Multispectral thermal imager observations of the moon during total eclipse. Page: 2 of 3
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MULTISPECTRAL THERMAL IMAGER OBSERVATIONS OF THE MOON DURING TOTAL
ECLIPSE. S. [ . l a% son'. A. P. Rodger'. B. G. Henderson'. S. C. Bender and P. i. Lucey *. 'los Alamos National
I.aborators . L os Alamos. NM 87545: U1niv ersity of Iawai i at Manoa. I lonolulu. 111 96822. (ste l'anl.uo )Introduction: Lunar eclipse temperature
measurements are sensitive to rock populations
because surfaces ;xith abundant exposed rock have
much higher mean thermal inertias than surfaces
dominated by line powders. When the Moon passes
into the Earth's shadow. the abrupt reduction in
insulation causes surFace elements to cool at rates
which are functions of their thermal inertia. The rock
population is a function of the exposure of a surface
unit, originally composed of solid igneous rock or
impact melt. to the impact liux of modest sized
projectiles. With time, a competent surface such as a
lava flow field or an impact melt sheet will be
comminuted by the impact flux reducing the ratio of
coarse to fine particles. In principle. thermal
measurements taken during lunar eclipse can he used
as a measure of the relative age of surface units.
During their series of visible and infrared imaging
obser; ations of the Moon. J. M. Saari and R. W.
Shorthill 11. 2] observed the lunar eclipse of 19
December 1964 and produced a data set intended to
reflect relative thermal inertias. Ground-based
telescopic infrared scanner measurements, normalized
to initial temperature and time of observation, showed
numerous thermal anomalies which often correlated
with stratigraphic ages of craters and crater count ages
of individual maria 12. 31. The Apollo 17 Infrared
Scanning Radiometer collected high quality
temperature data for portions of both the night and day
side of the Moon 141. These data revealed nighttime
temperature anomalies and observed that they often
correlated with geologic features. The experiment
showed that areas . ith high thermal inertia (indicated
h high nighttime temperatures) also had higher
frequencies of exposed rock.
Obsenations: T he Multispectral herball Imager
tM I) satellite was launched on 12 March 2000 with
the mission objective of demonstrating the
effectix eness of highly accurate multispectral imaging
tor passive characterization of industrial areas and sites
of environmental interest 151. Figure I shows MTI's
fifteen spectral hands which include three visible
hands. tixe near infrared bands. two short-wave
infrared bands. two mid-wave infrared bands, and three
long-waxe infrared bands. [he last ie M TI bands are
particularly useful for studies focused on Earth-based
land and water) temperature and emissivity problems.
In addition to Earth-based observations. MTI routinely
images the Moon.',
EElx /
Wv g I Vm)
Figure I. M i I spectral bands overlaid on a modeled
Earth-looking spectrum.
During the total lunar eclipse of 9 January 2001
(mid-eclipse 20:21 LTk MI imaged the Moon while
it was in partial and full eclipse. l igure 2 shows txo
Ml 1 images of the lunar surface. I he lel image was
taken on 9 February 2001 in band l (0.86-0.89 im )
and is shown lor lunar feature reference. Ihe right
image in Figure 2 was taken during total (20:38 1 i l
on 9 January 2001 in hand M (8.-42-8.83 un) and
shows the variation in relative brightness temperature
across the lunar surface. In the M I I infrared hands. the
Moon spans approximately 260 pixels. Figure 3 shoves
crater Tycho (85 km diameter) from the band M1
relative brightness temperature totality image: note the
different scale of this figure.
Discussion: [he relative brightness temperature
image of I igure 2 shows numerous hot spots. I'he
highest relative temperatures are from young craters.
for example Fycho and Copernicus. % hich hay e strew n
large blocks on the lunar surface. Maria Serenitatis,
Tranquillitatis. and Nubium sho%% large anomalously
hot areas, while Mare Ilumorum is much warmer than
its surroundings. [he relative temperature maps ol
Figures 2 and 3 are in excellent agreement with the 19
December 1964 eclipse results of Saari. Shorthill. and
Deaton 121. The hot central peak of Iecho. which is
poor in tine particulates. is apparent in I-igure 3.
In examining the variety of data available. it is
evident that at least in part the eclipse temperature of a
surface is a function of the age of that surface.
However. even cursor examination olI iure 2 shows
that major exceptions exist which indicate controls on
this parameter other than age. I-or example. the
extensive bright ejecta of I y cho crater does not appear
anomalous against the ancient highland upon which h itr '
.r
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Lawson, S. L. (Stefanie L.); Rodger, A. P. (Andrew Paul); Bender, S. C. (Steven C.); Lucey, P. G. (Paul G.) & Henderson, B. G. (Bradley G.). Multispectral thermal imager observations of the moon during total eclipse., article, January 1, 2003; United States. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc931278/m1/2/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.