One Ring to Bring Them All: Eclipse Enchants Grand Canyon Audiences

Ever see ringlets of sunlight playing in the shadows of a tree or a fiery ring of light in the sky? These incredible effects are the results of an annular solar eclipse like the one that occurred when the moon passed directly between the sun and Earth on Sunday, May 20, 2012. The event was viewable from Japan all the way across the Pacific Ocean to midway through the United States.

Because the moon travels on a slightly tilted orbit compared to the plane of Earth’s orbit around the sun, eclipses do not occur every time the moon comes between the sun and Earth. However, there are two points or "nodes" when the moon does pass through this plane. If either of these nodes coincides with a new moon (when the sun is illuminating only its far side), a solar eclipse will occur. If a node is reached during a full moon, Earth will block the sun’s light, casting a shadow onto the moon causing a lunar eclipse.

An annular eclipse occurs when the moon is too far away from us to completely cover the disk of the sun. This results in an annularity: the ring-shaped outline of the sun that can be seen surrounding the dark new moon. Because of the surreal look of the "ring of fire," annular eclipses are some of the most impressive celestial events visible from Earth.

This eclipse passed over some of the U.S.’s most famous national parks with the full annularity visible from 33 parks, while an additional 125 parks witnessed a partial eclipse. The NASA Lunar Science Institute (NLSI) at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., and the National Parks Service took advantage of this rare event and joined forces to facilitate safe viewings for as many people as possible.

Several NLSI scientists traveled to the Grand Canyon National Park and used the superimposition of our two most prominent celestial objects as an opportunity to explain to several thousand visitors about some of NASA's past, current and future projects relating to the sun and moon. These include the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE), which will orbit the moon in order to characterize its atmosphere and the lunar dust environment, and the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, (IRIS) which will make detailed measurements of the flow of energy and plasma through the sun's atmosphere and heliosphere.

The NLSI team gave presentations to three full-house audiences in the park’s theater and hosted an exhibit in its main visitor center. Samples of moon and Mars rocks and meteorites that people could handle were on display, as well as a model of a LADEE.

"Multiple missions to the moon in the past five years have revealed our nearest celestial neighbor is a fascinating place," said NLSI director Yvonne Pendleton, who spoke at the event. "The Apollo-era views, rich in geological insights from samples that continue to be studied today, have been enlarged to reveal detailed topography, composition and a bombardment history that will fascinate researchers for many years to come."

More than 2,000 people viewed the eclipse at the event. Safe viewing equipment was also sent to other national parks and another public viewing was held by one of the NLSI teams at the University of Colorado football stadium in Boulder, where 10,000 people viewed the partial eclipse.

"Nature has provided us with a unique opportunity to capitalize on the huge public interest in the sun and moon," said NLSI Director of Education and Public Outreach Brian Day. "It is an excellent opportunity to engage with the public and explain what we are doing at Ames."

Although there have been a number of partial eclipses in recent years, May 20, 2012 was the first time in 18 years that we have been able to see the moon pass directly across the center of the sun from the U.S.

James Schalkwyk

Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.

NASA Lunar Scientists Shed Light on Moon's Impact History

Karen Jenvey
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.

Stacy Bowles

Universities Space Research Association, Columbia, Md.

Maria Martinez

Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colo.

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. – A team of researchers from the NASA Lunar Science Institute (NLSI) at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., have discovered that debris that caused a "lunar cataclysm" on the moon 4 billion years ago struck it at much higher speeds than those that made the most ancient craters. The scientists found evidence supporting this scenario by examining the history of crater formation on the moon.

During Earth's earliest days, our planet and others in the inner solar system, including the moon, experienced repeated impacts from debris that formed the building blocks of the planets. Over time, as material was swept up and incorporated into the inner planets, the rate of impacts decreased. Then, roughly 4 billion years ago, a second wave of impacts appears to have taken place, with lunar projectiles hitting at much higher speeds. This increase could reflect the origin of the debris, where main belt asteroids were dislodged and sent into the inner solar system by shifts in the orbits of the giant planets.

The team is composed of Simone Marchi, an NLSI postdoctoral fellow, William Bottke, the NLSI Team Lead at Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colo., David Kring, the NLSI Team Lead at USRA's Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, and Alessandro Morbidelli from the Observatoire de la Cote d’Azur, France. Their research paper, “On the Onset of the Lunar Cataclysm as Recorded in its Ancient Crater Populations,” was recently published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

The scientists analyzed digital maps of the lunar surface to learn about its history. Their analysis shows that craters formed near the 860 km diameter Nectaris impact basin were created by projectiles hitting twice as fast as those found on more ancient terrains. This was represented by a subtle shift in crater sizes, with the crater themselves thirty to forty percent larger on average than those found in comparable populations with older craters. The scientists believe this can be best explained by an increase in the velocities of the projectiles that produced the younger craters.

The increase in velocities may indicate a change in the solar system when the craters were created. The analysis supports the "lunar cataclysm" hypothesis that the brief pulse of impacting objects 4 billion years ago was due to gravitational disturbances caused by the reorganization of the giant planets as their orbits changed. Nectaris, a crater close to the Apollo 16 landing site, appears to have recorded the spike in asteroid impacts during the "lunar cataclysm."

Determining the magnitude and duration of any impact cataclysm and testing that hypothesis is a top science priority for future exploration of the moon, according to a previously published report by the National Research Council.

When Apollo astronauts gathered rock samples from the moon, many samples had ages dating back 3.9 to 4 billion years ago, suggesting an enhanced pulse of bombardment. If a bombardment of asteroids hit the moon as theorized, there could be indicators left on the lunar surface that would help validate the theory. Detailed mapping by the United States Geological Survey has previously identified small regions of the lunar surface that might contain clues about the bombardment. The team re-studied those ancient surfaces and measured the sizes of the impact craters using new data obtained from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter, an instrument on NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) currently orbiting around the moon.

“This is an exciting time for lunar research with LRO and other spacecraft providing so much new data,” said lead author Simone Marchi. “Collaborating with scientists of different disciplines allowed us to link these observational data to dynamical models to put new constraints on solar system history.”

The inferred increase in velocity seems to have occurred after the moon’s largest impact basin was produced, the 2,500-kilometer-diameter South Pole-Aitken Basin, but before the formation of the largest lava-filled impact basins on the lunar nearside, visible from backyards around the world.

“It is fascinating that the surface of our own moon records evidence of orbital changes in Jupiter and Saturn that took place so long ago,” said NLSI Director Yvonne Pendleton.

To learn about the NASA Lunar Science Institute, visit: http://lunarscience.arc.nasa.gov

The illustration is an artist's rendition of the solar system and the changes in the asteroid belt that affect the Earth and the Moon.

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NASA Book Available For Visually Impaired To Learn About Moon

Dwayne Brown

Headquarters, Washington                                

 

Cathy Weselby

Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.

MOFFET FIELD, Calif. -- NASA has released a new book for visually impaired people to experience the wonders of the moon.  Called "Getting a Feel for Lunar Craters," the 17-page book features Braille and tactile diagrams of the lunar surface, craters and peaks.

The book was created and funded by NASA's Lunar Science Institute (NLSI), at Moffett Field, Calif. The author is David Hurd, a space science professor at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in Edinboro, Pa.

"This book is one giant step for humankind, making lunar science visible through touch and sound," NLSI Director Yvonne Pendleton said. "NASA is committed to the development of resources to bring lunar science into the world of those who cannot see."

To obtain a free copy of "Getting a Feel for Lunar Craters," visit http://lunarscience.nasa.gov/tactile.

NLSI is a virtual organization that enables collaborative, interdisciplinary research in support of NASA lunar science programs. The institute uses technology to bring scientists together around the world and comprises competitively selected U.S. teams and several international partners. NASA's Science Mission Directorate and the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate in Washington fund NLSI, which is managed by NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif. For more information about the NLSI, visit http://lunarscience.nasa.gov.

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NASA Event Unveils New Lunar Book for the Visually Impaired

Cathy Weselby

Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.

Doris Daou

NASA Lunar Science Institute, Moffett Field, Calif.

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. – NASA will unveil a new book for blind and visually impaired readers at a media event and reception hosted by the NASA Lunar Science Institute (NLSI) at 6 p.m. PDT on July 18 at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.

The book "Getting a Feel for Lunar Craters" was created with the NLSI and features tactile diagrams of the lunar surface designed to educate the blind and visually impaired about the wonders of Earth’s moon. David Hurd, a space science professor at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, Edinboro, Pa., is the book’s author. He and tactile engineer John Matelock began creating tactile astronomy tools after a student with a visual impairment signed up for Hurd's introductory astronomy course. Cassandra Runyon, a professor at College of Charleston, Charleston, S.C. and Hurd previously produced "A Tactile Guide to the Solar System with Digital Talking Book" for NASA.

Hurd and students from the California School for the Blind, Fremont, Calif., are scheduled to attend the unveiling.

"NASA’s Lunar Science Institute is committed to the development of resources to bring lunar science into the world of those who cannot see. ‘Getting a Feel for Lunar Craters' is one giant step for humankind, making lunar science visible through touch and sound," said Yvonne Pendleton, director of the NLSI.

News media planning to attend must contact Cathy Weselby at 650-604-4789 or cathy.weselby@nasa.gov before 5 p.m. Monday, July 18, for credentials.

The NLSI is a virtual organization that enables collaborative, interdisciplinary research in support of NASA lunar science programs. The institute uses technology to bring scientists together around the world and comprises competitively selected U.S. teams and several international partners. NASA's Science Mission Directorate and the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at the agency's Headquarters in Washington, funds the institute, which is managed by Ames.

For more information about the NASA Lunar Science Institute, visit http://lunarscience.nasa.gov.

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NASA Partners with Germany in Lunar Science Research

Cathy Weselby

Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif.— NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) have signed a joint agreement for collaboration in lunar science.

The partnership includes a team of more than 30 academic, commercial, and government institutions in Germany as an associate partner with the NASA Lunar Science Institute (NLSI), located at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.

“Conducting collaborative research that enables cross-disciplinary partnerships across the lunar science community is key to the NASA Lunar Science Institute mission, and we are thrilled to join together with our German colleagues,” said Yvonne Pendleton, NLSI director.

The DLR-led proposal brings scientific and engineering expertise to advance the broad goals of lunar science and exploration. Specific areas of collaboration include the evolution of the moon, modeling of the lunar interior, the lunar environment, remote sensing on the moon, and enabling technologies for scientific exploration on the surface of the moon.

“Understanding the moon helps us to better understand the evolution of Earth, and thus, the moon is still a major scientific goal,” said Ralf Jaumann, DLR's lunar science coordinator. “German scientists and engineers are very glad to join this interdisciplinary effort and collaborate with the NASA Lunar Science Institute and international partners to improve our knowledge about the Earth-moon system and help to further explore our nearest neighbor in space.”

“The exciting new alliance with the DLR will complement and enhance the NLSI team efforts and benefit lunar science around the globe,” said Greg Schmidt, NLSI deputy director.

The NLSI, a virtual institute which uses technology to bring scientists together around the world, is comprised of several competitively selected U.S. teams plus international partners who work together to advance the agency’s lunar science goals. Supported by the NASA Science Mission Directorate and the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, the NLSI is managed by a central office located at the NASA Ames Research Center.

For more information on the NASA Lunar Science Institute, visit http://lunarscience.arc.nasa.gov/.

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