Media Information
 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection
Title:
A Spherule from the Earth's Moon
Explanation:
How did this spherule come to be on the Moon? When a meteorite [ http://www.nineplan…] strikes the Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], the energy of the impact [ http://science.nasa…] melts some of the splattering rock [ http://www.teachers…], a fraction of which might cool into tiny glass beads [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Many of these glass beads [ http://www.geocitie…] were present in lunar soil samples [ http://www-curator.…] returned to Earth by the Apollo missions [ http://www.nasm.edu…]. Pictured above [ http://www.lbl.gov/…] is one such glass spherule [ http://www.hyperdic…] that measures only a quarter of a millimeter [ http://lamar.colost…] across. This spherule [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] is particularly interesting because it has been victim to an even smaller impact. A miniature crater [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] is visible on the upper left, surrounded by a fragmented area caused by the shockwaves [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] of the small impact. By dating [ http://www.dc.peach…] many of these impacts, some astronomers estimate [ http://www.lbl.gov/…] that cratering [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] on our Moon increased [ http://www.sciencen…] roughly 500 million years ago and continues even today.
Credit and Copyright:
Timothy Culler (UCB [ http://eps.berkeley…]) et al., Apollo 11 Crew [ http://www.hq.nasa.…], NASA [ http://www.nasa.gov/]
facet_where:
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
facet_where:
Johnson Space Center (JSC)
facet_what:
Earth
facet_what:
Moon
facet_what:
Crater
facet_what:
Apollo 11
facet_what:
moon
original url:
http://antwrp.gsfc.…
UID:
SPD-APOD-ap040215

A Spherule from the Earth's Moon
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