. Its detailed mapping program is identifying safe landing sites, locating potential resources on the Moon, characterizing the radiation environment, and demonstrating new technologies. Launched on June 18, 2009, in conjunction with the LCROSS, Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), as the vanguard of NASA's Lunar Precursor Robotic Program, LRO was the first United States mission to the Moon in over ten years. LRO and LCROSS were launched as part of the United States's Vision for Space Exploration program. The probe has made a 3-D map of the Moon's surface at 100-meter resolution and 98.2% coverage (excluding polar areas in deep shadow), including 0.5-meter resolution images of Apollo landing sites. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Imbrian
The Imbrian is a lunar geologic period divided into two epochs, the Early and Late. Early Imbrian In the lunar geologic timescale, the Early Imbrian epoch occurred from 3,850 million years ago to about 3,800 million years ago. It overlaps the end of the Late Heavy Bombardment of the Inner Solar System. The impact that created the huge Mare Imbrium basin occurred at the start of the epoch. The other large basins that dominate the lunar near side (such as Mare Crisium, Mare Tranquillitatis, Mare Serenitatis, and Mare Fecunditatis) were also formed in this period. These basins filled with basalt mostly during the subsequent Late Imbrian epoch. The Early Imbrian was preceded by the Nectarian. Late Imbrian In the Lunar geologic timescale, the Late Imbrian epoch occurred between 3,800 million years ago to about 3,200 million years ago. It was the epoch during which the mantle below the lunar basins partially melted and filled them with basalt. The melting is thought to have occu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volcanism On The Moon
Volcanism on the Moon is represented by the presence of volcanoes, pyroclastic rock, pyroclastic deposits and vast lava plains on the lunar surface. The volcanoes are typically in the form of small domes and cones that form large volcanic complexes and isolated edifices. Calderas, large-scale collapse features generally formed late in a volcanic eruptive episode, are exceptionally rare on the Moon. Lunar pyroclastic deposits are the result of lava fountain eruptions from volatile-laden basaltic magmas rapidly ascending from deep Internal structure of the Moon, mantle sources and erupting as a spray of magma, forming tiny glass beads. However, pyroclastic deposits formed by less common non-basaltic explosive eruptions are also thought to exist on the Moon. Lunar lava plains cover large swaths of the Moon's surface and consist mainly of voluminous basaltic flows. They contain a number of volcanic features related to the cooling of lava, including lava tubes, rilles and wrinkle ridges. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terminator (solar)
A terminator or twilight zone is a moving line that divides the daylight, daylit side and the dark night side of a astronomical object, planetary body. The terminator is defined as the locus (mathematics), locus of points on a planet or natural satellite, moon where the line through the center of its parent star is tangent. An observer on the terminator of such an orbiting body with an atmosphere would experience twilight due to light scattering by particles in the gaseous layer. Earth's terminator On Earth, the terminator is a circle with a diameter that is approximately that of Earth. The terminator passes through any point on Earth's surface twice a day, at sunrise and at sunset, apart from polar regions where this only occurs when the point is not experiencing midnight sun or polar night. The circle separates the portion of Earth experiencing daylight from that experiencing darkness (night). While a little over one half of Earth is illuminated at any point in time (with exce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Moon
In astronomy, the new moon is the first lunar phase, when the Moon and Sun have the same ecliptic longitude. At this phase, the lunar disk is not visible to the naked eye, except when it is silhouetted against the Sun during a solar eclipse. The original meaning of the term 'new moon', which is still sometimes used in calendrical, non-astronomical contexts, is the first visible crescent of the Moon after conjunction with the Sun. This thin waxing crescent is briefly and faintly visible as the Moon gets lower in the western sky after sunset. The precise time and even the date of the appearance of the new moon by this definition will be influenced by the geographical location of the observer. The first crescent marks the beginning of the month in the Islamic calendar and in some lunisolar calendars such as the Hebrew calendar. In the Chinese calendar, the beginning of the month is marked by the last visible crescent of a waning Moon. The astronomical new moon occurs by def ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chang'e 3
Chang'e 3 (; ) is a robotic lunar exploration mission operated by the China National Space Administration (CNSA), incorporating a robotic lander and China's first lunar rover. It was launched in December 2013 as part of the second phase of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program. The mission's chief commander was Ma Xingrui. The spacecraft was named after Chang'e, the goddess of the Moon in Chinese mythology, and is a follow-up to the Chang'e 1 and Chang'e 2 lunar orbiters. The rover was named ''Yutu'' () following an online poll, after the mythological rabbit that lives on the Moon as a pet of the Moon goddess. Chang'e 3 achieved lunar orbit on 6 December 2013 and landed on 14 December 2013, becoming the first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976 and the third country to successfully achieve the feat. On 28 December 2015, Chang'e 3 discovered a new type of basaltic rock, rich in ilmenite, a black mineral. Overview The Chi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Selenographic Coordinates
The selenographic coordinate system is used to refer to locations on the surface of Earth's moon. Any position on the lunar surface can be referenced by specifying two numerical values, which are comparable to the latitude and longitude of Earth. The longitude gives the position east or west of the Moon's prime meridian, which is the line passing from the lunar north pole through the point on the lunar surface directly facing Earth to the lunar south pole. (See also prime meridian, Earth's prime meridian.) This can be thought of as the midpoint of the visible Moon as seen from the Earth. The latitude gives the position north or south of the lunar equator. Both of these coordinates are given in degree (angle), degrees. Astronomers defined the fundamental location in the selenographic coordinate system by the small, bowl-shaped satellite crater 'Mösting (crater), Mösting A'. The coordinates of this crater are defined as: : Later, the coordinate system has become more pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don Wilhelms
Don Edward Wilhelms (born July 5, 1930) is a former United States Geological Survey geologist who contributed to geologic mapping of the Earth's moon and to the geologic training of the Apollo astronauts. He is the author of ''To a Rocky Moon: A Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration'' (1993), ''The geologic history of the Moon'' (1987), and he co-authored the ''Geologic Map of the Near Side of the Moon'' (1971) with John F. McCauley. Wilhelms also contributed to ''Apollo Over the Moon: A View from Orbit'' (NASA SP-362). He has also contributed to the study of Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ... (including Mariner 9), Mercury, and Ganymede. Biography He was born July 5, 1930. Wilhelms was the recipient of the G. K. Gilbert Award in 1988. He received the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
USGS
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on March 3, 1879, to study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The agency also makes maps of planets and moons, based on data from List of NASA missions, U.S. space probes. The sole scientific agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior, USGS is a fact-finding research organization with no regulatory responsibility. It is headquartered in Reston, Virginia, with major offices near Lakewood, Colorado; at the Denver Federal Center; and in NASA Research Park in California. In 2009, it employed about 8,670 people. The current motto of the USGS, in use since August 1997, is "science for a changing world". The agency's previous s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wrinkle Ridge
A wrinkle ridge is a type of feature commonly found on lunar maria, or basalt plains. These features are low, sinuous ridges formed on the mare surface that can extend for up to several hundred kilometers. Wrinkle ridges are tectonic features created after the lava cooled and solidified. They frequently outline ring structures buried within the mare, follow circular patterns outlining the mare, or intersect protruding peaks. They are sometimes called ''veins'' due to their resemblance to the veins that protrude from beneath the skin. Wrinkle ridges are named with the Latin designation ''dorsum'' (plural ''dorsa''). The standard IAU nomenclature uses the names of people (generally scientists) to identify wrinkle ridges on the Moon. For example, the Dorsa Burnet are named for Thomas Burnet, and the Dorsum Owen is named after George Owen of Henllys. Wrinkle ridges can also be found on Mars, for example in Chryse Planitia, on several of the asteroids that have been visited ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oceanus Procellarum Si Barbero Zetta Ferruggia
In Greek mythology, Oceanus ( ; , also , , or ) was a Titan son of Uranus and Gaia, the husband of his sister the Titan Tethys, and the father of the river gods and the Oceanids, as well as being the great river which encircled the entire world. Etymology According to M. L. West, the etymology of Oceanus is "obscure" and "cannot be explained from Greek". The use by Pherecydes of Syros of the form () for the name lends support for the name being a loanword. However, according to West, no "very convincing" foreign models have been found. A Semitic derivation has been suggested by several scholars, while R. S. P. Beekes has suggested a loanword from the Aegean Pre-Greek non-Indo-European substrate. Nevertheless, Michael Janda sees possible Indo-European connections. Genealogy Oceanus was the eldest of the Titan offspring of Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth). Hesiod lists his Titan siblings as Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus, Theia, Rhea (mythology), Rhea, Themis, Mnemo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
