moon impact studies. what do we know about the moon?
TRANSCRIPT
Moon Impact Studies
What do We Know About the Moon?
How Did the Moon Form?• Large asteroid the size of Mars
smashed into Earth causing debris
and a large chunk of Earth shaved
off.
• The moon started to cool
What Are Craters?• Craters are roughly circular,
excavated holes made by impact
events. The circular shape is due to
material flying out in all directions as
a result of the explosion upon
impact, not a result of the impactor
having a circular shape (almost no
impactors are spherical).
Craters Cont…
• Craters are the most common
surface features on many solid
planets and moons—Mercury and our
Moon are covered with craters.
Why Does the Moon Have So Many Craters?
• http://www.space.com/15035-moon-f
ormation-theory-challenged.html
Types of Craters
• Simple impact craters have bowl-shaped
depressions, mostly with smooth walls.
This type of crater generally has a
diameter less than 9 miles (15 km). Their
depth is about 20% of the diameter.
Simple Impact Crater
Simple Crater on the Moon
Complex Craters
• Complex impact craters have a single or
multiple peaks in the middle of the crater.
These craters have diameters between about
12 and 110 miles (20 and 175 km), and the
central uplift is usually one or a few peaks.
Craters with a diameter over 110 miles (175
km) can have more complex, ring-shaped
uplifts within the crater.
Complex Crater on the Moon
Simple and Complex
Impact Basin
• A impact basin is an impact crater that has
a rim diameter greater than 185 miles (300
km). There are over 40 impact basins on
the Moon. These catastrophic impacts
produce faulting and other crust
deformations. Material ejected from impact
basins is distributed over wide areas.
• http://www.usatoday.com/video/index
.htm?bctid=1508060156001
• beginnings as a ball of magma
Why Does the Moon Have Dark Spots and Light Spots?
Ejecta on the Moon
Regolith
• Regolith is a layer of loose rock that
covers the hard bedrock underneath
• Dust
• Soil
• Broken Rock
• Etc.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=av
X3Ae9UWTE&feature=related
• http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/ex
plore/shaping_the_planets/impact_cr
atering.shtml
