FIUCASE
Moon mosaic
The Moon, which is 365,000-406,000 km away, is the Earth’s only natural satellite. The Moon has an apparent magnitude range of -2.5 to -12.9, meaning the near side can always be observed with the naked eye (except during a new moon). It can be observed in various phases, due to its position relative to the Sun whose light illuminates its surface. Occasionally, the Moon lies in the same plane as the Sun, and we can see lunar or solar eclipses. This is caused by the close proximity of two important numbers: that the Moon is about 389 times closer to the Earth than the Sun is, while the Sun’s diameter is 403 times larger than the diameter of the Moon. The Moon and Sun appear to be the same angular size, which is why solar eclipses appear to be complete eclipses. The far side of the Moon is never visible from Earth since the Moon’s orbital and rotational periods are the same. The Moon has been Earth’s companion for billions of years; the most accepted hypothesis of the creation of the Moon is the giant Impact hypothesis, which suggests that a Mars-sized object named Theia impacted with the Earth about 4.5 billion years ago. The debris regrouped and then formed the Moon. The Moon has since been providing a gravitational presence that influences tides on the Earth, and a visual and emotional symbol for Earthlings, prompting music and songs about its romantic influence on humans. The image presented above is the result of the combination of five individual CCD images taken by Dr. Webb and physics major Steven Revesz, through a U filter on the 24” telescope at FIU’s Stocker Astroscience Center, on November 23, 2015. The images, whose exposure times were 0.02 seconds, were initially reduced by Dr. Webb and the mosaic was put together by Gabriel Salazar. The telescope is so powerful, looking with the eye or with a high resolution video camera, one can resolve craters less than two kilometers across on the Lunar surface. Of the features in the mosaic above, most prominent is the crater Tycho, near the right edge just above the middle. Note the rays coming from it; they were formed by the scatter of debris from the impact of an asteroid. The dark areas are “Maria” or “seas”. Although they contain no water, they are large impact sites flooded with lava in the Moons distant past. The small circular Maria at the bottom of the picture is Mare Crisium, while the larger dark Maria just above it is Mare Tranquillitatis, or the “Sea of Tranquility”. This was the site of the very first Lunar Landing, Apollo 11back in 1969.
Moon mosaic
The Moon, which is 365,000-406,000 km away, is the Earth’s only natural satellite. The Moon has an apparent magnitude range of -2.5 to -12.9, meaning the near side can always be observed with the naked eye (except during a new moon). It can be observed in various phases, due to its position relative to the Sun whose light illuminates its surface. Occasionally, the Moon lies in the same plane as the Sun, and we can see lunar or solar eclipses. This is caused by the close proximity of two important numbers: that the Moon is about 389 times closer to the Earth than the Sun is, while the Sun’s diameter is 403 times larger than the diameter of the Moon. The Moon and Sun appear to be the same angular size, which is why solar eclipses appear to be complete eclipses. The far side of the Moon is never visible from Earth since the Moon’s orbital and rotational periods are the same. The Moon has been Earth’s companion for billions of years; the most accepted hypothesis of the creation of the Moon is the giant Impact hypothesis, which suggests that a Mars-sized object named Theia impacted with the Earth about 4.5 billion years ago. The debris regrouped and then formed the Moon. The Moon has since been providing a gravitational presence that influences tides on the Earth, and a visual and emotional symbol for Earthlings, prompting music and songs about its romantic influence on humans. The image presented above is the result of the combination of five individual CCD images taken by Dr. Webb and physics major Steven Revesz, through a U filter on the 24” telescope at FIU’s Stocker Astroscience Center, on November 23, 2015. The images, whose exposure times were 0.02 seconds, were initially reduced by Dr. Webb and the mosaic was put together by Gabriel Salazar. The telescope is so powerful, looking with the eye or with a high resolution video camera, one can resolve craters less than two kilometers across on the Lunar surface. Of the features in the mosaic above, most prominent is the crater Tycho, near the right edge just above the middle. Note the rays coming from it; they were formed by the scatter of debris from the impact of an asteroid. The dark areas are “Maria” or “seas”. Although they contain no water, they are large impact sites flooded with lava in the Moons distant past. The small circular Maria at the bottom of the picture is Mare Crisium, while the larger dark Maria just above it is Mare Tranquillitatis, or the “Sea of Tranquility”. This was the site of the very first Lunar Landing, Apollo 11back in 1969.