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The Moon PDF

534 Pages·1969·40.655 MB·English
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THE MOON Photograph of extended plains of the lunar Mare Tranquillitatis, showing crater Cauchy in between a shallow rille and a low cleft - with a typical dome near the centre of the field of view - taken by U.S. Astronaut James A. Lovell, Jf. from Apollo 8 spacecraft on 24 December 1968 in orbit around the Moon (reproduced by courtesy of NASA). Compare this view with a terrestrial photograph of the same region, as reproduced on Figure 16.20 on p. 278 in the text. ZDENEK KOPAL Department of Astronomy, University of Manchester THE MOON D. REIDEL PUBLISHING COMPANY DORDRECHT-HOLLAND The first edition of this work has been published in 1966 under the title AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF THE MOON ISBN-13: 978-94-010-3410-4 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-010-3408-1 DOl: 10.1007/978-94-010-3408-1 © 1969. D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any means, without written permission from the publisher To the Memory of my Father PROFESSOR JOSEF KOPAL (1883-1966) PREFACE A favourable reception of the first edition of this book - due no doubt to the nature of its subject - which went out of print in 2 years, gave its author a welcome oppor tunity to update at present its contents. This was all the more necessary, as seldom in the annals of science has our knowledge of the physics and astronomy of the Moon made greater progress than during this time. The real heroes of this advance have, of course, been the spacecraft - 33 of which have now been sent out since 1959 to reconnoiter our satellite at a close range. The hard-landers among them just about delivered their message by the time when the first edition of this book went to the press; but it was the soft-landers and orbiters, which followed in their wake between 1966-67, that became really the principal contributors to lunar research. By now their programmes have likewise been completed; so that it may be both timely and opportune to take stock of the present state of our subject now - on the eve of the next stage of lunar exploration by manned landings on the surface of our satellite - which can be expected to take place in the very near future. * The aim of the second edition of this book will be to provide the requisite infor mation, brought up to date in an organized manner. Its form remains essentially similar to that of the first edition. However, the influx of new knowledge between 1966-68 necessitated that Chapters 16-17 and 22-24 be completely rewritten, as well as provided with new illustrations; and shorter additions incorporating recent work were interspersed throughout the whole book. The Bibliographical Notes accompa nying each Part were likewise brought up to date as of the summer 1968. As a result, the size of this volume had to be increased somewhat if it was to fulfill its purpose of accompanying the reader to the front lines of current research. However, in response to a general demand for a simplified version of the same material, a parallel edition is to appear shortly in abridged form, in which the methodological or bibli ographical material - of primary interest for the working scholar - will be very largely omitted; and attention focused on a survey of the results of principal interest for a more general reader. If, however, the reader expects that recent experimental exploits of our spacecraft have solved all lunar problems outlined in the first edition, he is bound to be dis appointed. For not only - as everywhere in science - one solved problem gives rise usually to many new ones; but it has also become evident that increasing arrays of facts which became available to us in the past 2 years do not often admit of simple ... Succesfully accomplished 20 July 1969 (see postscript). vm THE MOON explanation. In so far as the intimacy of our acquaintance with the lunar surface is concerned, hard-landing spacecraft (Rangers 7-9) of1964-65 have increased thousand fold the spatial resolution previously attainable with the aid of telescopes from the distance of the Earth; and the soft-landers of 1966-68 have gained us a further resolution factor of a thousand. But, in spite of these giant strides, the meaning of new facts seems sometimes to possess an elusive ability of escaping from our out stretched hands like a mirage. It was aptly remarked, in this connection, by Thomas Gold that only too many investigators of the Moon have been inclined to seek in the new evidence - which spacecraft have so suddenly thrust upon us - but confirmations of their preconceived opinions. The range between too dogmatic an approach on one side, and reluctance to draw conclusions from the facts on the other, is often quite wide; and the extent to which the present writer may have succeeded in threading the middle road will be for future readers to judge. The first edition of this book was largely written while its author was on a sabbatical leave from the University of Manchester at the Boeing Scientific Research Labora tories in Seattle, U.S.A.; and the preparation of this second edition has been carried out at the same institution in the summer of 1968. May the writer use this opportunity to reiterate his sincere appreciation to his friends Guilbert L. Hollingsworth, Director of the Boeing Laboratories; Burton H. Colvin, Head of Mathematics Research; and John C. Noyes, Head of Geo-Astrophysics Research, of their hospitality extended to him at all times, and for placing all facilities of their laboratories so generously at the disposal of his work. Miss Linda Baqui (having changed her name) was no longer available for the typing of the new manuscript; but this task was accomplished with equal skill by Miss Janet Sutherland. The writer wishes, furthermore, to express his deep indebtedness to all colleagues at the Space Division of the Boeing Company in Kent - in particular, to Messrs. John H. Lincoln, Albert J. McDonald, and Martin C. Stickels - who facilitated his access to the original photographic data secured by the Lunar Orbiters between 1966 and 1968, many of which are reproduced in this book; and to his friends at the NASA Headquarters in Washington for similar access to the data secured by the Surveyors. The actual production of the photographic prints for the press was expertly ac complished by Mr. Don Fenton of the Boeing Scientific Research Laboratories in Seattle, and Mr. Charlie Lowe of the Department of Astronomy, University of Manchester. The skeleton maps of the Moon which accompany this volume were prepared with unrivalled skill and knowledge by Ing. Antonin Riikl of Prague, Czechoslovakia. The foldout map of the lunar front side is identical with the one which accompanied already the first edition of the book; but the corresponding map of the far side, based largely on the Orbiter photographs, is so far unique of its kind, and constitutes an original and significant contribution to lunar cartography. Last, but not least, the present writer wishes to express his thanks and appreciation to his publisher, Mr. Anton Reidel of D. Reidel Publishing Company in Dordrecht, PREFACE IX as well as to his able assistant and collaborator, Miss N. M. van der Heijden, for their cooperation and care which they bestowed on the production of this volume; while, at Manchester, the unfailing assistance of Miss Ellen B. Finlay has been - as ever - invaluable. ZDENEK KOPAL Boeing Scientific Research Laboratories, Seattle, Wash., U.S.A. August, 1968 TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE VII PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION XIII PART ONE MOTION OF THE MOON AND DYNAMICS OF THE EARTH-MOON SYSTEM Chapter 1. Basic Facts: Distance, Size, and Mass 3 Chapter 2. The Motion of the Moon in Space 9 Chapter 3. Rotation of the Moon; Optical Librations 16 Chapter 4. Motion of the Moon about its Center of Gravity; Physical Librations 24 Chapter 5. Photometric Consequences of the Moon's Motion: Phases and Eclipses 44 Chapter 6. Dynamics of the Earth-Moon System 55 Bibliographical Notes 69 PART TWO INTERNAL CONSTITUTION OF THE LUNAR GLOBE Introduction 75 Chapter 7. Hydrostatic Equilibrium and its Limitations 77 Chapter 8. Thermal History of the Moon 91 Chapter 9. Stress History of the Moon 110 Chapter 10. Possible Convection in the Lunar Interior 133 Chapter 11. Chemical Composition of the Moon 151 Chapter 12. Exosphere of the Moon 161 Bibliographical Notes 171 XII THE MOON PART THREE TOPOGRAPHY OF THE MOON Introduction 177 Chapter 13. Global Form of the Moon and its Gravitational Field 178 Chapter 14. Relative Coordinates on the Moon and their Determination 205 Chapter 15. Mapping of the Moon 225 Chapter 16. Morphology of the Lunar Surface 258 Chapter 17. Origin of the Lunar Formations 292 Chapter 18. Lunar Surface as an Impact Counter, and its Stratigraphy 332 Bibliographical Notes 348 PART FOUR RADIATION OF THE MOON Introduction 355 Chapter 19. Photometry of Scattered Moonlight 357 Chapter 20. Thermal Emission of the Lunar Surface 371 Chapter 21. Electromagnetic Properties of the Lunar Surface 400 Chapter 22. Luminescence of the Lunar Surface 423 Chapter 23. Structure of the Lunar Surface 438 Chapter 24. Large-Scale Features of the Lunar Surface 461 Bibliographical Notes 484 POSTSCRIPT 491 REFERENCES 493 INDEX OF NAMES 518

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