Clouds on the moon?

Hey,

I remember on my way home, while standing still, I decided to stare long and hard at the moon, and then I noticed something was moving on the moon, which gave me a WTF moment for sure.......

Has anybody experienced this? Is it just my mind that's playing with my vision? Could it have been the clouds that were moving on the moon? There was something moving on the moon for sure....it also made me think that the moon was alive, too.

reply to post by TheoOne


It cant be clouds. There is not atmosphere on the moon, and there is no water vapour.....and also no wind to move the clouds if by some miracle they were there. So it is impossible for clouds to exist on the moon

But what would I know, I am only a meteorologist

[edit on 29/12/2007 by OzWeatherman]

I think John Lear believes there are clouds on the moon. Not sure why though, I guess you'd have to ask him.

Maybe it was a cloud....only a cloud that was situated BETWEEN you and the moon instead of ON the moon.

Just a thought. Sounds like quite the sight you had the chance to observe.

Thanks for sharing.

Dorian Soran

Hmmm

Well, I'd like to see John Lear reply to this thread, then.

If there is nothing that's environment-wise on the moon, then it could've been something different. I don't think I can guess anything that looked non-natural, but from what I saw, only leaves me the guess of clouds. Weird.

Originally posted by TheoOne
Hmmm

Well, I'd like to see John Lear reply to this thread, then.

If there is nothing that's environment-wise on the moon, then it could've been something different. I don't think I can guess anything that looked non-natural, but from what I saw, only leaves me the guess of clouds. Weird.

If not John himself, maybe one of his comrades will see this thread. I've observed there are quite a few people on/in this forum who seem to be pretty well versed on what John thinks on wide range of things. I've only heard him on C2C a few times, and I have taken part in at least a couple of threads that he was also involved in as well...

reply to post by Dorian Soran


I knew somebody would state that. 'Grats, you get my award. While observing, I clearly do remember there were no our clouds covering the moon. The moon was definitely clear.

It kind of still bugs me to this day, that's why I decided to remember my situation and not forget it.

EDIT -

Perhaps it was just my mind. I just now remembered when I was a kid, and I was staring at this dragon mask right, and the dragon mask/face was turned into alive, as it was smiling and speaking with moving lips to me (like laughing), it was freaky. So from that another experience, could be very well just me. Man, everything's just too weird. It was a wooden mask, by the way.

[edit on 29-12-2007 by TheoOne]

Who knows what you saw, I can say without a doubt that it is not clouds. It is physically impossible for clouds to even come close to existing on the moon. Is there anything that stood out exceptionally, eg colour, size etc?

Ok, this may help:

NASA Admits to Storms and Dust Clouds on the Moon

Here is the thread:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Originally posted by sherpa

Ok, this may help:

NASA Admits to Storms and Dust Clouds on the Moon

Here is the thread:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

YES!!!! That could be it! Thanks sherpa.

I was just beginning to realize that it was probably me because of the pictures I browsed before on flickr site taken by regular people and there was nothing on the moon.

I'll try to add more details to it. When I was staring all long and hard right, it was like a curve moving to the left direction then disappeared. So that definitely could mean the dust or storm. Probably not a cloud. Or was it a curve shaped cloud, perhaps?

EDIT -

If some of you will take your time to stare at the moon, make sure there are no clouds involved in our sky and that the moon is clear. Don't let anything distract you or your eyesight. Stare until you notice something. If you don't notice anything, then that may mean I caught it in a lucky moment, then.

[edit on 29-12-2007 by TheoOne]

reply to post by OzWeatherman


We shouldn't automatically believe everything space "experts" tell us about the laws of physics of Space.

reply to post by scottr.


I dont believe everything space experts tell us. I am a meteorologist, I know how clouds are formed and how they move. The major thing you need for clouds is an atmosphere, and last time I checked, the moon doesn't have one. Anyway Sherpas dust storm theory, appears to have solved the mystery anyway, so I dont know what your contribution to this post is

Originally posted by OzWeatherman

It cant be clouds. There is not atmosphere on the moon,

Thanks for the input and Happy New Year Oz.

It is a very common belief that the moon has no atmosphere but in fact it does.

Lunar Atmosphere Data Sheet
Diurnal temperature range: >100 K to

Originally posted by johnlear
Originally posted by OzWeatherman

Thanks for the input and Happy New Year

Thanks, you to

It is a very common belief that the moon has no atmosphere but in fact it does.

I think what you meant to say was that although the moon has an atmosphere it is not dense enough to breathe. Yes?

Yeah, you got me there, that was what I meant to say. I almost wouldnt class it as an atmosphere though. Well not if I was comparing it to the Earths atmosphere which I was :-)

[Again, this is a common belief but in fact the moon has water vapor in the form of clouds and fog mostly on the far side but occasionally on the near side, and this fact has been reported by many astronomers over the past several hundred years.

I disagree with that, the only way water exists on the moon is in the form of ice within craters, near the polar regions. The atmopshere is not dense enough to sustain water vapour thick enough to appear as cloud or fog. I just cant see the moon having supersaturated air required to form fog

This is another common misconception. Although there is wind it is very light. Here is a photo of an explosion that took place on the moon, a photo of which was taken by the Lick Observatory in January 1946.

Yeah you got me there to. I forgot about solar wind and statically charged particles. As for the types of wind we have on earth, I dont think its possible on the moon. There are a couple of factors that drive our wind on a global scale, like the earths rotation (the moon does not rotate), pressure belts which I am not too sure of on the moon, and the the differential heating between the equator and poles.

Ah! A meteorologist! But not a lunar meteorologist I take it? (Only hypothesized from your distinct lack of information about the moon). .

Yep thats right! Unfortunantly they didnt have a course on lunar meteorology. It was an educated hypothesis to, but I wish there was some actual weather studies done on the moon, that would be interesting

(the moon does not rotate)

Sorry about this Ozweatherman but the moon does rotate.

The Moon, of course, rotates--at the same speed as it orbits the Earth. So, in the 27.32 days it takes the Moon to go around Earth, the Moon also spins about its axis one full revolution. That's why we always see the same face of the Moon.

Source

Have no fear though alot of people think that it does not rotate purely because of the tidal locking.

Have a Happy New Year


[edit on 29-12-2007 by sherpa]

As far as water lots of it came right here from Earth same with plants. Lots of interesting stuff inside you may one day know of too! Maybe

Originally posted by OzWeatherman

I disagree with that, the only way water exists on the moon is in the form of ice within craters, near the polar regions.

Well actually there are lakes and rivers and an occasional rain. See all this vegetation in King Crater on the farside. Vegetation that thick and luxurious needs lots of water:

The atmopshere is not dense enough to sustain water vapour thick enough to appear as cloud or fog. I just cant see the moon having supersaturated air required to form fog

Your confusion may be because you think the moon has one sixth of earth's gravity. Actually on the near side its about .64 of earth's gravity. We know that by using the Bullialdus/Newton law of inverse square and the neutral point of 43,495 miles (from the moon) provided by Von Braun, Michael Collins (Apollo 11) and Gene Cernan (Apollo 17).

I think its closer to 1 on the farside using Peter Andreas Hansen's hypothesis presented to the Royal Astronomical Society in Paris in 1856.

Yeah you got me there to. I forgot about solar wind and statically charged particles.

You jest. But as a matter of fact Mission Control actually suggested that very same thing (solar wind) when Alan Bean (Apollo12) told them his Solar Wind Composition Experiment had wrapped around the support rod and then unwrapped. (there was a light wind.)

As for the types of wind we have on earth, I dont think its possible on the moon. There are a couple of factors that drive our wind on a global scale, like the earths rotation (the moon does not rotate), pressure belts which I am not too sure of on the moon, and the the differential heating between the equator and poles.

The forces that contribute to wind on the earth are not all there on the moon. You just get a light occasional wind.

Yep thats right! Unfortunantly they didnt have a course on lunar meteorology. It was an educated hypothesis to, but I wish there was some actual weather studies done on the moon, that would be interesting.

Oh there have been plenty of weather studies done on the moon and about the moon. They just haven't filtered into mainstream science yet. Nor are they likely to in the near future.

Thanks for the post.

So........would that just be me or not? Can you be able to notice planet/satellite's weather from this distance, like between earth and moon if you take a long & hard look at it, or without carefully observing?

[edit on 29-12-2007 by TheoOne]

Originally posted by TheoOne

So........would that just be me or not? Can you be able to notice planet/satellite's weather from this distance, like between earth and moon if you take a long & hard look at it, or without carefully observing?

People have seen some realing strange things happening on the Moon with and wihtout binoculars or telescopes.

If you saw something that looks like weather changes it could be but probably not. It is probably something else like a huge craft or atmospheric experiments.

The Moon is such an interesting place. So much is going on up there, and we are all so ignorant down here.

All we know is what Apollo 8 Astronaut Jim Lovell said coming from the back side for the first time, "The moon is essentially gray, no color. It looks like plaster of Paris, like dirty beach sand with lots of footprints in it.'

Jim, let me respectfully suggest you were lying through your teeth. But I know you had your orders.

reply to post by johnlear


Could you perhaps do something on this photo to show where the vegetation is supposed to be in the photo? To me, it just looks alot like plain rocks across the landscape, unless they're in fact, some sort of different species not within our understanding and more adapted to low gravity and extremely thin atmospheres.
The pic isn't exactly top quality.