Essay On Lunar Sunrise
explanatory Essay
880 words
Lunar sunrise and sunset rays are a rare phenomenon which occurs when shafts of sunlight shine through gaps in crater walls and mountains to cast a spike of light across a dark crater floor. They happen infrequently and only during sunrise and sunset when there is a very low angle of sunlight. The rays can range from thin slivers of light to triangular patches of illumination. They differ from lunar rays where debris from impact craters is strewn across the face of the Moon.
A true lunar light ray has been defined as one which crosses 3 degrees of longitude while being less, on average, than ¼ degree in latitude width. They can occur at either sunrise or sunset. Because of the geometry involved they are usually short-lived and occur within only a 2 to 3 hour window of opportunity.
Although lunar light rays were first observed over 150 years ago, they have gained in popularity only recently after a report of them was published in an astronomy journal. Since then amateur astronomers have discovered several craters where sunrise or sunset rays have shone through a crumpled or broken crater wall and created these light shows which lasted only a few hours.
Lunar light rays can be detected by scanning along the lunar terminator, and if you’re lucky, you just might spot one. For those who prefer not to leave it to chance, the website “CalSKY” can calculate sunrise and sunset times along with the sun angle to determine which lunar craters will display light rays and when. After inputting your geographical coordinates, you need to enter the date, time and duration you wish to observe. CalSKY will then generate a list of craters exhibiting rays, including date and time of visibility together with a map showing the crater and observer r...
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...nning out, and extending to the western wall.
Vogel Ray
A sunrise ray crosses the floor of Vogel, starting as a thin triangle of light that progressively thickens.
Walter Ray
The Walter ray is a fairly dramatic shaft of light that crosses the floor of Walter at sunset. A spreading wedge of light is cast across the floor by a gap in the wall. A small crater near the gap looking like a tiny crown cast three pointed shadows across the floor towards the central peak.
A complete list of craters with lunar sunset and sunrise rays can be obtained from the website of the Robinson Lunar Observatory at http://www.lunar-occultations.com/rlo/rays/rays.htm
Although not of any scientific value, the rarity of these events, coupled with the short time frame they are visible, make these real challenges for the avid lunar observer. So if the sky is clear, go catch some rays!
In this essay, the author
- Describes the ray as a moderately broad pie-shaped swath of light that illuminates babbage's crater floor.
- Explains that the high plains of northern bonpland are crossed by a thin ray from the western rim of parry just short of 8 degrees south.
- Explains that the ray extends across the plains to the west of burnham, rather than across its floor.
- Describes how light shines through a crack in the western wall at sunrise, causing an illumination patch to cross the crater floor and eastern rim.
- Explains that sunrise and sunset rays have jumped-started the surge in interest in recent years. the wall between these craters has a deep cleft.
- Explains that the double ray is formed by a cleft in hypatia's eastern wall, which creates an arc shining across its floor.
- Analyzes the light emanating through a broken segmented area of the western rim.
- Describes how a very narrow shaft of light spreads out in width from slightly west of the central peak to the floor of crater.
- Describes how a ray of light projects from the eastern wall to the central peak of the crater at sunset.
- Explains that a very small triangle of light shines on the western crater rim just south of
- Explains that a thin shaft of light crosses orontius' floor, along the north rim of the crater.
- Describes how three shafts of illumination extend across the floor of ptolemaeus, which otherwise remains in darkness. these rays illuminate the gently undulating terrain of the cayley formation.
- Explains that a short, very thin shaft of light originates north and west of crater c and extends to the western wall.
- Analyzes how a sunrise ray crosses the floor of vogel, starting as thin triangle of light that gradually thickens.
- Explains that lunar sunrise and sunset rays are a rare phenomenon that occurs when shafts of sunlight shine through gaps in crater walls and mountains.
- Explains that the halley ray occurs at sunrise and sends a spike of light across the crater floor.
- Explains that the walter ray is a dramatic shaft of light that crosses the floor of walter at sunset.
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In this essay, the author
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- Explains that herge's "hero" tintin was sent to the moon in his book destination moon.
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- Explains how a meteorite collided with the moon in 1981 and sent pieces of it out into space. the lunar surface is rich in aluminum and poor in iron and magnesium.
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In this essay, the author
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- Explains that the results of the experiment were not discussed in the article as it had just been conducted. the crater contained water, methane, hydrogen gas, and carbon dioxide.
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In this essay, the author
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In this essay, the author
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- Explains that in a couple pictures taken there are no stars visible. this doesn't make sense because the moon is close enough to any planet to see stars.
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- Opines that the moon landing in 1969 was real or fake, but everyone has their own opinion.
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In this essay, the author
- Argues that the apollo 11 mission was a well-executed stunt staged by national aeronautics and space administration (nasa).
- Explains why nasa and the united states government faked the moon landing. the 1960s were a time of fear, grief, war and lack of trust in the government.
- Explains that nasa was under great pressure to win the "space race" and was given the impression that they needed to achieve kennedy’s goal by whatever means necessary.
- Explains that nasa produced live video footage to support their moon landing, but it provided evidence to proving the apollo lunar landing was faked.
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- Explains that the van allen belts provide evidence in proving why the moon landing is a hoax.
- Explains that dr. david groves, a holographic computer image specialist, conducted his own analysis on the apollo 11 moon landing, which he concluded was staged.
- Argues that the apollo 11 mission was a race to the top to prove to other countries that america was superior.
1908 wordsRead More - The Effects of Tanningexplanatory essayUVB rays are the middle range of UV radiation. These wavelengths travel 333 miles to 368 miles. This type of radiation also causes tanning, wrinkles, and burning. It also plays an important part in the development of skin cancer. The time of day when UVB rays are most present between 10 A.M to 4 P.M between the months of April and October. These...
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1425 wordsRead More - Apollo 13explanatory essayphenomena." An opportunity to study large mass impact phenomena on the Moon was available with this mission. Instead of sending the third stage of the launch vehicle into solar orbit, as had been done on previous missions, the trajectory of the Apollo 13 S-IVB was designed to cause it to hit the lunar surface. Equipment set up during the Apollo 12 mission would have been used to record the seismic signals. The crew was also assigned to install a heat flow experiment designed to measure the amount of heat coming from the inside of the Moon. This data would be used to determine whether the Moon actually had a molten core. This would provide new insight on the internal structure of the Moon.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the crew of apollo 13 was responsible for several scientific experiments that were to be carried out during the mission.
- Explains that the apollo 13 s-ivb's trajectory caused it to hit the lunar surface. the crew was assigned to install a heat flow experiment to measure the amount of heat coming from the inside of the moon.
- Describes the apollo spacecraft odyssey and the lunar module aquarius.
- Explains that lovell's partner on the moon, the lunar module pilot, was fred haise, jr.
- Explains that the prime crew was given blood tests to determine if they had immunity. lovell and haise were cleared, but mattingly was not.
- Explains that the crew of apollo 13 was boosted off pad 39a of the kennedy space center, right on time, at 2:13p.m., easter standard time, saturday, april 11, 1970.
- Explains that the saturn 5's second stage cut off 132 seconds early due to unusually large oscillations in thrust chamber pressure. this caused the remaining four engines to burn 34 seconds longer than planned.
- Describes how lovell performed a transposition maneuver to dock nose first with the lunar module. once the maneuver was complete, the crew activated springs that pushed the lm-apollo stack away.
- Explains that mission control asked the crew to roll the spacecraft to the right about 60 degrees and photograph a comet named benntt. they were also asked to stir the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen in the service module tanks.
- Narrates how haise asked houston to stand by a moment and then he said: "hey, we've got an issue here." the amperage on the bus that distributed power to the ship suddenly surged up and dropped back down.
- Describes how the crew reported that the main bus a was showing abnormally low voltage. the liquid oxygen tank no. 2 supplying the fuel cells power system was reading zero.
- Explains that apollo 13 was 180,521 nautical miles from earth, more than halfway to the moon when it suffered a terrible accident.
- Explains that the astronauts had to use the electric power and life support system in the lunar module, now their lifeboat, to return to earth.
- Explains that apollo's oxygen tank was leaking, damaged by the blowout of tank no. 2, and the command module storage batteries had to be used for reentry into earth atmosphere.
- Describes how mission control computed a new course that would swing the aquarius around the moon and bring it back to earth.
- Explains mission control's second course correction as they neared the moon. they would burn the engines for an additional 263.4 seconds, increase the velocity by 861 feet per second, and put splashdown in the mid-pacific ocean.
- Explains that apollo 13 rounded the moon in its 77th hour of flight and headed back toward earth at 7,064 feet per second. the odyssey came through that atmosphere and landed into the ocean below.
- Explains that the main power system for the apollo spacecraft was contained in bay no. 4 of the service module.
- Explains that fluids don't flow well in zero gravity unless pushed by something. each tank contained a heater coil, thermostatic switch, and electric fans to stir up the mixture.
- Explains that although each tank held 326 pounds of oxygen under pressure of 865 to 935 pounds per square inch, these safety measures could not prevent an explosion from a rapid build-up of pressure.
- Explains that acceptance testing showed that heat was leaking into the tank at a higher rate than specifications permitted. other discrepancies that were regarded as minor by space agency inspectors were accepted.
- Explains that tank no. 2, serial number 10024x-ta0009, was installed in service module 106 for the flight of apollo 10. however, it was removed because of a decision by nasa to modify vacuum pump on the tank dome.
- Explains that a countdown demonstration test series is carried out several weeks before each apollo launch at the kennedy space center to detect any problems.
- Explains that ground crews thought there was a loose fitting that allowed gaseous oxygen being pumped in the vent line to escape through the fill line with out pushing out much liquid oxygen. the fitting had been loosened when the tank was dropped at north american months before.
- Explains that the ground crew turned on heaters and fans to try to boil the oxygen from the tank to empty the tanks.
- Explains that the 65 volts was too much for the thermostatic switches that controlled the heaters.
- Explains that the safety switches had been welded shut and hence were not operating at the kennedy space center. sensors would have detected heater current readings on tank no. 2.
- Explains that the review board's blueprint for the accident was drawn. because of a bump one day in the fall of 1969, the tank could not be emptied properly.
- Cites compton, david, davis, william, daroulin, jim, howard, ron, lewis, richard s., the voyages of apollo:
1867 wordsRead More - Apollo 11 Missionexplanatory essayNASA has studied the surface of the moon for about two years. These years were spent searching for a place on the moon that this great historical landing would take place in. They took pictures of the moon with high-resolution photographs that were taken by the Lunar Orbiter satellite. The close-up pictures were taken by a different craft known as the Surveyor spacecraft (www.space.com).
In this essay, the author
- Explains that apollo 11's objective was to send a man to land successfully on the moon for the first time. the launch took place at cape kennedy on july 16th, 1969.
- Explains that nasa has studied the surface of the moon for about two years. they took high-resolution photographs taken by the lunar orbiter satellite and the surveyor spacecraft.
- Explains that different camera equipment was used during the apollo 11 mission to capture different types of data and pictures on the moon.
- Explains the astronauts that took part in the apollo 11 mission were commander neil armstrong, pilot michael collins, and edwin "buzz" aldrin.
- Explains that the saturn v was one of three saturn rockets built for the apollo 11 launch on july 16th, 1969.
- Describes the saturn v as the tallest, heaviest and most powerful rocket ever. it had enough fuel to travel the world 800 times.
- Explains that the apollo spacecraft was made up of three separate parts: the command module with a cabin big enough for three astronauts, the service module and the lunar module.
- Describes the command module used in the apollo 11 space mission. it was built for nasa by north american aviation, which is now part of boeing.
- Describes how the apollo 11 lunar module, also known as the eagle, was the first vehicle carrying people to land on the surface of the moon.
- Describes how the apollo 11 command module splashed down on july 24, 1962 at 11:49 a.m., after eight days, three hours, and eighteen minutes since it’s liftoff.
- Describes how the nation celebrated this historic event with three parades in which the astronauts all attended. president nixon and vice president agnew presented each astronaut with the presidential medal of freedom.
- Explains that nasa's apollo 11 space mission was a great success because neil armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon and buzz aldrin the second.
1334 wordsRead More - Persuasive Essay On Apollo 11explanatory essayWhen the astronauts landed in the moon Neil A. Armstrong said the surface was like a powdered charcoal and the landing craft left a crater about a foot deep. Only Armstrong and Aldrin went on the moon. The men were on the moon for twenty-one hours but only on the moon's surface for two and a half hours. The first things Armstrong did was collect samples and take pictures (BBC). When Armstrong stepped on the moon he said this very famous quote, “That's one small step for man, one giant leap for
In this essay, the author
- Explains that apollo 11 was about landing on the moon and returning to earth safely. the crew on this mission were neil a. armstrong, buzz aldrin, and michael collins.
- Explains that the soviet union had made it into space, but president john f. kennedy wanted to land on the moon first. apollo 1 took off, and the launch pad caught on fire killing three people.
- Explains that the astronauts had to go through tough training, such as reduced gravity walking simulator, geology field training and jungle survival training.
- Explains that the astronauts had to eat a different way than you would on earth. the dehydrated food prevents the food from going bad.
- Explains that the apollo 11 spaceship had many parts, including the command module, service module and a lunar landing module.
- Explains how armstrong and aldrin landed on the moon for two and a half hours, collecting samples and taking pictures. armstrong said it was one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
- Explains that apollo 11 helped nasa and people find out more about the moon and outer space. it also helped expand our knowledges on science.
591 wordsRead More