Posted on 07/25/2011 9:34:11 AM PDT by decimon
Nature of mysterious hot spot revealed by “photogeology”
Analysis of new images of a curious “hot spot” on the far side of the Moon reveal it to be a small volcanic province created by the upwelling of silicic magma. The unusual location of the province and the surprising composition of the lava that formed it offer tantalizing clues to the Moon’s thermal history.
The hot spot is a concentration of a radioactive element thorium sitting between the very large and ancient impact craters Compton and Belkovich that was first detected by Lunar Prospector’s gamma-ray spectrometer in 1998. The Compton-Belkovich Thorium Anomaly, as it is called, appears as a bull's-eye when the spectrometer data are projected onto a map, with the highest thorium concentration at its center.
Recent observations, made with the powerful Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) optical cameras, have allowed scientists to distinguish volcanic features in terrain at the center of the bull's-eye. High-resolution three-dimensional models of the terrain and information from the LRO Diviner instrument have revealed geological features diagnostic not just of volcanism but also of much rarer silicic volcanism.
The volcanic province’s very existence will force scientists to modify ideas about the Moon’s volcanic history, says Bradley Jolliff, PhD, research professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, who led the team that analyzed the LRO images.
“To find evidence of this unusual composition located where it is, and appearing to be relatively recent volcanic activity is a fundamentally new result and will make us think again about the Moon’s thermal and volcanic evolution,” he says.
The work is described in the July 24 advance online issue of Nature Geoscience.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.wustl.edu ...
Luna Larson ping.
I sure hope the Chinese see fit to share some of their exploration findings with us.
But WE, on the other hand, will be making muslims feel good!
I still don’t understand how NASA could be defunded so quickly!
Open up access to private entities to potentially mine the moon, and we may bolster space travel to the point of being in the forefront of every business strategy going forward.
Then also consider that these celestial events come from rocks tumbling around in our solar system that could also be mined possibly for precious metals or even radioactive materials.
Hot spot? Maybe it’s a food-court.
Maybe a large black monolith buried near by ??
Maybe a large black monolith buried near by ??
So that is where the aliens are hiding.
Thorium Anomaly is similar to Tycho Magnetic Anomoly.
You opened a can of worms! ;^)
NASA’s Alien Anomalies caught on film - A compilation of stunning UFO footage from NASA’s archives
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlLN_Jcg1pc&feature=related
bfl
LOL, that is EXACTLY what I was thinking.
Interesting, perhaps this is what this youtube video captured on July 9th which they claim is UFO footage, very interesting video indeed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo2oJgQJubo
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