Astronomy:Sodium tail of the Moon
The Moon has been shown to have a "tail" of sodium atoms too faint to be detected by the human eye. Hundreds of thousands of kilometers long, the feature was discovered in 1998 as a result of scientists from Boston University observing the Leonid meteor shower.[1][2]
The Moon is constantly releasing atomic sodium as a fine dust from its surface due to photon-stimulated desorption, solar wind sputtering, and meteorite impacts.[3] Solar radiation pressure accelerates the sodium atoms away from the Sun, forming an elongated tail toward the antisolar direction.
The continual impacts of small meteorites produce a constant "tail" from the Moon, but the Leonids intensified it,[4] thus making it more observable from Earth than usual.[5]
ISRO's Chandrayaan-2 recently[when?] discovered an abundance of sodium on the Moon.[6]
See also
- Atmosphere of the Moon
- Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer
References
- ↑ "Astronomers discover that moon has long, comet-like tail". CNN. 1999-06-07. http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/9906/07/lunar.sodium.trail/.
- ↑ "The Sodium Tail of the Moon". NASA. 2009-12-01. Retrieved 2017-10-20
- ↑ Matta, M. Smith; Smith, S.; Baumgardner, J.; Wilson, J.; Martinis, C.; Mendillo, M. (December 1, 2009). "The Sodium Tail of the Moon". Icarus (NASA) 204 (2): 409–417. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2009.06.017. Bibcode: 2009Icar..204..409M. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20110004923.
- ↑ "Lunar Leonids 2000". NASA. 2000-11-17. https://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast26oct_1.htm.
- ↑ "Moon's tail spotted". BBC. 1999-06-09. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/363105.stm.
- ↑ "Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter Maps An 'Abundance of Sodium' On the Moon's Surface for the First Time Ever; Here's What It Means" (in en-IN). https://weather.com/en-IN/india/space/news/2022-10-12-chandrayaan-2-orbiter-maps-abundance-of-sodium-on-the-moons-surface.
External links
- Siegel, Ethan. "Surprise: The Moon Doesn't Just Have An Atmosphere, But A Tail, Too" (in en). https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2021/07/05/surprise-the-moon-doesnt-just-have-an-atmosphere-but-a-tail-too/.
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