Electric Moon

[StefanR]

Transient Lunar Phenomena

The Moon is dominated by gigantic circular structures where unusual luminous discharges have been observed. Are they indicative of past electrical events?

For more than a thousand years, reports have circulated about events on the Moon that should not appear on a "dead" celestial body. Various accounts describe glowing clouds in red and green, or sudden outbursts of yellow flares and intense flashes of light. Such observations do not accord with conventional theories.

Because the Moon is thought to have lost all its heat to space more than a billion years ago and it has no magnetic field to speak of, violent activity should not be taking place on its surface today. For this reason, astronomers and astrophysicists have discounted "transient lunar phenomena". Since most of the sightings by single individuals received no corroboration and no images were recorded until recently, the incidents were said to be apocryphal or deliberately misleading.

That leaves open the question of whether transient phenomena on the Moon are in fact real. The question was answered by a recent statistical breakdown indicating the evidence for them and the reports about them are authentic. What could the explanation be for their appearance?

One theory that bears close examination is related to electrostatic charging and discharging of materials on the surface. Triboelectric charging of particles or electrostatic levitation of dust near the lunar terminator might give rise to some luminescence visible to observers on our planet. Several lunar surface features seem best identified with electrical scars from catastrophic encounters in the recent past, so remnant electrodynamic forces might linger in the Moon's environment to this day - especially since the Moon's orbit takes it in and out of the charge sheath that extends outward from Earth.

http://www.thunderbolts.info/tpod/2007/arch07/071221lunarphenomena.htm

[StefanR]

A DYNAMIC FOUNTAIN MODEL FOR LUNAR DUST

Introduction: During the Apollo era of exploration
it was discovered that sunlight was scattered at the
terminators giving rise to “horizon glow” and “streamers”
above the lunar surface [1,2] (e.g., Fig. 1). This
was observed from the dark side of the Moon during
sunset and sunrise by both surface landers and astronauts
in orbit. These observations were quite unexpected,
as the Moon was thought to be a pristine environment
with a negligible atmosphere or exosphere.
Subsequent investigations have shown that the sunlight
was most likely scattered by electrostatically charged
dust grains originating from the surface [2,3,4,5,6]. It
has since been demonstrated that this dust population
could have serious implications for astronomical observations
from the lunar surface [7].

Model Results: Surface charging in the model is
driven by photoelectron currents on the dayside and
plasma electron currents on the nightside [8]. Fig. 3
shows the maximum height reached by a dust grain
(ZMAX) as a function of rd and the angle from the subsolar
point (
θ
) for typical solar wind conditions. This
reveals that dust can be lofted by the fountain effect at
most locations on the lunar surface. However, there is
an absence of lofted dust in a region just sunward of
the terminator (
θ
≈ 80°), which we refer to here as the
“Dead Zone”. In our model this marks the transition
from surface potentials, fS > 0 on the dayside to fS < 0
on the nightside, where there is no net charging of the
surface as fS ≈ 0. So no lofting of dust grains can occur
there. Fig. 3 also shows that at the terminator dust
grains <0.1 μm can be lofted to ~1–100 km.
Discussion and Conclusions: In the model presented
here we have neglected the effects of: (1) grain
adhesion to the surface [9], (2) secondary electron currents
[8,10,11], (3) horizontal electric fields at the terminator
[12], (4) the lunar wake on surface charging
near the terminator [13,14], (5) collective behaviour on
dust grain charging [11]. Of these, we would expect
secondary electron currents and grain adhesion to have
the most significant impacts.
From a comparison with [7] it appears that submicron
dust grains could contaminate astronomical
observations of infra-red, visible and UV light over a
significant portion of the lunar surface, and not just at
the terminator. This one of many ways in which dust
could interfere with science and exploration activities
on the Moon, therefore a thorough understanding of
lunar dust behaviour is necessary in order to effectively
tackle future problems

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2005/pdf/1899.pdf
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/30mar_moonfountains.htm

[StefanR]

Recent Gas Escape from the Moon

The Moon is generally thought to be geologically inactive, except for being pummeled by meteoroids of various sizes. The youngest returned igneous rocks are about 3 billion years old, although crater counting suggest some lava flows as young as a billion years. However, Peter Schultz (Brown University), Matthew Staid (Planetary Sciences Institute, Tucson), and Carlé Pieters (Brown University) report an array of data that indicate that the Moon may be active enough inside to occasionally spew puffs of gases that blow off the fine-grained, busted up surface materials known as the regolith. The researchers studied a feature called the Ina structure, a depression containing numerous steep-sided hills, located in a mare region known as Lacus Felicitatis. Ina is fresh in appearance both photographically and spectrally. Calibration of crater counts and spectra with other craters dated by cosmochemists using Apollo lunar samples indicate that Ina could be as young as 1 million years.

The Ina structure was identified as an unusual feature during the Apollo program, but nobody showed that it could be geologically recent until Pete Schultz started to study it in 1991. Teaming up with Matt Staid and Carlé Pieters, experts in lunar spectroscopy, added a new dimension to his analysis, leading to the recent report. Schultz and his colleagues point to three lines of evidence for Ina being a geological youngster: steep slopes, few superimposed impact craters, and a spectral signature that screams "young."

Ina was first thought from Apollo imagery to be a caldera atop a volcano. The depression lies on the summit of a wide (15 kilometers) but low (only 300 meters high) dome. Inside Ina there are dark hills 5 to 25 meters high with steep sides. The hills are surrounded by brighter, rougher floor materials. The relatively sharp delineation of these features suggests that the smooth hills are young--otherwise they would be much more subdued.

How Did Ina Form?

The bright, rubbled materials on Ida's floor appear to consist of fresh exposures of high-titanium mare basalt, with the regolith removed. The heights of the hills suggest that the regolith is thicker than 12 meters. An alternative is that the surface consists of pyroclastic volcanic materials, or a combination of regolith and pyroclastic debris. The basalts are old, probably as old as the Apollo 11 mare basalts, about 3.5 billion years. Schultz and colleagues suggest that the regolith or pyroclastic layer was blown away by the sudden release of pressurized gases. The subdued ejecta surrounding the structure indicates that the process was not as energetic as an impact, consistent with a gas eruption. Which gases is unknown, but they must have come from deep within the Moon, and collected beneath the surface until their pressure built up enough to suddenly burp out, blowing regolith around, a rare case of wind on the airless Moon.

Schultz has found three other features similar to Ina. All are related to structural features associated with linear rilles associated with the Imbrium impact basin. These areas may be places of crustal weaknesses that allow interior gases to escape.

http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/Nov06/MoonGas.html

[StefanR]

A transient lunar phenomenon (TLP) or "Lunar Transient Phenomena" (LTP), refers to short-lived lights, colors, or changes in appearance of the lunar surface.

Claims of short-lived phenomena go back at least 1,000 years, with some having been observed independently by multiple witnesses or reputable scientists. Nevertheless, the majority of transient lunar phenomena reports are irreproducible and do not possess adequate control experiments that could be used to distinguish among alternative hypotheses. Few reports concerning these phenomena are ever published in peer reviewed scientific journals, and rightfully or wrongfully, the lunar scientific community rarely discusses these observations.

Most lunar scientists will acknowledge that transient events such as outgassing and impact cratering do occur over geologic time: the controversy lies in the frequency of such events.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transient_lunar_phenomenon

[StefanR]

LUNAR TRANSIENT PHENOMENA RESEARCHPROGRAM
BY
DAVID O. DARLING

The following table represents the 27 lunar formations and the five categories of L.T.P. that are listed in the catalog listed below. These categories represent brightening which consist of increases in albedo intensities. These could also be glow effects being reported on the dark portion of the Moon. Darkening can consist of shadow appearances, and darkening of the interior of normally bright formations. Gaseous represents an observation that appears that some manner of atmosphere effect on the Moon surface was taking place causing the lunar scene to be blurred or not visible. Reddish events are just that, the formation being observed has red spots on the rim and/or around the formation. Bluish or violet color or glare on the lunar feature is a rare phenomena but has been reported by observers over the years.

http://www.ltpresearch.org/nav.htm

[StefanR]

LINK

[StefanR]

http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/launchpad/1837/equipment.html#image

MISSION STATEMENT
THOUSANDS OF TRANSIENT LUNAR PHENOMENA REPORTS OVER THE LAST FEW HUNDRED YEARS HAVE FAILED TO MAKE AN IMPACT ON THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY DUE TO A LACK OF HARD IRREFUTABLE EVIDENCE.
HOPEFULLY IMAGING WILL PROVIDE SUCH EVIDENCE.
I WILL BE VIDEO IMAGING THE MOON AS OFTEN AS I CAN.
I WILL POST FRAME GRABS AND VIDEO CLIPS FROM ALL OBSERVING SESSIONS AS A REFERENCE FOR OTHERS CONDUCTING SIMILAR OBSERVING PROJECTS.
I AM EXPANDING THE DEFINITION OF TRANSIENT LUNAR PHENOMENA TO INCLUDE LUNAR METEORITE IMPACTS AND UNUSUAL LIGHTING PHENOMENA INCLUDING LUNAR LIGHT RAYS
LUNAR LIGHT RAYS ARE INDEED TRANSIENT, ELUSIVE AND VERY BEAUTIFUL
I WANT TO THANK ROB ROBINSON OF ROBINSON LUNAR OBSERVATORY FOR MAKING ME AWARE OF THEM
SEE THE LINK BELOW FOR IMAGES OF LIGHT RAYS
TO DATE I HAVE DISCOVERED A FEW AND HOPE TO FIND MORE

"When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong."
ARTHUR C. CLARKE

[StefanR]

PROBING LUNAR VOLATILES: INITIAL GROUND-BASED RESULTS.

Introduction: We present initial results from several
probes (outlined below) to characterize volatiles
originating from or residing below the lunar surface.
The first paper [1] in this series presents a merging
of existing samples of episodic lunar events (moonquakes,
outgassing events, radon release episodes and
optical transient lunar phenomena - TLPs) by correlating
them geographically (and temporally). By requiring
statistical consistency in the sample of ~1500
TLPs after they are subdivided according to likely randomizing
parameters and by discarding discrepant
portions of the sample, we isolate robust rates of reports
consistently to certain classes of features: sites
along the interface between maria and highlands, and
fresh, large impact craters e.g., Kepler, Tycho, Copernicus.
An extreme case is Aristarchus, which is unique
in representing both categories, given that it coincides
with a 50,000 km2 plateau of highland-like elevation.
We find that these reported events are likely due to real
lunar outgassing (~85% of the time by our estimates),
since they correspond closely to the loci of 222Rn release
episodes, according to two separate statistical
tests, which each indicate that this result cannot be
random, each at the ~10-4 probability level. We confirm
proximity of moonquakes to mare edges, in detail.
Further in [2] we consider methods by which lunar
outgassing might generate TLPs, other ways in which
events might interact with the regolith, and the manner
in which gas might propagate above the surface. Key
among these points is the extent to which the fraction
of vented gas depends crucially on the ionization state
of the gas, how the gas/regolith interaction depends on
the gas flow rate, and the likely extent to which water
might be retained in an ice layer about 10-15 m below
the surface, near the triple point temperature.

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2007/pdf/2294.pdf

[MGmirkin]

Here's a question: Are TLP's more prevalent during "full moon?"

If the answer is yes, might it have to do with the recent article on the moon being tickled by the Earth's plasmatail [mentioned as magnetotail in the article]?

Not saying that's necessarily the answer, but it seems like a valid question in light of (no pun intended) the recent NASA article on the plasmatail.

Likewise, even non-full-moon TLP's may implicate some level of electrical interaction if, as NASA says, the moon is constantly being bombarded and/or charges by the plasma tail monthly and the solar wind on a likely daily basis...

Just some thoughts...
~Michael Gmirkin

[StefanR]

Likewise, even non-full-moon TLP's may implicate some level of electrical interaction if, as NASA says, the moon is constantly being bombarded and/or charges by the plasma tail monthly and the solar wind on a likely daily basis...

Well. it was kind of the reason of starting this thread. As I had the same questions.
It is on this site;
http://www.ltpresearch.org/nav.htm
and especially here:
http://www.ltpresearch.org/MANUAL/chap4.html
It is possible to see a lot of the information that is needed to make statements about what you ask.

Take for instance Aristarchus-Crater which seems to be very active:

http://www.ltpresearch.org/aristarchus1.htm

The crater Aristarchus, when looking at my own observing experience could fill my own book on this subject. I have witnessed Aristarchus glowing in the Earthshine and have seen faint illumination inside the crater. This lunar formation has such a exceptional history when it comes to lunar transient phenomena that it dominates the entire field. I decided that since every kind of L.T.P. event has taken place here, this crater would be my first in-depth study. The following graph consist of data taken from the Lunar Transient Phenomena Catalog July 1978 NSSDC/WDC-A-R&S 78-05. The catalog was compiled by Winifred Sawtell Cameron The publisher for this catalog is National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) / World Data Center A for Rockets and Satellites (WDC-A-R&S) National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland 20771. When looking at the data it is important to remember that sunrise does not take place until the twelfth day of lunation, so a great many of the reported events take place on the dark region of the Moon, between the second and fifth day old Moon. From the sixth to the tenth day, the sunrise terminator proximity to Aristarchus prevents observations of the dark portion of the lunar disk. Events have been reported in this time period and must have been exceptionally brilliant to compete with brightness of the lunar disk. The most interesting thing about this data is on day fourteen which is one day before Full Moon the lunar transient phenomena peaks out at thirty eight events. A detailed examination of the individual L.T.P. reports on this lunation date will give us a better understanding of what is taking place here.

The first graph represented all the lunar transient events reported for this crater. Due to the large number of events I decided to break them down into their individual classifications as given in the L.T.P. catalog. These five classification are Brightening, Bluish, Reddish, Gaseous, and Darkening. This will give the reader a better understanding of the dynamics taking place within this crater through out the lunation period.

This graph shows the distribution of the L.T.P. classification called brightening. As you can see this phenomena is mainly reported as an Earthshine event. The number of events reported on the graph for the fourteenth day are considerably less.

The lunar transient phenomena called violet or bluish as it will be referred to in this web site dominates the lunation on two specific periods. The first is on day twelve and second on day sixteen, with the Full Moon taking place on the day fifteen.

The data indicates that the reddish events are reported at the time of lunar sunrise on this crater and a second jump on the day after Full Moon

The gaseous events is a special classification. This phenomena can be classified as a red or darkening event but if it behaves like a gaseous medium then both these classifications are given. Again the most active day takes place one day after Full Moon.

This graph reflects the lunar transient phenomena that is reported the least in association with Aristarchus. There are so few darkening events reported that it no significant pattern is revealed.

When looking at the lunar transient phenomena reports by months of the year, we find a continued increase until May then a drop. The month of July is spike may be caused by the landing on the Moon on July 20, 1969. At this juncture I have no explanation for the increase activity in the months of October and November

So there is something to what you're wandering about, Michael.
There is a lot more data about other craters too.

[StefanR]

http://www.thunderbolts.info/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=3857#p3857

Well this for me is a case of serendipity. (or is it a case of a Sheldrakian field interaction )

At least it seems the idea is supported by professionals.
Kudos to the amateurs

Thanks cbc, for pointing to the space.com-article.

[MGmirkin]

When looking at the data it is important to remember that sunrise does not take place until the twelfth day of lunation, so a great many of the reported events take place on the dark region of the Moon, between the second and fifth day old Moon. From the sixth to the tenth day, the sunrise terminator proximity to Aristarchus prevents observations of the dark portion of the lunar disk. Events have been reported in this time period and must have been exceptionally brilliant to compete with brightness of the lunar disk. The most interesting thing about this data is on day fourteen which is one day before Full Moon the lunar transient phenomena peaks out at thirty eight events.

[/quote]

Hmm, just to be clear, this section is interesting to me on account of the fact that the recent articles about the plasma tail noted that the plasma tail crosses the moon from about 3 days before to 3 days after full moon. So, the fact that TLPs peak on or just before full moon is at least "interesting"...

Fancy that, plasma tail crosses the moon, TLPs spike! Who'd have thunk it?

Okay, okay, don't want to over-simplify... But, you get the idea. I wonder, what did they say happens when the day-night terminator is in the process of passing over the crater on the moon? I'm interested on account of the "Moon Storms" article:

(Moon Storms)
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005 ... storms.htm

The next time you see the moon, trace your finger along the terminator, the dividing line between lunar night and day. That's where the storm is. It's a long and skinny dust storm, stretching all the way from the north pole to the south pole, swirling across the surface, following the terminator as sunrise ceaselessly sweeps around the moon.

Never heard of it? Few have. But scientists are increasingly confident that the storm is real.

[...]

Apollo-era scientists wanted to know, how much dust is ejected by daily impacts? And what are the properties of that dust? LEAM was to answer these questions using three sensors that could record the speed, energy, and direction of tiny particles: one each pointing up, east, and west.

[...]

"To everyone's surprise," says Olhoeft, "LEAM saw a large number of particles every morning, mostly coming from the east or west--rather than above or below--and mostly slower than speeds expected for lunar ejecta."

What could cause this? Stubbs has an idea: "The dayside of the moon is positively charged; the nightside is negatively charged." At the interface between night and day, he explains, "electrostatically charged dust would be pushed across the terminator sideways," by horizontal electric fields.

Even more surprising, Olhoeft continues, a few hours after every lunar sunrise, the experiment's temperature rocketed so high--near that of boiling water--that "LEAM had to be turned off because it was overheating."

[...]

Now a new scientific explanation is gaining traction. "It may be that LTPs are caused by sunlight reflecting off rising plumes of electrostatically lofted lunar dust," Olhoeft suggests.

All this matters to NASA because, by 2018 or so, astronauts are returning to the Moon. Unlike Apollo astronauts, who never experienced lunar sunrise, the next explorers are going to establish a permanent outpost. They'll be there in the morning when the storm sweeps by.

The wall of dust, if it exists, might be diaphanous, invisible, harmless. Or it could be a real problem, clogging spacesuits, coating surfaces and causing hardware to overheat.

Specifically, the bit about oppositely charged day and night sides, with horizontal electric fields in between. I wonder what happens in terms of TLPs when the day-night terminator (with attendant horizontal e-fields) sweeps over the area being observed?

Seems like a pertinent spot to investigate. That and the already mentioned relationship between the time of (3 days before, the day of, and 3 days after) full moon (when the plasma tail is tickling the moon) vs TLP activity.

Cheers,
~Michael Gmirkin

[junglelord]

I found this on Coast to Coast. Very interesting main web link as well. The Meteorites are listed under alphabetical order.
Check out the first one
Meteorite: Acfer 336
Man thats beautiful stuff!

I just examined the first polished thin section of NWA 5000. A new and large, 25 lbs 6.6 ounces (11,528 grams), lunar meteorite. Dr. Irving, Dept. of Earth & Space Sciences, University of Washington was generous enough to let me get it on the microscope in between his examinations.

These images nicely show Vesicles (bubbles) in the Lunar glass, which were caused by solar wind. Dr. Irving informed me that technically, glass is not a solid but a super cooled liquid, and that this glass in NWA 5000 probably was produced by ancient impacts into the dominant gabbroic rock on the Moon long before the final impact ejection of this meteorite.

In the third micrograph one of these Vesicles looks like a black ball with the number 7 on it. Kind of fun! The images were taken in cross polarized light at a magnification of 760X. For more, please take a look at my Meteorite Micrograph Gallery.

--Tom Phillips


http://www.coasttocoastam.com/gen/page2 ... heme=light

http://www.meteorite.com/meteorite-gallery/

[StefanR]

Northern Arizona Meteorite Laboratory

Meteorite Classifications

The meteorites types that we have classified are indicated on the figure below in red. Click on the meteorite type to be linked with the classifications as published in the Meteoritical Bulletin, sample pictures, and photomicrographs.



Meteorites: Mysteries and Secrets Revealed

Drs. T. E. Bunch and J. H. Wittke provide the low-down on meteorites. (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

* Meteorite Heritage
* Understanding Science Tools and Jargon
* Identification
* Meteorite Minerals
* Textures of Basalts and Gabbros
* Chondrules and the Origin of Meteorites
* Classification
o Ordinary Chondrites
o Carbonaceous Chondrites
o Enstatite, R and K Chondrites
* Achondrites
o Differentiated Achondrites
o Primitive Achondrites
o Ureilites
* Stony irons and irons
* Lunar
* Martian
* Glossary: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M,
N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z

http://www4.nau.edu/meteorite/

[kmerrell]

Folks at Brown University have gotten funding to re-examine tiny glass beads brought back from lunar mission of the late 60s and early 70s—and believe they've found evidence of water. Not surprisingly, such claims have fueled a mushroom garden of creative theories and speculation.

Wired Magazine notes the research in an article, "Water Found on the Moon"

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008 ... nd-on.html

A broadcast piece by National Public Radio on the same announcement, "Glass Beads From Moon Hint Of Watery Past", notes that the astronauts excitedly discovered the beads as patches of orange soil.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... d=92383117