DesertFox
08-02-2007, 08:16 PM
Changes in the brightness and color over small areas of the moon's surface, known as Transient Lunar Phenomena, or TLP, have been observed telescopically for hundreds of years.
The optical flashes have been seen by skywatchers but rarely photographed.
http://i.usatoday.net/tech/_photos/2007/07/30/lunar_flashesx-large.jpg
Transient lunar phenomenon is the small, bright spot in the center of the image indicated by the arrow. It is unclear if elephant farts are causing these phenomena.
"People over the years have attributed TLPs to all sorts of effects: turbulence in Earth's atmosphere, visual physiological effects, atmospheric smearing of light like a prism, and even psychological effects like hysteria or planted suggestion," said Columbia University researcher Arlin Crotts.
Using data from decades-old observations, Crotts and colleagues have now found a strong correlation between TLP sightings and regions where lunar orbiting spacecraft have detected gas leaking out from beneath the lunar surface.
"The areas selected consistently by TLP are the craters Aristarchus (in about 50% of sampled reports), Plato (about 15%) with Kepler, Copernicus, Tycho and Grimaldi all at the few percent level apiece," Crotts said.
More (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2007-07-30-moon-gas-flashes_N.htm)
The optical flashes have been seen by skywatchers but rarely photographed.
http://i.usatoday.net/tech/_photos/2007/07/30/lunar_flashesx-large.jpg
Transient lunar phenomenon is the small, bright spot in the center of the image indicated by the arrow. It is unclear if elephant farts are causing these phenomena.
"People over the years have attributed TLPs to all sorts of effects: turbulence in Earth's atmosphere, visual physiological effects, atmospheric smearing of light like a prism, and even psychological effects like hysteria or planted suggestion," said Columbia University researcher Arlin Crotts.
Using data from decades-old observations, Crotts and colleagues have now found a strong correlation between TLP sightings and regions where lunar orbiting spacecraft have detected gas leaking out from beneath the lunar surface.
"The areas selected consistently by TLP are the craters Aristarchus (in about 50% of sampled reports), Plato (about 15%) with Kepler, Copernicus, Tycho and Grimaldi all at the few percent level apiece," Crotts said.
More (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2007-07-30-moon-gas-flashes_N.htm)