Some Ghostly Rings in Mare Smythii
Long before the moon became "the moon" it was a heliocentric planet in an orbit that would eventually intersect the earth. It was impacted by asteroids and comets for a very long time. In the Prune Hypothesis I postulated 800 million years. It was long enough that a layer of regolith (moondust) was formed on the moon by solar system dust, the solar radiation from the young sun, and from the ubiqitious cosmic rays.
Then the sideswipe with earth occured and the lava flowed, inundating the impact craters of the younger moon. As the lava rose, it floated the regolith particles above rising surface. Like a dusting of powdered sugar floating on the rising surface of a cake.
Well, so much for conventional wisdom. I still find the idea of dome foundations appealing. Probably incorrect, but appealing.
Here is the support data for the above image. No alterations have been made to the image.
PDS_VERSION_ID = PDS3 /*** FILE FORMAT ***/ RECORD_TYPE = UNDEFINED /*** POINTERS TO START BYTE OFFSET OF OBJECTS IN FILE ***/ ^IMAGE_HISTOGRAM = 4788 <BYTES> ^BROWSE_IMAGE = 5812 <BYTES> ^IMAGE = 7540 <BYTES> /*** GENERAL DATA DESCRIPTION PARAMETERS ***/ MISSION_NAME = "DEEP SPACE PROGRAM SCIENCE EXPERIMENT" SPACECRAFT_NAME = "CLEMENTINE 1" DATA_SET_ID = "CLEM1-L/E/Y-A/B/U/H/L/N-2-EDR-V1.0" PRODUCT_ID = "LUA3408I.135" ORIGINAL_PRODUCT_ID = "LUA21988.135" PRODUCER_INSTITUTION_NAME = "NAVAL RESEARCH LABORATORY" PRODUCT_TYPE = EDR EDR_SOFTWARE_NAME = "NRL-ACT-MGRAB V1.2" MISSION_PHASE_NAME = "LUNAR MAPPING" DATA_QUALITY_ID = "N/A" TARGET_NAME = "MOON" REVOLUTION_NUMBER = 135 FRAME_SEQUENCE_NUMBER = 3408 /*** TIME PARAMETERS ***/ START_TIME = 1994-03-20T05:59:36.071Z STOP_TIME = "N/A" UNCORRECTED_START_TIME = 1994-03-20T05:59:36.072Z SPACECRAFT_CLOCK_START_COUNT = "N/A" SPACECRAFT_CLOCK_STOP_COUNT = "N/A" PRODUCT_CREATION_TIME = 1994-10-30T02:31:32 /*** CAMERA RELATED PARAMETERS ***/ INSTRUMENT_NAME = "ULTRAVIOLET/VISIBLE CAMERA" INSTRUMENT_ID = "UVVIS" FILTER_NAME = "A" CENTER_FILTER_WAVELENGTH = 415 <nm> BANDWIDTH = 40 <nm> GAIN_MODE_ID = "1" MCP_GAIN_MODE_ID = "N/A" OFFSET_MODE_ID = "6" EXPOSURE_DURATION = 22.4672 <ms> LENS_TEMPERATURE = 261.97 <K> FOCAL_PLANE_TEMPERATURE = 268.310 <K> CRYOCOOLER_TEMPERATURE = "N/A" CRYOCOOLER_DURATION = "N/A" /*** J2000 (ALSO CALLED EME2000) IS THE INERTIAL REFERENCE SYSTEM ***/ /*** USED TO SPECIFY OBSERVATIONAL GEOMETRY. LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE ***/ /*** COORDINATES OF TARGET ARE PLANETOCENTRIC. GEOMETRIC PARAMETERS ***/ /*** ARE BASED ON BEST AVAILABLE DATA AT TIME OF PRODUCT CREATION. ***/ /*** REFER TO CLEMENTINE SPICE DATA BASE FOR THE MOST CURRENT ***/ /*** OBSERVATIONAL GEOMETRY DATA. ***/ /*** LINE-OF-SITE ON CELESTIAL SPHERE: Angles in <deg> ***/ RIGHT_ASCENSION = 184.25 <deg> DECLINATION = 2.51 <deg> TWIST_ANGLE = 335.97 <deg> RETICLE_POINT_RA = ( 180.84, 185.95, 187.66, 182.54) RETICLE_POINT_DECLINATION = ( 1.73, -0.54, 3.28, 5.56) /*** OBSERVATIONAL SEQUENCE INFORMATION ***/ SEQUENCE_TABLE_ID = "DEQ_06" /*** TARGET PARAMETERS: Position <km>, Velocity <km/s> ***/ SC_TARGET_POSITION_VECTOR = ( -2217.8, -172.3, 96.1) SC_TARGET_VELOCITY_VECTOR = ( -0.3202, 0.6612, -1.5583) TARGET_CENTER_DISTANCE = 2226.5 <km> /*** TARGET WITHIN SENSOR FOV: Angles in <deg> ***/ SLANT_DISTANCE = 489.1 <km> CENTER_LATITUDE = -2.78 <deg> CENTER_LONGITUDE = 89.66 <deg> HORIZONTAL_PIXEL_SCALE = 0.125 <km> VERTICAL_PIXEL_SCALE = 0.125 <km> SMEAR_MAGNITUDE = 0.25 <pixels> SMEAR_AZIMUTH = 89.61 <deg> NORTH_AZIMUTH = 270.31 <deg> RETICLE_POINT_LATITUDE = ( -3.38, -3.37, -2.19, -2.20) RETICLE_POINT_LONGITUDE = ( 90.45, 88.87, 88.88, 90.46) /*** SPACECRAFT POSITION WITH RESPECT TO CENTRAL BODY ***/ SUB_SPACECRAFT_LATITUDE = -2.77 <deg> SUB_SPACECRAFT_LONGITUDE = 89.61 <deg> SPACECRAFT_ALTITUDE = 489.1 <km> SUB_SPACECRAFT_AZIMUTH = 347.27 <deg> /*** SPACECRAFT LOCATION: Position <km>, Velocity <km/s> ***/ SPACECRAFT_SOLAR_DISTANCE = 148959092.5 SC_SUN_POSITION_VECTOR = (-148948955.2, 1601576.9, 674489.7) SC_SUN_VELOCITY_VECTOR = ( -1.4088,-28.0624,-10.4006) /*** VIEWING AND LIGHTING GEOMETRY (SUN ON TARGET) ***/ SOLAR_DISTANCE = 148961311.3 <km> SUB_SOLAR_AZIMUTH = 312.78 <deg> SUB_SOLAR_LATITUDE = 1.33 <deg> SUB_SOLAR_LONGITUDE = 85.91 <deg> INCIDENCE_ANGLE = 5.57 <deg> PHASE_ANGLE = 5.36 <deg> EMISSION_ANGLE = 0.25 <deg> LOCAL_HOUR_ANGLE = 183.76 <deg> /*** LIGHTING GEOMETRY FROM SECONDARY SOURCE ***/ LIGHT_SOURCE_NAME = "EARTH" LIGHT_SOURCE_DISTANCE = 395155.6 <km> SUB_LIGHT_SOURCE_AZIMUTH = 357.15 <deg> SUB_LIGHT_SOURCE_LATITUDE = 3.41 <deg> SUB_LIGHT_SOURCE_LONGITUDE = 353.01 <deg> LIGHT_SOURCE_INCIDENCE_ANGLE = 97.05 <deg> LIGHT_SOURCE_PHASE_ANGLE = 96.80 <deg> /*** DESCRIPTION OF OBJECTS CONTAINED IN THE FILE ***/ OBJECT = IMAGE_HISTOGRAM ITEMS = 256 DATA_TYPE = LSB_INTEGER ITEM_BYTES = 4 END_OBJECT OBJECT = BROWSE_IMAGE LINES = 36 LINE_SAMPLES = 48 SAMPLING_FACTOR = 8 SAMPLE_TYPE = UNSIGNED_INTEGER SAMPLE_BITS = 8 END_OBJECT OBJECT = IMAGE ENCODING_TYPE = "CLEM-JPEG-1" ENCODING_COMPRESSION_RATIO = 5.77 LINES = 288 LINE_SAMPLES = 384 SAMPLE_TYPE = UNSIGNED_INTEGER SAMPLE_BITS = 8 MAXIMUM = 232 MINIMUM = 15 MEAN = 151.566 STANDARD_DEVIATION = 26.834 CHECKSUM = 2895447 END_OBJECT
Return to Strange Page
Return to Clem Home Page
Return to VGL Home Page