Mystery of the Lunar Ionosphere:How can a world without air have an ionosphere?

Somehow the Moon has done it. Lunar researchers have been struggling with this mystery for years, and they may have finally found a solution.



This is pretty huge..
Every Terrestrial Planet with an atmosphere has one....
Moon Dust??
Thoughts?

www.youtube.com...
www.spaceweather.com...

Interesting!
My first guess was dust too...Because of Mars' thin, yet highly visible atmosphere.

Funny they compared the Moon to Pig Pen of Peanuts fame.l

The moon is constantly bombarded with micrometers but I don't believe that is where ALL of the 'ionospheric' dust is created from. Simple outgassing of the long 28-day lunar day of any kind of gas will be heated and cooled by the solar rays very fast, and this phenomena is most prevalent at the eclipse of day and night on the moon.

Now I am home I can show you a link of how many times the moon is struck by space rocks over a pound in size, something I wasn't really aware of, and something that can be seen with simple telescopes, Lunar Imapct Monitoring Center.

Kind of cool and if you look around on the site they also have a schedule for you to (have the best chance) at seeing one. Check out the couple of movie files they have there.

Originally posted by grindhouzer
Somehow the Moon has done it. Lunar researchers have been struggling with this mystery for years, and they may have finally found a solution.

Back in the 1960's, astronauts who went to the moon observed and reported this strange atmospheric-like glow just before "sunrise" or "sunset" as the sun over the horizon illuminated this ionosphere.
Many decades later, they've been proven to be telling the truth.
If it was movie set, they wouldnt have told such silly stories.

reply to post by grindhouzer

Also bear in mind that the earths magnetosphere whips its tail periodically engulfing the moon with bursts of electromagnetic radiation surely stirring up some dust and static...

There is a thread about the effects earths "tail" has on its lunar charge...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by Illustronic

Kudos Illustronic, as usual you have the cool views of anything spatially oriented...

reply to post by intrptr


Thanks, I've been called a bit spacey at times.

Consider what temperatures of inert dust and rock with traces of water ice, other gases, and what we consider to NOT be an entirely cold space rock the moon has no protection to filter, if you further consider the tides on earth caused by the moon and sun, one would logically think the tidal tectonic forces on the moon would be greater, thus keeping some of its formational internal heat active, not to mention its mass, which isn't very small comparatively, then going from -250ºF to +220ºF in hours would cause most anything to fart a bit. Just my opinion. It happens on the edge of night and day.

reply to post by Illustronic

...would cause most anything to fart a bit.

LOL, yah makes sense rocks farting and all, but for millions and billions of years, without evaporating all the volatiles or h2o by now? hmmm. I got a silly question(s). Ions cannot form from static buildup and discharge from the suns streaming radiation? Without gases being present? Or the earths magnetosphere whipping its tail and the moon passing thru?

Originally posted by alfa1

Originally posted by grindhouzer
Somehow the Moon has done it. Lunar researchers have been struggling with this mystery for years, and they may have finally found a solution.

Back in the 1960's, astronauts who went to the moon observed and reported this strange atmospheric-like glow just before "sunrise" or "sunset" as the sun over the horizon illuminated this ionosphere.
Many decades later, they've been proven to be telling the truth.
If it was movie set, they wouldnt have told such silly stories.

Stop using pesky logic and facts! They are too hard to defend so they must simply not be used.

reply to post by intrptr

The Moon's "atmosphere" is so tenuous that it's technically considered an exosphere, not an atmosphere.
"It's not anything like an atmosphere we would think of," Colaprete says. For example, a cubic centimeter of Earth's atmosphere at sea level contains about 100 billion billion molecules. That same volume of the Moon's exosphere contains only about 100 molecules.

And the weirdness of the exosphere doesn't stop there. During the lunar night, the Moon's exosphere mostly falls to the ground. (Just imagine if our atmosphere fell to the ground at night!) When sunlight returns, the solar wind kicks up new particles to replenish the exosphere.

Much more at link.

Estimated Composition (particles per cubic cm):
Helium 4 (4He) - 40,000 ; Neon 20 (20Ne) - 40,000 ; Hydrogen (H2) - 35,000
Argon 40 (40Ar) - 30,000 ; Neon 22 (22Ne) - 5,000 ; Argon 36 (36Ar) - 2,000
Methane - 1000 ; Ammonia - 1000 ; Carbon Dioxide (CO2) - 1000
Trace Oxygen (O+), Aluminum (Al+), Silicon (Si+)
Possible Phosphorus (P+), Sodium (Na+), Magnesium (Mg+)

Composition of the tenuous lunar atmosphere is poorly known and variable,
these are estimates of the upper limits of the nighttime ambient atmosphere
composition. Daytime levels were difficult to measure due to heating and
outgassing of Apollo surface experiments.

Moon Fact Sheet, (also repeated in many other documents).

In addition to the near-surface gases and the extensive sodium-potassium cloud detected around the Moon (see the section Effects of impacts and volcanism below), a small amount of dust circulates within a few metres of the lunar surface. This is believed to be suspended electrostatically...

Plume of Vapor or Dust

This "small" Plume or Cloud is very interesting as it clearly shows billowing cloud like effect and seems to be rising from the surface. This is made evident by the "topping off" effect. Is this caused by reaching the upper limit of the atmosphere? A jet stream like effect? A lunar wind? There is no absolute way to know at this time, but the cloud speaks for itself.

Photo Source John Lear's Moon Pictures on ATS

Is the Moon Still Alive?

The site is a strange-looking geological feature named "Ina" in Lacus Felicitatis, a lake of ancient, hardened lava located at lunar coordinates 19o N, 5o E.

Evidence about Ina points to recent activity:
Ina is bright and has odd colors. Rocks and dirt on the surface of the Moon grow darker as time passes. The darkening agent is space weather: a nonstop rain of cosmic rays, solar radiation and meteoroids hit the Moon and darken the ground. (The mechanisms are too detailed to discuss here, but the effect is mostly uncontroversial.) Ina, however, is bright, as if fresh dirt has been overturned and newly exposed. Furthermore, the colors of Ina, measured by a spectrometer on the Clementine spacecraft, are similar to the colors of the Moon's youngest craters. Yet Ina is not an impact crater.

Transient Phenomena
Snippits...
Blasts of gas from deep beneath the lunar surface are giving the Moon a surprisingly fresh-faced look, suggests a new study...

Too muxh to quote in entirety, visit; "The Living Moon".

So as we see the lunar outgassing is not entirely lost to space, "it falls back to the surface at night". But we observe comets outgassing for centuries, a millionth the mass of the moon, for example. Not losing it's atomic and sparse 'atmosphere' entirely to space provides the moon with sufficient mass to outgas for billions of years.

reply to post by Illustronic

Daytime levels were difficult to measure due to heating and
outgassing of Apollo surface experiments.

Woops... what??? They can distinguish that? Maybe that is where all the gas of exosphere is coming from? I don't know, but saying it pollutes readings means it is significant. To what? An average day in LA? Have we created a lunar smog bank?

If you think about all the landings and the fuel burned during descent and ascent, that is some amount, right? Enough maybe to be heated by day and rise in the lunar "sky" and present a photo image? Then at night refreeze and settle out again. There are other lunar missions that crashed on the surface as well.

On Mars the rovers life duration was determined, to some degree, by the dust that built up on the surface of the solar panels. It would be interesting if they could somehow image a landing site to see if the same sort of fallout of lunar dust is building up on stuff left behind. It has been 40+ years now.

"it falls back to the surface at night". But we observe comets outgassing for centuries, a millionth the mass of the moon, for example. Not losing it's atomic and sparse 'atmosphere' entirely to space provides the moon with sufficient mass to outgas for billions of years.

You think? Comets return to the deep freeze of space and only periodically close approach the inner planets, near enough to the sun to begin outgassing, whereas the moon has been here for billions(?) of years. I don't see a cometary trail from the moon, but you are right, small impactors pepper the lunar surface all the time, stirring the soil.

Thanks again for that enlightening tour of the moon illustronic.

"There is no dark side of the moon. Matter of fact, its all dark." --Pink Floyd

reply to post by intrptr

Woops... what??? They can distinguish that? Maybe that is where all the gas of exosphere is coming from? I don't know, but saying it pollutes readings means it is significant. To what?

The readings are taken from equipment, those readings can be FROM the equipment as much as from the moon sparsity of atmosphere, scientists like to be as precise as possible, ruling out variables, which is why you hear a lot of, "we aren't sure", which is why the laymen question their laymen language responses. Bottom line when one is talking about 100 atoms in a cubic centimeter it sounds like a lot, but here at sea level we have 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms per cubic centimeter in air, so they can't be sure how much is the moon or the equipment.

Our lunar landing gases would not be in the equation. I'm not going to get real technical with that (it would take much time) it has been linked many times what and how the rockets work near and on the moon, not like here, and they use different chemicals there than taking off from here. Dispersion is the key difference in space and in atmosphere is all I will add, not to mention the amount of space, something to think about, the amount of space between atoms/particles. big difference, huge.

All of the figures I mention might not be 'spot on', but I hope it lends to some perspective, and are not just pulled out of a hat, you will find them to be in approximate with peer reviewed studies if you look. (I easily could have added or omitted 3 zeros with numbers that long).

reply to post by Illustronic

...which is why the laymen question their laymen language responses.

That would be me. Illusrtronic, fo you ever get the idea that you are trying to describe air to fish?
"Its Airrrrrr!!" goes illustronic.
And the fish at your feet in the pond go blub, blub. blub.
And thank you for reminding me that in general space is filled with a lot of nothing with "huge gaps" between all the little nothings. I was being a layman and laying out layman's terms for all the fish.

reply to post by intrptr


Understand the use of the term layman is not an insult, a layman can be a Jack of All or many Trades, and Master of none, able to balance out priorities to devote proper attention to many things more important than mastering one single trade at the expense of others. There is deserved respect in both kinds of disciplines one chooses.


"Write something memorable, and your name will live forever"____by; 'anonymous'.

Moon has its own ionosphere! I never know about this. But the most misterious thing is that NASA boffins after dozens and dozens of years of study and deep researcher an billions of taxes they finally discover the mystery: THE LUNAR DUST! Now, NASA, do the homeworks correctly: go ahead  and do the right thing and tell the people that: yes the Moon does have an atmosphere breathable.

reply to post by Illustronic

"Write something memorable, and your name will live forever"____by; 'anonymous'.

On a cave wall maybe.
"The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls... go tell them all."-- Simon and Garfunkel
The pyramids are no one knows precisely how many millennium old, and the world trade center, to remain for ages, lasted less than thirty years.
On here, I don't know... depends if the memory is static, dynamic or permanently etched on hard drive platters. Maybe future generations will use them for skeet targets.