Τρίτη 3 Απριλίου 2012

Υπέροχες φωτογραφίες από το ονειρεμένο φεγγάρι μας.

Secrets of the Moon The Moon s gravitational influence produces the ocean tides and the minute lengthening of the day. The Moon s current orbital distance, about thirty times the diameter of the Earth, causes it to appear almost the same size in the sky as the Sun, allowing it to cover the Sun nearly precisely in total solar eclipses. All photos: Splash/All Over Press moon



Secrets of the Moon The Moon is Earth s only known natural satellite, the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System. It is the largest natural satellite of a planet in the Solar System relative to the size of its primary, having a quarter the diameter of Earth and 1⁄81 its mass. The Moon is the second densest satellite after Io, a satellite of Jupiter All photos: Splash/All Over Press moon

Secrets of the Moon Blanketed on top of the Moon s crust is a highly comminuted (broken into ever smaller particles) and impact gardened surface layer called regolith, formed by impact processes. The finer regolith, the lunar soil of silicon dioxide glass, has a texture like snow and smell like spent gunpowder All photos: Splash/All Over Press moon

Secrets of the Moon Liquid water cannot persist on the lunar surface. When exposed to solar radiation, water quickly decomposes through a process known as photodissociation and is lost to space. However since the 1960s, scientists have hypothesized that water ice may be deposited by impacting comets or possibly produced by the reaction of oxygen-rich lunar rocks, and hydrogen from solar wind, leaving traces of water which could possibly survive in cold, permanently shadowed craters at either pole on the Moon All photos: Splash/All Over Press moon


Secrets of the Moon The Moon s axial tilt is only 1.54°, much less than the 23.44° of the Earth. Because of this, the Moon s solar illumination varies much less with season, and topographical details play a crucial role in seasonal effects. From images taken by Clementine in 1994, it appears that four mountainous regions on the rim of Peary crater at the Moon s north pole remain illuminated for the entire lunar day, creating peaks of eternal light All photos: Splash/All Over Press moon

Secrets of the Moon The Moon is exceptionally large relative to the Earth: a quarter the diameter of the planet and 1/81 its mass. It is the second largest moon orbiting an object in the solar system relative to the size of its planet. Charon is larger relative to the dwarf planet Pluto, at slightly more than 1/9 (11.6%) of Pluto s mass All photos: Splash/All Over Press moon

Secrets of the Moon Additionally, colour constancy in the visual system recalibrates the relations between the colours of an object and its surroundings, and since the surrounding sky is comparatively dark, the sunlit Moon is perceived as a bright object. The edges of the full Moon seem as bright as the centre, with no limb darkening, due to the reflective properties of lunar soil, which reflects more light back towards the Sun than in other directions.   All photos: Splash/All Over Press moon

Secrets of the Moon The Moon does appear larger when close to the horizon, but this is a purely psychological effect, known as the Moon illusion, first described in the 7th century BC. The full Moon subtends an arc of about 0.52° (on average) in the sky, roughly the same apparent size as the Sun All photos: Splash/All Over Press moon








 

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