INSIDE: BUZZ ALDRIN REMEMBERS APOLLO 11 Everything you need to know about our lunar neighbour APOLLO PROGRAM | THE FAR SIDE | CRATERS & MORERa RO AAR RDA AAR rt r | y rv rrr rrr ee Pi PP i i i | | 4 | r | Vr re rr errr eee Pee i ry y | PPP PP Pere eee | Vere revere Pee PPP ee i Ver PPP eee ere eee rrr rrrrrrr. a Ne eee eee eee eee PP 444 444 rr Aa y | rev vr r rrr PP IVT 44" hah a phd de aR RRR La aR RD bh i Ra RA Daa hae La a haa LDR RR LAR RR bs is fs Its os i i I Ra RR rrr > Ih haa he hh Ri i ie ee WWawyqaye aaa Al ad ARR AR RD he Ri hs i I i ~~ ik. i eeWelcome to the Spdée MOON Deo Ra oan ue SO eer a cerca Pee amt en een ng er tena ed ‘who watches over all, while others wondered what it would ee eo cents Crontac eet eterna) thought impdssible: two astronauts landed on the surface of Cee ee ee Peet to eee nts rt cee In Book of the Moon, find out what really happened when Neil ‘Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped outside theirlunar module Soe Re aca) Dee a eee teen Lee to take the perfect photographs of our lunar neighbour, and Cea et Ra eto cd Peau ee cr ca4 L FUTURE 4 rMOONContents THE MOON « ate TB Clo) 34 Secrets from the far Butea ay lay eleadaed POR en rnd id 16 What made our Moon? Pome eee es Cort 2 iain me BUT ee nr Ee ead Eye Ee ap ley rine te) MisContents « MOON TOUR « Pere ai ar yO Arist lec 84 Other BENT Ebel 90 Project Apollo BCP Vol eg SPP RMVB ow tei od Roe Neeley CO rope tte TOM TO Oe Ey ory < Pram trait) TOMA er et the Moon Peer oe fe Perec Cn Cot BU B ey 119 Charles Duke Lad Petey historyThe Moon 10 The Moon eS ees gi pcg py BURea aCe pC i bai 40 Who owns the Moon? 48 Photograph the Moon 50 Make a lunar analemma BCMA Eur Keti ey Clara Pre Ree Beni ts Emagen ey the 52 What if the Moon Terran trot ahi aeiS Explerer's Guide The Moon Take a tour of our nearest neighbour and discover a world much stranger than you thought Dee eres eed Se es Seeger cd ‘with ess than one-ifteth ofthe diameter. The Ce ee ee ee eed er eee eee nee tL eee nat) Cent ny Pee eerste Petpet ern several lilometes high, Over blons of years, ene mort eri een ee en eee Ce eros Se anne ee eee Abe enn ee es Se et ec) bythe unusual properties ofthe hunar sol or pee eee et eee ny Seen eee ener nes pret erates rs Dees See ern eet pecan ese ee rig See etd Pees How to get th ries Ta ere peer a Pea rps s nn Sei henliy Parconie es 5 pe een epee picteetiee i erp bu poet [Gretel Perron Poca’ Soren he Cas eines cana ee ted ae earns Bieta Peyote ree Eerie pomreatrns cosines ed ree Ce Pred Paani Serre pectoris pianMyron How big is the Moon? Se at eee ert ean etd eri! Cuno How far is the Moon? eae eee een ent Pon inerene terete Deca gate De eer a See eater Eas an <—]—— _ 73m (24ft) apart ioiS Top sights to see on the Moon eet a ee Se en Pee er ee or tre see ns Pe eee ery Cee eer Tn ee a eee eee ed ee ee eee eee et Cena ects To Eo a leotard eer cess ee ners ee eee ets fe cd ees ee rent ee eee et eer enens ee ee Ee ee Creer er er nee Pete ed ee er ene) asteroid impacts didnt punch ll the way through ees Pee een Seen tty Se eT eri Pe ed Pacer ete Pee ete en rr ceed Eee ee tentre cer iar ofthe surface, ke an exit wound, Without water ed es Cnet eee) Seen eee es Revert sr eee te ee rad SS eer Teed eer ee ere Peer etre eet ear ts Deer echo Srey Teme eg erg et ee nye sert enone es CA ae aa ‘onthe Moon were ft ryMyon PVCU EIR imo erie =e ee Prey Learner rere eed en ee kee td Vill fede Crescent Coe ‘Gibbous Eo teiceereoirerernr as Sioa aicaepeptreeiey Mes eeaiyaerern itanenTee een a + Dee CR) , New Rigo “i a K_ratnoon beooiae s ~~ eet S A aid ora) a. pee pening ~ Sd Etna Po) ree free 9 He er ce tees ferris Surface gravity. On the Moon Sern Scenes RRC vb ote 6 OOOre a >) Height of the highest mountains on the aOR a ene iy oe ed § Moon - taller than Mont Blanc CLE eyes ee eKom PNY tess the Moon when to.get to the Moon by Coe eee cM Sieloltoyn tat VCoeny (ole) Oe ae a ete eae Oe) BAR RSAsituation (OW la mee om eo occnlm ecm te Mca) ooRt ale universe, but what about its influences on Moon? pe ees ee ees ee et en ets Prete ester ee ears ee et eee Dee eee ad ee ed Peron ene Se es ee eee Se ee Se ee aero eee ee en cee ee a Oe ee ee ee Se See 4 Se ete ee ed eee ee ee eee SS ee aa er eens coe eee eer td Se ee eet eee ed ee ers Cee ees ee ees eee eee cn) Se eho thats the cause of bulges arising onthe Earths Se ee eet Se ee ee ced So eee ee ot ee ees eon Sete ne ee ee tenant ee ected eer ee en So eat eee eee eee friction between the ocean's bulge nd Eas ee eer ey SE eee Pee et ts een ats SE ey Sed the Earth rotational energy AS a consequence, es bby 23 milisecnds per century atthe present ee eon eed ee ee ce) Pencire esetSince inteligent ie as we know ithas been round over this course of ime, exploration ofthe Pee ered peer ae ted ‘on the Moon and fl the effects of ts gravity up Pe re eer ee eee ets Pe eee ete ee ere ee ee es fact itis about 83 per cent weaker than Earths, meaning that any object on Earth would weigh ee eee et an average adult male's weight on Earth would Cee ee ee ee poe eae eee as ee ee oid Cee a a See eee Pe re ered emery Erosrieee atti jumping hard enough in order to Cee ey ed called the scape velocity. On Earth, Cen ee second equating t roughly 2,000 en eet companion the escape velocity is only just over two Ce een eee ere Sd ees Modile and nota cs Ped ers eT con the Moon. Ifieas caer etd ees eet eee ead ee eed Gravity See ee ena) the Intemational Space Sation, Throughout the ee ro eee ee ee eens ee eee eee eee ets system and these ate fsues that organisation such Se ee Poet eee!Understanding how our lunar companion was formed might just explain how we came to be here CoogeeWhat made our Moon?& isthe brightest thing in our ight sky. Over on the course of history it hasbeen revered as God, os trampled on by 12 American men and immertalised sll, prt ofthe Mon were ae in ve-saked poetry. The Moon i cur seaast ompanion, our only natural satelite as we endlely further away fom ‘mbit the Sun. Yet for an object that has received such dea even ped to sri. arguments sel age about where exactly the Qoean - which stretches acoss half four planet 38 in the Paci fcc this proposed impactor: Tela named i alter the Tan wh gave birth othe Moon cess Planet atthe same time Selene in Greek mythology And computer modeling fr itt form the modern seems to come fom on Thela lippng of about 45 degrees -and aa relat at, mosh ei would ring around the Earth, which then coal Moon, But recent anal th isthe th st moon in trumping most of the satlites of our much bigger us. In act if you compare the size oftheir host planet, eur Moon 5 tp ofthe st. red 45 billion bore eventual these objets~ perhaps one the i th the Moon forming out Irisallto do ith isctopes What sets iffrert “Tf the Moon was formed from a smashed cei ne pth na dt apart Theia during a blow with the Earth, — ssm.smestseste steamer msonant then it should have its own unique oxygen = isotope. Yet it matches the Earth's exactly” wi the same number of pets but number of neues Sees call these ea ee egy Steal Percent (eh caer ees recs Tes i sod accu exalt etWhat made our Moon? ee Cat Apu eee Perr) eee CLs ky auc Se) posers Paes Posietatonte carers aad Se eed pier ty Peetenterenn Eyer) Giematons einer) reteaee mache ee er Cait aied 6 see err ern wo together to forma eaten pooner =~ Cty Ae Cee } rey / pare / PettsCee ey coer! es tae <>) oer gicrg eer Peeoeaiane tte Eacipearennnett rasan Gc tient cere epee ae price eer on Peete Peeve ed ees ecal germ-free clothing. Dr Robert Gieuth [NASA asonaut Charles Cont of Apel 12s two Moon rckstbackon Earth (igh inspects nar samples fom the Apel 17 missionferent favours ef the same element ‘isotopes ‘oxygen for example has three stable fetopes, with ‘ght nine or ten neurons. When comes to planetary geology the relative amounts ofeach ofthese isotopes present on a cesta object area key measurement, it ke a Fingerpint. "Each body in the Solar System has unique oxygen isotope signature” ays Dr un Wang. assistant professor of geochemistry at Washington University in St Louis. And therein Jes the rub. Analysis ofthe Apollo samples shows ‘that Moon rocks have exactly the same oxyBen| ‘sotope signature as the Fath Ifthe Moon was ‘ h then should have ts ature Yer instead it ‘matches the Earth’ signature exact Sct ist covered hi afr bck 20 siraity was just an artefact of the precision ofthe experiments -that one day more accurate analysis ‘would be able to show that there was actualy ny ference afterall But the latest research has found ‘that even with much more precise measurements, ‘the oxygen isotope signature i stil identical. and therefore we know thatthe Mocn cannot have ‘come fom Thela alone Wang believes this points to much mote violent collision. one that melted the outer layers ofboth orth and Theia. This material then mised together ‘o form a vapour - a coud of material - stretching from our planet out to 500 Earth adi. The Moon ‘then condensed from this cloud, explaining why bath bodies row have the same oxygen isotopes ‘Once they mix together it doesnt matter what the ‘xyzen isotope of the to bodies were before” says Wang, But ifthe notion ofa more eatastopic impact sto be accepted needs more than one strand of supporting evidence. And so thats exactly what Wang set cat to find, He analysed seven diferent Moon rock samples ong wie samples ferent abundances echnigue ten sly possible Along a from Harvard from multiple Apolo mis of Eanth rocks measuring th of isotopes of potassium usin ties more accurate than pe with his aleague Stein ‘Univers, he published his results He found that ‘the Moon rocks had a greter abundance cf one particular potassium isotope at the level of 04 pats “But the latest research has found that even with much more precise measurements, the oxygen isotope signature is still identical” Theia by numbers 6,000km The eth of the Tela impactor, which is about the same size as Mars 60-80° © Hei” The axial tilt Siz of the Earth after Theia collided with sete the planet Halliday a conferer What made our Moon? 1974 AS® Although new head-on cols id pictur folaahdunee glancing blow @ 4. 31 billion dat& er 1000 more than the Earth. “Poassum i alot more volte than oxygen, meaning its more Hkely ‘aor and be mdi alr eas ys ‘moved further fom the Sun would its ofthe other pe “Tt might not ound ie mich er big moons ofthe Sola Systm are than a degree to thei planets 50, ly stands out says Douglas Hamilton professor of astrnomy atthe Univers of Maryland ‘steam ed by Harton has cet attempted to explain this stange anomaly. They an many computer simulations ofthe giant pact, wit sigh ferent parameters each tine. The one that gave the closest match to xb suggests that Tho imp ‘mare calamitns or ur planet have sugar as actually alt previ models Tealight wall fom Thea would have sent the Bath spinning much faster - mere fax n fay as other reves models have suggested al have been knocks Wid, wih it axis ted somewhere between 6D and 80 degrees tthe only ted by 234 dep ove almost sic today ts ‘This high incinaton affected the Noon at formation of the Moon ae sil very mich in fl (Quite how we came to nit sch ge Moon on biti a pzae tl occupying teams of around the wed. But seems we are important. because dsnoeting the Moons history i hey step in understanding haw key such events aren the wider universe. And tu, that might hep us answer ach bigger ‘question: whether we are alone nthe universe. Thats because many stentistshave speculated that he churning af the oceans bya Moon that was much the Earth than titra could have played ein the eaty development of fe on Earth, anal pl alo sabes the Earth ady and rea This fry of recent research bas put ws one tep loser to understanding haw our Meen and it may one day help us understand our “The Theia impact would have knocked Earth over almost on its side, with its axis tilted somewhere between 60 and 80 degrees to the ecliptic” Unlike Mary moon Deimos or Moon was cape _asitpasedby our plane “Moonset as sen by astronaut Tim Peake aboard the Intemational space StatonPartially molten @ pore What made our Moon? Lunar make-up Ce Tre) pants a bite Ty Mantle Fe a os oad N . a A Onn as ae esaa New Horizons' scientists have fuelled debate by creating their own definition of a planet, but it also has consequences for our Moon ST ey ee SSC rrr ee ener Sonera) Pt tes Se See eine ted ee eras Ses eo neti See ee es ee eee rs So eee Pes eae ete ee eed Steed te ets eee ee ee ‘moons as planets. This now mans thee are Se eed Pee eed erect! eee eee) eee ed ey eee 2008; predicts theresa large planet inthe outer Sey ets pes ey NCC) Ee nn Cs1 getting on fr I years since the TAU downgraded Pluto's planetary status, But does the definition ofa planet still make perfect sense in terms ofthe science that we know today? Mike Bove (MB Yes. vou 3 we ve leaned absolutly nothing new about what plane is nd nothing tha would ead you to have to tedo 3 definition. isnt imposible we could make new Aicoveries that would chalenge our current conces, bout none of those have been made sofa: My Interpretation that those who want redefine i feel ike Pito sin the news alot hese days a tha this is ther ast chance ‘Alan Stern (AS: The IAU definition of 2006 isnot only antiquated but ¢ was developed na rush by 8 bunch of cents fom another ed astronomy, But astronames and planetary scents ae asiferen in terms of expertise as, say, neurology and pdistry inmedicine. leno that planetary seni. | have very tle expertise in black holes and gales sly, astronomers ave very tle expertise n reatword planets. Bu bck in 2006, they really botched it up and they have creed some headaches for educators, schoo children and the pic who “what te heck, X does adel up Ever sei planet [ever een looks Ike Pio. How can it not be a plnet?"The new defintion actually werks much Deter withthe things that we know and one ofthe nie atbutes ofits tat ts actualy designed by wrkang experts in planetary science But isthe AU's definition now set as the one that willbe refered toby most people? [Mas Yes Alan wl argue unt he can talk any more ‘hat ht shouldbe a plane and then people wil see his argument and sy ‘ch sit gaing tobe a planet, gun” and the answers nn There sno groundswell of movement to make ca planet again justa very ‘vocal minority of people who want it tobe so who vwllcomtinie tobe woral AAS Issil open. Why aml getting interviewed five or ten times a week on this topic years after the 1A ‘vote? n the setific community, why are papers beng writen on Mikes tryng to say, dont pay attention i setied mater, because he hopes to keep the status qun Youll find panetary scientists who agree wth Mike but think youl find a rest raj do not. Yu can svc the tert on (Gee Schoar, ok up Poin echnical papers and see the wort planet beng used by my colleagues routinely. And you can do the same fr these satlites, the moors ofthe planets and other works Inthe Kiuper Bet i's just data, You dant have task for opinion, lst find whats publohed. "Much ofthe definition and downgrading of Pluto appears to hinge very much on whether a body is able to clear the neighbourhood around is orbit But how crucial is that? AAS Itsnotmpertant whatsoever: thats ony about where an cbjet sand whats nex (0 So, You known gelogy- to make an anabgy -we dant lasy mountains according to whether ont they axe slated or come asa group or whether they are Inalinear ange cr any other association wth regards to whatis next to them, Sinan bog we dont decide whether a coisa cow bse on wheter t isina end or isolated, An objects really about ts ‘own attributes ane not what tis next to, We don clas stars according to whether they arin groups galas o¢ not, of whether they cer any ab ima galaxy andi fact none of them do We dont classy atreids and galas that way ether But the asronomers ofthe LAU do this thar wery flawed Panetdefinon, to ik the numberof planets manageable level, which s quite unset. ata is data thee are lt of mountains so be icf there area tof ives or species or hundreds of centile ements soe t We dont try to manaae the mumber tobe small. Atenamers don tr 0 ‘manage the numbers of gales ar tars or any ther type of objects inthe universe except one planes ‘And this dsastous definiuon which noone apy wth years ates, means they sl have wo pay frit terms of ther reputation, The controversy wil Nt 0 avraybecase they botched its bad MBs You low, would sy the definition thatthe TAU adopted is poorly worded so wet defend that Dut wl defend the concep tha they were trying, to describe I eal very simpeif you ook our Slat Sytem wth res ees tis very fcuk not tos ‘oh wow, look there ar ihe things that are large and they zaitationally dinate everyting Is the Moon a planet? se that gets around them” So yu cll that clearing the Solar Sytem, or you callit something else. But if you miss that simple most pofoue fat about ‘the bodies in the Solar System then youve kind of ‘mised what the Solar Sytem is all about That s ‘what the IU is trying to describe and thats wy it es mater. Thee sucha eiflerence in out Soar ‘System between these eght bodes and how they fot there are why, and all te cher ny bois are flgting in and cut or going around these bodies [Inreports about defining what isa planet. Alan dns sald that Pluto should be upgraded along with ‘the Earths Moon, two moons orbiting Jupter and ‘wo circling Saturn. The argument is that a planet should be defined by a body’ intrinsic physical ropertes rather than their extrinsic obit ‘ropertes. re you abe to elaborate? AS Vary spy, we recognise whether or not something ser snot a plane based entirely upon its ‘own characterises and not what I sna. 50 fo ‘example age moons of planets are recognised that ‘wayand, what's more, we have recognise sazelites of planets that are themselves planets, historical for centuries Ifyou do some Google searches, youl see “In biology, we don't decide whether a cow is a cow based on whether it is ina herd or isolated" aan stern Seer ene on reine pees fn tenes{It must orbit the Sun The Sun isthe centre of he Solr System and ips anes inte a curved obit ~ 2° thas to be round (sh) body nees stir > <= mascots om prnty Suahant sna a ‘\ andtal " Itneeds its own space Inmust “clear the neighbourhood around its a that se must be travatonaly domiant with oother comparably sized bods nt vent. What the alternative definition states ‘Alan Stern and other planetary scientists have put foxward ther own definition of planet Planet: a sub-stellar mass body that has never undergone nuclear fusion and that has sufficient self gravitation to assume a spheroidal shape adequately described by a triaxial ellipsoid regardless of its orbital parameters Inather words cares ess about the obit of body ar the gravitatena eet may have on ater objects and concentrates entirely on what it ininsealy sR means Pao along with Tan Charon ae cur Moon ae defined spans. "This is just a nostalgic, desperate attempt to get Pluto to be a planet again and moons are sort of the collateral damage” mike xrown er Ererirere et asthe that professional planetary scents all Tan and ropa by the name pane, Yul see iif you goto selene metings isthe way that we describe these things and youl in these references throughout the 2ist and 20th centuries Is there grat meet n this definition? IMB: No This is precisely the argument tht we had years ago and it was reece il et tention because its Puto and people lave the ide of People ghtng about Put but its not a good dex cause ignores the Solar System, Some People sy clasifieation doesnt mater bat woud argue the opposte athe way you classy thingsis what dives the questions tha you ask ‘dso the question that we ask nthe Solar System s:how dd the planets form? When we ask that question were not asking about means ee ny bodies - we are separating out these planets from allther sal bodies, We then ask wy there re Planets and small bodes? Why are there moons? Nobody asks the question: wt are there round thing? And that’ because we kncwthe answer that Thats ust rai Tink nally Alay has ate ha this (éefinton has inelude dhe Moon. or many yeas they tried to have it both ways they wanted 3, “Everything ound sa planes, except fr moons" And [would say, You pst sad that does mater what Ics so how came the Moon i noe a planet” Now they fave t adm tht this defintion makes the Moon a plane, apd then that ust makes sly. There Isnobody on Earth who i sad because the Moon was declared to not be a planet 500 years ago. We moved anand it seems crazy to go back 0 AS: sactaly avery symmetrical definition tothe way tht we treat stars asteroids, alae and her lets in space We have sate galaxies that re galaxies we have satelite asteroids that are called asteroids and we have binary stars tat are both Stas one goes around the ether and even though cone i smaller than the other, We cll them bth stars. ‘An so these big oud werd with surface ares that are large are routinely called planes, an one ofthe things like best abou this definition is that tis well aligned with othe: clasfiation schemes. So atrcids can ont asec stars can oni stars and oad behold planets can omit planets \What about the argument that hasbeen put forward that says bodies orbiting other planets and ‘not just the Sun could be a method of determining whether moons could be upgraded? MB: t woud include the Moone would nce four ‘moensof Jupiter and it woud ince a last Tear, probably moc, ad actualy ae of the moons of Saturn. So there would be a dozen or more moons that woul suddenly be call planes. Anather thing that just stres me as semidculous about this proposal isthe his were important if moons should be planes how came nobody propose tis unt Pato was demote? "Thisis really not about moons being planets, which isjust sor of an aside that hast bappen too This is just a nostalgie, desperate attempt to get Puro to be aplanet again and moons are srt ofthe clateral damage ofthe desperate ater.Would New Horizons sil have gt off the ground if eee) Pee eters Peer pence “That definitely actually is very similar to the geophysical planet definition that we are putting forward” aian stem ‘One of the arguments against the 2006 definition {is that it only recognises objects orbiting our Sun. AS Yes that dofntion excluded panes roan other stars and objects cating teey in gc definition takes that all under the wing iyou handles al of thse cases very simpy [MB: Tat par ofthe definition i on misstated and [thnk purposely misstated. Te IAL deft ys that we are going to define planes in ou own efintion er things outside of our Solar Syste pease we dont know encugh a tis pont Thats reasonable thing ado bu peopl I think have cely mend that to sa, oh they say thee are ‘only planets round our Sun and net around other sta and that isan aterpt to confuse people ‘The argument against the TAU defination also says ‘no planet inthe Solar System can clear an orbit ‘because small cosmic bodies fy through them. 5, that valid point (MB: So again these areal the arguments that ad toy to confuse people Obviously the stronomes who were voting on the definition of hey wer talking about and 30 ‘ha they meant wisn they said eating the ott ‘ety mean clearing oa ofthe ter major bois agree thatthe defntion is poor stated bu the planes knew soncept sock Sl. eople ave jst been tying take the definition apart and say we need to clasfy Pato asa plane gain. The definition cold certainly estate beter ba ttl right {AS Is true, you know, nearEath asteroids surround the Fath Jupiter has the Troan asterots and Pho crosses Neptune rb, and part of the fain the TAU defiton i that yu what we doin science be then rues out al ofthe planes in the Solar Sytem because theres not one tat does have other objects around it So they di a por jb and were trying to clean that up. Before the 2006 decison, there had been a proposal to include 1 planets and that would have ‘meant Pluto’ status remaining asit was, together with the ation of Ceres, Eris and Charon. Were there some valid points in that argument? [MB- twas. a weird convoksted attempt ta dfiion to keep Puta plane Iwas actualy unhappy with that defintion Because they were trying to make it cen ke as not ab change. things ae planets but the only ones that count are ut, Charon and Eris wich ignored the other 200 round things that we know about inthe Solar System because people would have fund that be nlite shocking So they had a dfaton bu then they dd believe their wn defintion enough ney sid ound Riemer emma) clraeg total about what wa on there 1 ently posse that wt cnmaking process ‘ould have gone deren if they ada made so many mistakes in trying ella haw went And inthe end. think peose just gt ireated with he desperate attempts to keep Puto and just sid forget Les just finaly have te correct scenic defini and fag al ofthe nasal tat we need wo keep Muto around AS: Very simply the AU put together acommitoe ‘of experts in their ane they worked on t tty tard They were bending over backard nything else and that definition actually s very similar tthe geephyscal planet dentin that w re patting forward. ‘When Plito was demoted it meant that other bodes were too. Mike, you co-lscovered Eris and hada lotto lose t that time. Did you feel any temotion when it was classified asa dar plane? 'MB: Ihave ts, Las shocked and pleased when he decison was made becase knew iw inerenly gh. was watching the decison on some ive stream on TV and when the vote came i, was ‘lated was a hard decison fr astonorers to make btitwas absolutely the night ene called up my wife and said, "They jst did they actually made heright decison. Puta isnot a plant anyemore™ And Shes "Does that mean Eis is ota planet” And Tsai, yes" Tete was a ite sad par of me fx ns butt was completely the nt thing Rethinking what so isn't plane isn't anew thing. In 180, Ceres was thought tobe the eighth planet andi remained that way for half acentury ‘uni twas reclassified as an asteroid and then it& “When the IAU definition was made, I was clear that this closed the door on Solar System planets... 1 waS Wrong" mike Brown ‘was upgraded tothe status of dwarf plane. ‘AS: Excl. In science, we eam more and ideas {evolve We are open to new data and ideas and ‘boundaries move back and orth In the 20eh ‘entry, me only knew of rine planets and you cok remerise their names. But things have changed 3 lot since the 1990s wen many planets started being ‘lsovered around eter sas Sle then weve found asant werk beyond Neptune and we know ‘every tar that we lok at has planes So tan ok antiquated, 20h-century view that we should be able to name al the planets Much ike we do with ‘mountain and rivers on Earth ae the stars the sky, we st catalogue them. 1 thinkts wonder that we ae discovering mote of them and the public sett es ike Stor Tre there ae a crazy numberof ‘them but you have to give up naming them al, ‘Have these changing definitions affected science ‘nany way - perhaps by making certain bodies less attractive so youre notable to get as much funding fora study, for instance? |AS: No I dnt think so NASAS most recent selection ‘of misons $1 bilo worth of pace exploration includes Lacy and Psyche on missions to age 2scerods tems that are Gay not planets. They are fully funded bese ofthe importance of hem [MB You have to justy missions based on god Scenic quent, oot by tying to pretend Samehing i something i not. If Ens, for example had been declared one ef on planets, t would get an nordinate amount attention and funding and inordinate oder things and that woud be crazy We need to explain why they afempertant to study and that they doit have tobe planets tobe inteesting ‘Do you think New Horizons would have got off the ground if Pluto had been classified as a dwarf planet wien the mission was proposed? ‘AS Irather suspect it would have ben fue thing about Fito wou change simriy by banging the nomenclature Nonetheless, the homecare soda antnted are wrong and 1 really appreciate it when ouralists ell tht story in fairway think the ide has tumed and even in textbooks now itis lar they are backtracking from the flawed {AU deinen [MBE not mpossibieTt of the pstieaon they had anyon was that this was the mission to the last et bu I thin that we now know enc to ti make the argument that wel ike to go vist Pio. ‘ut would have been harder and tink thats okay. ‘We nee to work hard we are spending bien of taxpayers money tog fly spacerat oi thee Does a definition that opens the way fr many ‘more objects tobe defined as planet mean that new discoveries are devalued in some way? Ms 1 years ago 1 would not have guessed there ‘was a possiblity that there was another planet xt ‘here in the Solar System Infact, wen the new TAU definition was made think {was cea tha ths ‘dosed the door on Solr System planes Now think ‘was wrong Thre is evidence ofa Planet Nine that {5000 times more massive than Pat and when ‘sound, think i wil get the appropiate attention san actual, important major body But taso shows how important was ten years ago to sly cur defsiion of the werd plant. If we had 200 planets ‘out there and we sad," Weve fund another one’ eople would say, “Tato bg deal there are 200 {AS don ook atin terms of vation, We don devalue star just because wet nding new oes. ‘Weedontdevaie the new discovery of species and ‘here ae thousands of species on Earth When a new ‘ements discovered, we dont sy ts 15 mes ess importa as hycogen the it element. This ian ant scientific approach that says scmehow, because you find more planes they become les and ess important There sno analagy to i anywhere else ‘science, We ate scents a acence needs to be tnformed by data re Pert wile the eetCELEBRATING 50 YEARS SINCE NASA TOOK US TO THE MOON “That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” Discover the missions that paved the way for Apollo 11's historic journey, the astronauts who followed in Neil Armstrong's first footsteps, and the brave crews that risked their lives in the name of exploration and space science. Bt vniS Observer's guide to the SUPERMOON Make the most of the lunar surface as ca NY Coleone acl t close approach to the Eart!Enthusiasts of cbserving our nearest celestial ompanion lays lk forward to the nse of what ale the supermoon. This phenomena ‘cours hen or lunar eamporion makes is coset approach fo Earth on its elpal eit which is ‘mown as perigee, when is aso in its ull phase. “At such time the Moon ca lok lager anid brighter than it normally des ~ especialy wien is sen sng above the horizon. Tis san epi ‘hsion. which causes our hinar companion to seem bigger than it realy is when tis igh in thes. With the ffs rought abou by cur celestial sphere aside te supermoon wll appea seven pes ‘cent bigger than a standard fll Moen and around 12. per ent larger than when the Moon sat apogee {he pein ints eli erbt whens furthest rm the Earth eter youre observing the surface of the Moor with a telescope or binoculars or simply enjoying the spectacle wath the raked eye 3 supermocr makes Sh enoyabe sah to behold wth some astonomers reporting tthe sight increase in ste allows them to observe some ofthe hina surface ier deal enngs where tis astonomial Phenomenon aks place youl ind thatthe Men wil appear tighter by quite a fee per ent, washing ‘ut crates lunar maria and ober fascinating feaures. To remedy this, we reeorimend that yo sea Moon iter with your teescope so that you can ‘knock down brightness and boost cntas through the eld of view Whiea full Mon speaps the wos time to ze upon te nar surface, thet apis ie oes give you the most comprehensive view ofthe Moon’ Ikany of maria~ sawing dark regions mee ‘commonly Known as seas. These vast plains donot ‘contin any watt, but were once oceans present in cur satelite’ younger days. long with the Se of Tranquility - the te ofthe histor first Moon landing = here ar seas of C eres Nec, ‘Gls and many others. Smale plain are Known 2s Tacs or aks, with ws names ike te Lakes of Softness, Dreams Perseverance and Solitude. Other Observer's guide to the supermoon How to spot the Apollo 11 Moon landing site 1 Find the centre of the Moon Begin ight in the mo the Moon srcmove up the cert ine vt youre Soot evel wth the cater Copernic, ) Move to the right Move your gaz overto the ight Unt you come aero 3b kee {fahould have another ea of about he same size ping tt the tpl. T) Find the Sea of Tranquility The bottom ofthe Sea of Tanaaity _) isspitinto two sections The Apolo ‘nding ste's the lefthand ere. Locate the approximate landing site ‘though you wot se any deta due to telanding ste self being very Sal itis lcated round 20km (2) feuth southwest of the crater Sabie D, What causes a supermoon? Seer Seen Perera ener: eae ectites rene aie Pree ee are Teed reteset Apogee Penet sey Average distance Pele ea Lat 384,400km (238,855mi)& related features inch the sus or bays such as ‘he Bays of Rainbows, Roughness and Dew) ad ‘als or mashes Gincung the Marshes of Decay and Sleep, The lrgest ofthese features are vise ‘withthe unaided eye and can be enhanced witha pair of ow power binoculars After the hina eas,’ the eaters youl nie next huge pts crested when pace debris led headlong into the hunar regolith, These craters come sn two basic types: simple and complex Complex craters boast an aden ental peak, and one of most popular and accessible ofthese 8 Tycho, which als one of the youngest Just oer 100 mln years ago, the Souther are ofthe Noon was struck ad the energy of the impact meted Some of the tock. throwing thigh nto the lunar sky Instantly iting e-old spacethe ect solid int lass beads which then fll bokto the surface Ifyou look elsely in the ate around Tyebo, youl see long tin rays stretching outwards ike the spokes ofa wheel and thse glass beads ghntingin the sulin Shy further towards the una im yout fi the crate Clavius, Consisting one lg. ld crater hese lors peppered with hos fom ater impacs it shows that the Moon was hit at many Paints dutng ts histry Depending onthe time ofthe month you ae looking you might also see shacks serching our ike tentacles on the cater floor they are beng as by the towering rim ofthe crate, forme 3 Moon mountain range that is Several kets high Even higher mountains ate found around the edge of maria withthe lage Peng Mons Huygens fat 55 kilometres or 34 mes “The Moon's slight increase in size in the sky allows astronomers to observe some of the lunar surface's finer details with ease” Howtomakea _ su mosaic Make a memory that lasts and capture a high-definition shot of a mega-Moon peta ae eceeee are! Inge fal of ts wens oan tad Titel stones ceca Now most alae imagem of sees sc ger One theca was eae by atathinga webcam your eszope euch een a Mens ina arta tags wih ps lt teal ew th Meo or seve Muss ‘ho eure youte sues you ald how tc your cy png ean Ieishey that your images are infocus. To got he best focus, move your telescope tothe edge of ‘Boon wo get ip and dark, Tae fen test sss nd zoom nto check for abso focus. You should ‘bo experiment wth exposure umes to ensure that 0 partofthe Moon saturated, 3 Find the optimum settings 2 deal you wat apace far fom street hing that ge you an uninterrupted ew of he ‘Moon for several hours -the et thing you wats the ‘Moon dsappeating bend a tee lay through your Imag Make sures uly dark too “charging ight Condos can be taublescme. | Find your location Whether recording videos (Ais best) or taking state shots, start at the tp ofthe erminator aed sytematicaly work you wa around the rar Surface Sptng the Moon upinto 20:30 sections Is prebably about rig doesnt mater ithe areas oveap aie 4 ‘Take the shots/video tals more than half these of Mount Everest ere on Barth) The famous Hala astnome Gallo Gallet was able to use these shadows to workout the ‘mountain heights fe the fist ime. Other popula targets for amateur Moon watchers aye volcan rile: While their exact org is unceat heya Mely ether ance anspor oes forthe Moon's bygone ava ows or eras in the nar cus. (One of the most frou ies the 10 emetre (G2) long Rupes Reta also known a the ‘right Wall) which forms ar ofthe Mare ubium not far fom Tycho in the Moons suthem hemisphere Moving othe northern hemisphere youl aso find Hadley ill ear Mans Hadley in the rugged Mantes Apennius mountain ange Je was here tht the Apolo 5 astronauts placed a small aluminum sculpture known a ‘The Fallen ‘Aetna honour of thaee who hadlee the ves in space exploration endeavours However you chcose to view the superman, ‘ether yu go ui for eas, aes bays, craters ‘marshes, rays mountain ridges rls, orf ou refer to watch it rse above mountains, uses ot {tees yout guaranteed to have spectacular sights Set up your equipment Youll needa telescope inorder to capture the finer desi on the ins surface. Sot tp the ‘sun way and attach your chosen maging equipment (ethers DLR camera, webcam or delat lunar Image). Ard titer can ao cit ou some atopic <ésturbance, leading to sharper mages. Process your mosaic Use software ike Registax to get the best frames rom your videos. You can then use a pece of ‘ching software sch siege in order to bul up our masalc Once you have your mosa. posh io by sharpening the contrast in photo eating srtware suchas Photoshop.(pcan (ous inl (e (cmon ietcm-bisanereloey Wea ele to cared @rewedee renee recente osconiiect Rom nclcrtoy Ca there are plenty of sights to be had on the lunar surface ct Lr cdos) Tetons) toad Rtas (eter cco CayN11 Daas @ SAD MOO Often referred to as the dark side of the Moon, it’s about time we went back - according to NASA's © 0 Het erevarelsiucoerelUltcie-1 p16 o) evalair-la Vasey alas) Seed=) ores pes Be roe od ror Gees pores peas the fst a coat prey cared 1965 rcs Pacey cored peters cn cae ert) 1967, reed Coral provides oor ory rs A Ponca basi Mare Orentale Ce Lt omy 1968 ee ots ers ton See eae eee ey ens eet eee See ee ns ‘only ever gett see that ane hemisphere fam eee et ee ee aS OMe er ero Se ey ee (ee ete een ener sie - we ca actually see 59 percent of the Moon's er ts ene eet me eh ese eee ee ae eer Cn ed Ce eee reine eres ans Star a ea siving ta half orerescent shape in the sky, half of See eee eet ess eee ts ear De ae enon the one faces because of phenomenon known 35. oo ee eee et ee eens ed ee eras Eee een ted vieeks of night on every spot on the lunar surface” Secrets from the far-side of the Moon Co ae ey ete ees SU neni ety i ee rete esta Se eon eee et eee Crt teen ‘came eay in the space race, courtesy of the Soviet Cees Se ee at eee ert ee een eo eget eee ee eres pee ich were photographically developed, fixed and crete meena ness “There are two weeks of daylight and two Moco) ellselme smo am emo meace elects (lute telecoms lacie Mel caelelu ene) clacioniss ted ‘palo Capsule program& ‘multimega pve cameras. anally the fim used had been stolen fam American spy ballooos, as i had to be sturdy and radiation hardened ‘The spacecralt using a combination of two camera systems “one wide ik and one narrow field but higher resolu ~ anda crude on-board scanner, could then send transmit the processed mages, which were spot scanned fom the Photographs back tothe receiving sation in the former Svlet Union, While only 7 ofthe 29 ken vere transmited succesfull back to Fath of ‘hich ust sx were considered good enough for publication, they proved to bea revelation. ‘Those 6 images covered 70 percent ofthe “Moons far side and opened up a whole new perspective onthe unr surface It was almost Immediately evident thatthe dark patches that ‘make the fce ofthe Man inthe Moon onthe near side are almost completely absent on the a sie. These dark patches are basa plans called mare, created by volcanic activity onthe Moon bins of sears ago, Instead, the far side was itered with eaters, ever, more so than the near sie and some of those ‘raers were the size of small countries, The Soviets started naming many of the features they were Seeing foc the fst time, an act which caused Some “The computer told us that we were out of contact with the Earth and that we had ‘controversy in what was known as the height of the Cold Ware, ‘We already had an inkling of one of those vat row raters, whichis actually one ofthe very few rare on the fat sid. The subtest hint of Mare Oriental one of the largest impact crates known. seen on the limb ofthe Moon, hal been kncwn of since its ‘discowery’ by Julius Franzin 1906 and can be seen during good lbratons when that portion of the Moon swings around inwards us ‘The view from Luna 3 showed how vast an impact rater Orentale was. resembling a bulls ‘2. twas almost 900 lilometres (60 miles) across pretty much the length ofthe UK, give or take ~and was caused by the impact ofan aster impact thought tobe around 64 klometes (40 miles) wide ast under 4 bilion years ago and the resulting gant crater, termed an imps bin, was subsequent fled with volanic va, In 1965, another Soviet msston, Zand 3, Hew by the Moon wi afar better camera than Lana 3 possessed and withthe ability to conduct move detaled science observations incuding spectoscopy Zond 3 produced 23 very detailed Photographs ofthe lunar far side, which enabled ‘one of the fist detailed maps of the entire lunar surface to be constucted, loss of signal” chariie puke Coat Cooter In the meantime, NASA was progressing ts ‘Apollo Program at a phenomenal ate. Following the declaration by President Kennedy thatthe United Sates would place aman on the Moon and return him safely tothe Barth by the end ofthe 19605, ‘by December 1968 NASA were ready to send tree people Frank Borman, im Lovell and Bil Anders all the way around the Moon and back forthe Apollo 8 mission, They became the fst humans in history not ony to escape fom lw Earth orb, but to see the ese far side Thisishow Lovell famously described the kunar surface “The Moon i essentially grey, no cclou Teoks Ike plaster of Paso srt fa greyish beach sand, Wecan se quite bit of deal, There’ no as much contrast between that and the surrounding ‘caters. The caters ae all rounded off There's quite {Tew of them, some of them aze newer Many of. them look ike - especialy the round ones ook lke [they were hit by meteorites or projectiles of ‘When their spacecraft flew around the fa ide of the Moon, the signal to arth was cutoff for around ten minutes. This loss of signal wasa daunting time fr the flight crew and mission control alone and uly cut off rom Earth, venturing where no Thurman had ever gone before As they came back around from te far sie. a colletve sigh of eet was breathed by many of the light eam at Mission Cntr in Houston, Chat Duke describes what i was like tobe fying over te far ie of the Moon “The compat tod us that we were out of ‘contac with the Earth and that we had loss of signal” be says. "‘Then, al ofa sudden, tere wasRepo pera Romine ba CRO R ut aC A SecuneeeSin ee oe Sino Nene Hii the lunar faces are impressively different . Arstoteles visi ne naked ey, dated 3t 44 billion sre uni Theophus Mate ris Nectar fae ee Salght Wall Tycho Fighiands ts oe ee eae) ete ee et comes ea ee Sey Er,LS Poet In the future, it's hoped that humanity will set up camp on the lunar surface Humans in low gravity Colonsing the Moons surface means ‘that we can fin out how the human body responds to long periods of ow gravity that is onesxth the Earths ‘We could then use this information to pan viable a colony on Mars Launching rockets ‘lunar base could serve asa se for launching rockets using fuel thathas been ically manufactured, to Mars, ts easier to launch from the Moon since the gravity lower the sunrise, twas the most dramatic sunrise Te fever seen. in Eath obit yo ee the Suri low the horizon o the planes atmosphere and i get brighter and tighter The Moon is cifferent though her’ instant sunlight ith lon the ‘The far side ofthe M rough back there [would not have wanted to lind ‘on the backside ofthe Moon ‘After the succes of Apolo 8, Allo 9 went ow Earth exbital testing of ule, so the next astronauts to vist the far side jee Cernan, John Young and Tom Stafford ‘on board Apeilo 10 in May 1969, just two month fore the histo landing of Apollo 1, fh the tro of astro en ange, which in the NASA has been spin than heary gon American television. The had been wel These strange re mares inthe form The rad rere crude ace 0 by modern st 4 the ume. The command and lnarn J relatively noisy environments acording to most of the astronauts, with bumps and bangs combines 2 th the whirring of fans and se 38 Lunar bases [aes onthe surface would need tobe protected from radiation and merometeroids ulding 2 ‘Moon base inside» cater would provide some shielding Building an abservatory observations on the ‘Moon from nae rmsterils without the need t launch these Into space Transport on the Moon ‘The abit to transport cargo and ‘people to and from modules and Spacecraft wouid be essential on {he Moon. Rovers are likey tobe ‘sefl for train that sna oo steep oily, while permanent ralvay systems could be used tolink mutple bass and fing What the Apolo 10 crew heard Unruh the radi vehicles forhardtoreach areas. systems baled them. They described i a being almest ke that made by an ekectonic instrument aed a Theremin, fiction &:movtes ofthe 1950s and 60s 38 well Jn the Beach Boys song Good Vibrasons: Reseach has since proven thatthe sound was nothing more than an interference eect fom thse 1960s radio smunicatons systems on board ten used in creepy scence With the ens landings astonauts would travel othe surface whllea thd remained onboard the command module to orbit the Moon along. though al of them got chance t {the Noon and ae the far se before lncing ‘The oo bal journeys of Michael Colins (Aol: 1) Dick Gordon ( stunt Roosa (All vans (Apollo 7) wo were the unsung, ns of th missions are some of th avest feats ever achieved by astronauts. They ‘would spend days making quite detailed luna nerve had ev rom oti, mapping features nobody ing that his had during We woudl need tomake facies for astronomaInan emergency Ashore transit time of three dys, which astronauts could improve on, Allows emergency supplies to quickly Feach 2 Moon colony from Earth or allow a crew to quictly leave the "Moon and head back to our planet Lunar machines With round trip communication delay to Earth being less than three Seconds, itallows near-normal Voice and video conversation and Blows some kindof remote contro of machines fram our planet Moon farms ‘lunar farm would be stationed at the Lina North Pole, allowing for eight hours of sunlight per day ring the local summer by rotating cops in and out ofthe Sunlight eneficil temperature, protection from radiation and Insects needs fr polination would a pm EE reed tobe artical provised Secrets from the far side of the Moon “The far side, the views at certain times, when the Sun and Earth are blocked out, are like nothing you could imagine” Charlie Duke family ar up there 0 Het ke Thad impertant ingot prety crowded J and Jim rin ef, tostar to domy kor that every snl one of them isa Sun in ts night ‘Aqueston often asked of the Apolo astronauts and flight teams is, why were all the missions jst tothe near sie? “We wanted to be in contact with the Earth, 50 they would not have been ble to communicate ett with Earth. This would not be such a problem today, as Satellites coud be put int nar oxbit to relay communications ‘The farside fof grcving interest to scientists, and potently fture planned human missions Indeed the posites forthe far side of the Moon though ae vast For many decades the astronomical Se eee Sener ete ere) per re eo a. to put radio . efarside on the fr side would be shielded ot only man-made radio interference from Earth, bt als the glare of daylight on our planet. The telescopes could be but inside cats avo solar fadatn, and woul prov fn unprecedented clear isi dep int the far reaches ofthe universe so have tle te unde yen more puzzling when you consider that when on formed, twas much closer to Earth, and ray not have necessarily been tidal locked at that time, meaning there would have been nothing special about the hemisphere we dub the far se landing. Understanding it wal give us mar insight Into not only the Moon's pst, but also pethaps the Moers eationship with Earth our wn past.For the fis time since the Apello ea aman space exploration is capturing the zeit with scence fact fa fiction luring na fury of media excitement, Private companies ate seeking investment to mine asteroids ad groups of individuals are looking to ‘aise money to embk onthe colnsaten of Mas Never human history has utr space seemed 50 sccesle or replete with possibly ‘But along with the formidable technical and engineering challenges facing such ventures are more prosaic sues regarding the rules and regulations for Jhuman space endeavour As humanity moves a¥ay ‘oom br Earth crite exstng Is governing space activity wil come under increasing satin: It ‘Sa good time, then to lookat how hela resting space atv ha evolved and how t ould respond ‘0 pace mining and beyond thatthe eobnsation of ether panes If space mining and colonisation provide the rich resources that they promise a robust Jeg amework willbe need, Otherwise the dream of space entepreneus couk! become mired in confit and itigation, ‘At ist glance, 25 November 2015 might not appear tobe particulty noteworthy in respect of human space activity. Yet the signing of the Space Resource Exploration and Utllaton Act (part ofthe (Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act) on ‘this date means that it may wel be one ofthe most significant days in the history of space mining This lee of eisai, passed by the Unite Stes, s the fs attemp by a natin tpsting in place 2 egal ‘ramewark for dealing with resources obtained by vate companies from outer space mining. ‘When the laws governing space actvty were drawn up inthe ist years of human space exploration there was no conception that this type cf ‘activity would ever move beyond the pages of scence ‘exon novels. Inthe lite 1950s, unde the umbrella ofthe United Nations, the Commitee on the Peaceful ‘Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) established the rues ‘tha woul ay down the bas of the regulation of space activity forthe next 60 years. ‘The eal fomlatens of spce law, rough UN General Assembly Resoitons established a ‘wel-defned consensus preventing nations from, claiming outer space for themselves as well as ‘the need fr outer space o remain peaceful if not cnet demilarsed) and specified that nations fe responsible for ther own space actives The cerral trunk of space aw is based ona treaty sgnet by over 100 members ofthe United Nations. Known cclloguilly asthe Outer Space Tely- or OST = of 196? Ge fll ties somewhat egy The Treaty on Principles Governing the Activites of Sates in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space Inclding the Moon and Other Celestial Bods proves the base framework in neato aw fr al space activity and spawned farther four testes ‘inten 2 time of tension between the USA nd the Soviet Union tis lear that hove drafting ‘he treaty wanted o prevent outer space becoming, another theatre of confit between the two dominant ‘superpowers. Individual nations were made responsible for their space artis and retained responstiity fr lensing jurisdiction and conto of spacecraft and personnel, igi the ws of rucear wespons in space was banned, which Who owns the Moon?& nally atwacted the most tention and eect the concerns ofthe tine ‘dressing ths dese fr peaceful expansion sn space, Artie Lf the Outer Space Treaty is ‘siational in nature states that he explration and use of outer space sal be carried out for the ‘enefc and inthe interest ofl countries and hal be the province of all mankind, Whe thisis dieu ‘o translate ino a specifi legal duty, does a east, proude usdance a othe split in whic space exploration shouldbe undertaken. arte Io the ‘Outer Space Treaty is however. much mere explie and is crucal to understanding the current legal aston in egards to space mining The tery says that outer spane and celestial bodes ae "nor subject ‘© natonalappropcaton by claim of sovereanty, by ‘means of use of occupation, by any oer means Jn practi terms the pasion in izerational laws ‘that no nation can terior claim tothe Mecn or anyother celestial body The Sars and Stipes leon the Moon by the Apolo astronauts is therefore purely symbole the United States, nor any ther maton, ‘an ever ow the Moon, [Nether the Outer Space Treaty nor the ether space treaties ofthe United Nations make any disinction| betwee the Moon and othe ckstal bodies such as lanets, asteroids, comets or even the Sun, skin Instead io make the whol of outer space a gabicic ‘commons Sal. this has nt stopped epportunisic tosses selling certiiates promising nar eal estate or the naming ofa star You may even have buat one youself or given orreceved one as a ‘ft Unfortunate, your eaim toa pe f land onthe Moon or you ight to name asta fae two seemingly insurmountable problems. rst, witout legal recognition ofa national ‘our and as aleady explained, such recognition 'sexpressy probed by the Outer Space Treaty) these elms cannot be enforced, The second pcblem involves your intention to take possesson Any legal “Unfortunately, your certificate saying you own.a plot of land on the Moon isn't worth the paper it is written on” eee ety eer mrerea eee tat eae etre Coe aim for land must be accompanied by an intemtion to ocupy that land and ~ currently ~ here is no way for you ot oter people in possession ofthese ‘cerfiates to actually Ive on ther nar are o star ‘The Imeratonal Institut of Space Law, writing in 2006, makes the legal postion claro one cvs the "Moon, ait erties that claiming nar ate ot naming star donot have any lel eet, Given thatthe Outer Space Teary was crafted aa time when space exploration requed a superpower budge t's unsurpetsng that it makes no mention ‘of pate space companies, The fct the Outer Space Treaty requires actvtis of non-governmental ‘entities in outer space to requ athorsaton and ‘ongoing supervision =n other werd companies suchas SpaceX Bue Ogi and United Launch ‘Alliance must cbain permission rom the United States government bear they can launch rockets into space. Compan in other coureris must also do the same fom ther onan’ government. In the same way sling plot of nar land or the naming rights of stasis also a commercial space activity and would require permission fom the government obelgal its que eing that no rion has eve herve or approved such ewnership sehemes The upsbor of hiss the, unfortunately, Your certificate saying you own a pot of lnd onthe "Moon ist worth the paper itis witen on But wien it comes to the mining of outer space, the legal postion is ignifcanily more ambiguous. Mining ‘companies and commercial entities have no interes In ying dims of ownership o sovereigny on the ‘ckestal bodies thy desire merely to exploit the ‘envionment and extract minerals apd eter natural resoures fom the kes of asteroids Providing they are appropriataly authorised by their state the Outer Space Trety allows private Indivuals and exgantstions to conduc activities tn outer space and on celestial bodies Where things ‘become unclear isin regards to what can happen to th resources tht ae mined The most ruc ese is whether companies can take ownership ofthe resources that they mine and, more importantly make ‘money rom them The troubles, awe have aleady seen, taking posession ofthe rescurces would require legal recognition thatthe mining cmponies owt those sours, which may run contrary to Artie ‘ofthe Outer Space Treaty. By 1979, the United ations recgrised that this right cause an isue and therfore the lat ofthe big Intemational space reties, the Moon Agreement. was created This stipulated thatthe Moon and ‘other celestial bodies were the commen herage ‘of maniond” and any mining there shouldbe ‘administered by an international regime, micoing the approaches taken in respect ofthe mining of minerals fom the Earths seabed, Yet there was no specifi detail on how resources wou be dsibuted ‘Sofa. only 16 tates have signed the Mec Agreement and significantly no countries with an active human space programme (USA Russia China) have signed up or even indicated broad approval. The "Moon Aareerentis therefore, led treaty, and without any significant international suppor it's unity to gain any tracton ‘Theale of the Moon Agreement leaves a scan apn te regulation of space activityWWE ete B ete) Barren arcinclsgecstce Rrcken eke PCR Ceico Semana en eee cartel acmekrcrsg Seed re Per) ced ert) pore rsd pee orc! tery eee Drona feet) er) Pane cerns aor peering rear re Aon Sree Sea Peary pain teary atau Sete) Bot centronrtad AUER Penton ears ry ead . ert yeaheah Pines Serer riny peer Er) ieee Sa Rene The fst planetary rovers landon the Moon et aeons ie ocd Py sitions aero ygectelep Uoreletammny — c ots @ usa Ge Reet certs ery een cer Ptocid ios eeed on end eos eid ees Peer ocak Caney cesniraaeny eae ieee) ec) Carat} og co ch cosy ects Coote Peering Pee oes& Space Treaty, with a private papery suect 1 Colonising the Moon fnvesment safe! These esters would wand ota neta Rect Ceca Ce Recor sn tacts ‘ode ew ye franca evs fom he . Pestana tomer Mt eRSor ascent ‘any minerals. Iti re Resource Exploration and Uulsation At allows US companss to caim owner ‘materials they mine in space and ie new am that ts consistent with ‘Outer Space Treaty n thatthe mining companies arent claiming tetory for themselves, what happens fee :f two mining companies perhaps operating in tw Ereeroee pnee dierent nations, claim the resources onthe same Senne asteroid leading to dispute? In dition some of ees Pence te Roveinern neces paren these celestial Dodes ae of slic im sd theme’ nothing inthe es rm being rine. Alo fyoute not an American igen or campany chen you ate excluded fom recngition uinder the Act. Nevertheless, these ob me unt mining companies begin work and tart opt the law tothe test When humans sar to move deeper ino space. colonising s well 35 mining we wl eed ‘ew lave and resist ‘Treaty in order ‘These laws will no lnger be about regulating, peat actives, they wil be the founda ew society. Social planning. dispute res ‘criminal justice yl al nae to be considered when ‘inking about a longterm future away fom Earth ven before thse considerations are adresses in any See. rerinty and ownership wl feature highly n any ascusion regarding the egal status of pace colonies. AS has alreagy been stated, any misen, wither pubic ‘vate wil ned tobe authorised by the goverment ‘of the country from which it launches. A colony + oes aupaiiities eer ae oe ‘environmental issues, not recognised at the time of aoe leat ral ipdetepereeders a i ee. ee =e Space Treaty says that countries mst conduct tet “4Who owns the Moon? Tra Teer pretend and head back to our planet,& here necessary, ol adopt appropriate protecting the 2 spoce envonme isnot defined. space lanes and creating haza Inorbt around our pate in respect of space colonies wil ned ti nal damage tothe debicte von, but mining and ultimately aha poaluing outer 5p Much othe ¢ Issues of space rather than t aused must be harmful and the scope ofthis Iter on Mars harm im tslE or does toni become harmful rierobes that might live ther The environmental »suntounding the legal te mp uch oft has remained th pace lw gus toemphass central runk of international ‘our behaviour in space patblity ancl continuity wt the Outer Spsce Treaty. For any student son ofthe Outer Space Treaty Thimately, bower, thee is ane bi don: that fev til bodies inthe nes : funure Bu eve non terest if xy of al dament afect the lal epilation of ll space acti sted a the ito the drafting Humans lane tals for cay the Outer spac >the ea 3 Tea a example rights that would Could colons them back to Eat these question alien i allenged in a ‘ining and colon ftom etd, ham space is going tobe equally chal sparing rate 46 czading xy E Why we should mine asteroids Asteroids provide natural resources to fuel the Co Necte Resor eR ec wer sk oy Pexetiane nt let ements ers ceny AVE afar Cige) (6) Pen eer einer Petree eters oy Ce Coceescr! retort) pereeeer stern eee : Perens Deter ray ss Se te LS at breatho a an ee Deck ag Personae ae Ereer erst ars ‘ aa ae ? Plantinum-rich asteroid ee er ete Oyen Perera red Infinite suply of rn peumiciie) Portree) persion rs ed co ey ce excreta rienny Cen Petree) Peer peetane ats emer Pacer Commer remem nriis esteem Toe eet cd tet Bp, Tareporttnat Re eT cael Tocreatea poeDISCOVER THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF SPACE EXPLORATION From the formative years of Sputnik through to modern-day innovations like Perseverence, embark on a journey across the history of humanity's missions into space, and glimpse what is in store for the future. VaanLS How to... Photograph the Moon with your smartphone You too can take great-looking images of the I Ule Ime eecRUSiel-M el elm@ene| eke auras You'll need: Smartphone w Telescope ower eye| Moon fier that fits the eyepiece Optional phone bracket steady makes nin ‘onto, hich you may have n your —_smtbane's camera ove the these can sil be much esPhotograph the Moon, Shooting with an iPhone, Android or BlackBerry Taking good pictures of the Moon is all about being methodical. Here's how to do it. ‘The important thing to do when taking mae telescope or eyepiece Ifthe Maan i ery bight on ‘of the Moon through a eescope so take your your chosen night of viewing stew a Mon file to tine and gat each ste gt. Tiscan make the eevee But lhe Moon snl atin ces, nd your photos tc diferencebetweenamesiece mageandagleat_ your ot need one If youfolow thesiplesteps | Send yOUr P ° S one I you are using a smartphone bracket, for Aeeitchalémnmsean ovbiewantmsimse | PHOtOS@spaceanswers.com 7” ‘evample make sure ts securely attached tothe yur chances af taking ome reall ] Find the Moon, 2 ‘Assess the lunar phase Secure the bracket Make sure your telescope is pointing a the Isthe Moon very bright? s the Moon full -) ‘Make sure the smartphone brackets propesly Moon. You vl probably nee to ads ter You may have to screw a Meon fier tothe Secured to the telescope and ads it to being tut his wil only bea smal agus eyepiece, but do this before attaching the brackee the camer aperture directly over th a Make adjustments Male any adjustments necessary to peta good image of the Moon on your ssmariphones screen, including moving the telescope if necessary ‘Attach your smartphone (Once you are happy that everything sn place, put your smartphone in pe braket and stat up the camera app of you choice, Find the right exposure Start shooting! (nce the imag ofthe Moon fils the sen of he smartphone ast Takelos of images and tweak the settings between each pcre to see if D te espsite setting of your caer software to get a god can mage sas can gta aly erp mage sowing ts of etal Tl sla la Make suet snt under or overexposed youto nd the optimum setings for achieving eat photo,Make a lunar analemma Pethaps you've heard of a solar analemma, but did you know you can Peano aapetesne aon Veonsan eke You'll need: idea and as cmp v DSLR camera Sy Waposee fechptae ants v Tripod the kt creating nar image pon which you fl ul Wide-angle lens molenna stoudesiand thatthe composte anatathe bin Telephoto ens a peti mouainange ca thenight shy aound st minutes later tackgru nay Thee you mage the plenty ofroom nthe sky which sere uted The tephto rss ed ot fishowedseiing nar month a ire dale ia poston nthe sky = te season tbe gue of ight curve when the During mage processing the s.Reanakea yar ocean imigesate combined. Ths pate sss wl be sipermposed oo the Image ike this so as you can imagine. duet ts eliptal ex and ts cund in exactly the righ spot tales some daicston He : uy tripe whale month of an creat the same eet with the : jon. s0 clea skies, you can always take a shot Make note of nin just 295 days youte hx he exact sane the cect phase the following first shot and ad 5 ean entre month o > some month and work that nto your final | successive dy dr image Bearing this in mind it may stil fnalBuilding your composite Create a dazzling image of the Moon's movements across the sky Use a wide-angle lens forthe backround and Moon Potion sees and then swap to the telephoto en Gr 2ocm nan take some more detailed images of the Meo. Yul use your mage processing sofware impose these details onto the poston of wide-angle image ter on. The (Chacse a good lation and background for your image and take some wellcomposed shots. Be Suet leave ley of sky in the images 25 his will be lad with your analerma over ime 1 ‘Take a background image a ‘Adjust your viewing time each day Don forget toad I minis to the time ‘of viewing for every successive day that you photograph the Moon during the nar month Your observation clay wl ep with ng tack of hs reason fortis to make the Moon lok more ea Inthe wide-angle shots wil seem very small nd insignificant. Yul also ned to vary the length of exposure to cope vith the effing ight cantons, Take a few images at various settings to increase your chanoes of geting good shot each day Keep trackof the time Keep an observation diary ofthe exact ime of your fist shot and nose wen the pase of the "Moon each night. This wil ep kp track of your shots and asst while cresting the composte tron Get more detail Usea telephoto orzo lens to get more etal images ofthe Moon These details wil upermposed onto the poston ofthe Moen in your widesnge shot using your software ater on the rar dis to lage though Make a lunar analemma ~) Experiment with your settings Take muiile images each right and vary the J senings ofthe exposure ume ad 10 each tine ‘you photograph the Moon, This wllensure you ge least one goo shot per nigh fr your analemma Edit your images Ores ore alofyoursbasacos the una month nd selected the best ones, combine all ofthe images into a compesie using ‘computer software auch a Phtcshop. This wil showpaprete meus hot if life on Eart Perego Ce Cetera (cater er perryrt Perera erry ee cas Perce’ Bees cate ee coisa c Mea iomneatl ai could go on W neighbour in space oe Rnecseenokondas and Fraprevelmeles nearest See ee ner Cen ae See ee es ert te ere) ete een ae as ore ace he ee ees Pree es fragments tens to hundteds of ilometesin ie and een ee es eer eee eet ee eee er eee peer reer tener enter es eee et Pe eet Preece eet eee sae eee | Ce ee ny Senet twice per dy. There would be an immediate mass Se ee ere meet nel te eee ee ese) eet ee ret Lente eri eee Perey cern ores pee seySn icletgin Vowels oeTake a tc Find one of the Moon's most famous craters, 48 years after it was immortalised in a classic science-fiction film hichever way you lok atthe fll ‘Moon =v the naked eye trough Ianocalas ora telerope al yt see ave aess of ight and ark. Thats because at full Moon, withthe Sun bazing ovethen, features on the hina surf cast no shadows and show no surface elie The ragged lunar highlands are splashes of white andthe lower, av lle! sas are thes of ue ge. But around full Mocn fs actualy ge time for Bester find wha many people ‘onside the moe famous hina crater Tycho “Teta was mamad afte the famous th century Danish astronomer Tyelo rahe a lage thanfe character bes known for wearing gover nose after his own was cut off in ade But the craters retest aim to fares that feature in thes film 20084 Space Cxbss it was where the enigmatic back Monolith was found by lunar researchers, ‘rigging Dave Bowman Mate mission to up ‘Unite some famous hina fears, finding Tycho ‘san easy ask Just ook towards the bttam ofthe Iunardise when the Moon full sig mid evening In the ex ane you should se what eos ke a bright set, inocu ora smal telescope wil revel the ght spor has lots of arrow ih nes radiating rom 56 Celts a ie Ny Cofoynl ‘some reaching to the tp ofthe disc This festre {8 Tycho and the lines are ays of debris, which were rete wen the cater was born na meteor spac 108 millon years ago ‘The cater 85 lalometes (53 miles) across and mot five mts (hee males) deep. The ental peak’ mountain tht reas up from the cent fits Pnummocky, ited floors almost wo alometes 12 meg high. Te longest ays stretching aay from tend more than L500 klometes (32 miles) awa, seughiy the same distance as fom London, UK to Lsbenin Portugal To see Tycho prope yu have to wat unl he crates is uminated by the Sunt an ang, nfo overheats appearance wl change dramatcaly When the Moon wanes and does se unt 1pm itlooks ikea classe crater =a pit wth steep walls 2 ‘moursain pe ting up ou of cent, anda} of debris shocing away frm tonal ies However, Tycho willbe tits very best when the terminate of the waxing Moon sel sweeps over and past it With the morning Suns slanting rays huminating ‘Tycho aa step angle even a small escope will veal weath of etal inside at high ‘magus youl se thatthe craters inside walls Slope gently and are renaced, wih many chumps of ‘material spend across the floor The craters anal peak aly stars ou, too, though not as tah as ‘tad onthe famous image taken by NASAS Lunar ecannassance Orin ne 20, That andmark mage reveled the mountains dopes ae streaked wih cess atl stew vith age tones, eth an enormous singe boule, these of Buckingham Palace, sting right on its sum ‘Tycho sone of those features that looks diferent every time you view ie When ease im and wwesten slopes ane ist Kise by sunlight tok ike an empty eye socket staring back a you, uta the days pss more deals beam visble In those rare ‘moments of perfect viewing youll see so much detail {hat youl imagine youre fying ove i The full Moon can bea daaling sight through a telescope so doit ook a it fr longer than a ‘couple of minutes atime, Yu can use a Moon fer to improve contrast and cut down any gla, whic often washes out surate surface detaPosidonius elas Observe one of the Moons Pete centr ent impact craters this month ne ofthe Moois mast sublime ae ble craters Posi. canbe xt god advantage when is ‘lumina by local evening hana Sun Two weeks later the Moan les orzo as the dskses re darkening, bu vigant beervere may sil beable to make cut despite above the westem cus est te una Sunes eri slow twilight altitude clomeres 9 mile) actos er that esa the the age near cua Mare ana the enancet ‘Lacus Somniorum Lake of Dreams} an inegula vile plan that rms a shor ar atl othe srtheaste coreine of Mae Serenitatis When laminated the Pesos rier ess ened ‘hough smal opt nstruments and ee Most noticeable the fa that the southem iss ned with the sieeraed crater, seo impact craters, the mote eroded topography cts tha prod eal andes mlion However both caters are thought to have ferme after the Serena basi, asthe outnes appear dove the bass cna filed reise 8 iyohave the nearby imum ie Pesos though to have shorty fer the Imbium basin impact around 38tion years the nal episodes nt peso wen the ler Sear System was a vettabl cosmi shooting gallery of aserois, comets ane eer debs fom the n ofthe planets xt rim noth and notheasem a oval by mee Band) No tac which ae small raters -Pskionis the intial external impact Sree ginny loon) rominer, clearcut bow shaped rater, Psidonius A Sis ihly west of the Noor mle wide this eal sen the westem wal The bes views ofthe Ramae Posonias se ta be cbtained trough 250mm telescope ata high magnication ‘prominent cu part of Posdons fs have sipped away fom the main easter wc apprs much mae Pestdonias wth arasal imprin thats Jes fesh, Like Posdonis thas an eastern cater named Caco A(t i dha 0mm tekscope at ander alo lination. us when urinate,ait Eratosthenes Mid-sized, yet impressive, make the most of this well-defined asteroid impact that’s set among the lunar mountains ratosthenes is aS dlometre- (Smile) ‘wide rater locate a the western end of the maesic curved sweep ofthe lunar | Apennine Mountains (Montes Apennines) (nthe southern shor of Mare ium Sea of Rain). This rater set among a splendid mountain bacon, ‘seftenoveooke by vite fits pximity tothe lager rater Copeicus, which es ess han 300 -edetes (186 mies the scuthwest ands often vise a the same time However Eatostenes self ‘sexch aspectaculr feature wien Duminated by a rmerning or evening Sun the its rugged topegaphy s delta through amidoigh magnification raathenes sa typical mid-sized lunar impact, ‘cate. ands prominence sacentute by is starting poston atthe southern end ofthe nar Apennine Mountains. Formed by an aster Colson tat took place les than 2falion years ag, rtocthenes is aourd lon years elder than ts eaeneighbour Copernicus. As ratathenes fist becomes iluminated by aneaiy moming Sun usualy aun day after fist quater phase the magifent ‘meuntain arc preceding it frm beatifl fame to the southern mampin of Mare miu. ‘When ilumiated by alow moming or evening Sun. prominent system of concentric and radia Bo encroaching upan the ees ered i] Jimput ridges shows up well acund Eratosthenes ‘Owing othe craters reat age, muh of the external sculpting around sthas ben hidden by ater ava flooding by Mare Imtxium tits path and Simas ‘esta (Bay of Blo) tots south but a ait amount ofimpoct topography remains tobe sen Ahvough eavely small instruments unde alow Sun, atosthenes loc displays cera mountain ‘massif surounde by a hummocky landscape that is Stained vath numerous ack spats ad eter variations ‘nafbeda Unusually for such a lage formation ratoatheness barely visible under high angles of stuminston- the crater’ wall vanishes more or ss completly. buts central peaks and dusky oor patches can be sere 2 cal hunar mia. ‘century ago, atosthenes ataned acetain meant of ntoney through the observations and opinions of stoncmer William Henry ikering ‘who observed heer many times beeen 1919 and 1824s vid imagination coewinod hm dat ‘the dak pots on the raters for varied nites and in ation, tha the spts seemed to move ‘ound thoughout the na ay. Prkering a fanof Me onthe Moon, speculted that he dak patches were vast swarms of una insects or herds of smal animals constantly onthe mave crawing or hopping rund in search of sastenance nly the spots ‘on Batosthenes' foo are composed of dusky surface ‘material and are a motionless as ts eal peak The patches do vary in thir apparent toe, bt 50 do cuts ther albedo features in response tthe changing ange of sunlight. When Ertosthenes laminated you may past be able to cate the crater to the northeast of Crpemicis embedded within the impact ays of Copernicus, butte lack of shadows makes thisa dificult derafieanon fr astm observer. The har sunset terminator then moves slowly fom the east during the folowing days, and hints of tpgraphic dal within ratosthenes gradual reveal themselves asthe shadows deepen When te lunar morn terminator |sencoaching upon Bratosthenes the cater males for areallyspleni sight, preceding the mighty Copernicus on the sunrise terminator tits west. ‘feu weeks o softer this ee: racethenes ‘Muminated, and te crater appears resplendent the ‘western endo the Montes Apenminus, whe nearby (Copernic i also an extremely prominent tue {Lowemedum and high magficatonteescopic ‘ies are highlyrecermmended there are plenty of subtle features onthe Moon inthe area nay to see, incadng chains f craters domes and gs,Cassini crater Use autumn’ crisp, clear nights to find a hmar cr named in honour of or astronomy's most res| planetary observers he Moons eet’ craters ntact : use they are so ey to spot and are dramatic nan eyepiece Bu the smal, ess dramatic caters the one vbr huge mountain peaks Abbing up rom thelr rentes or bright ays of debris surounding them, eps the hy feature the unremarkable hnar ai know as Pass Nebulrur just the south the famous Alpine Vay. As you might hav Cassin was raed ltr astonoe hn 675, was the fist to cbeerve the wes hin Sati tings ter named the ‘his hencur n aden Cass discovered fur np, Tethys Rhea and Done and also observed markings on Mar Soi was no surprise when the Casi probe, whi eating Saturn fr 1 yas, was named afte im rater just 57 komt (35 mies) wide with a va this ‘ot aap of salle < out oft foe small raters spate Bis unerata terrain ts east ploughed up by the Jimpact which caused without any of enn the nd Tycho ikea the Moon. Using high nton asl night wl show on top of broad rampart of eecta > fa ow il magnifica ‘thar the cat ‘material ikea castle standing on ie When the Moon ‘ul Casini canbe har to spot To sal wt the naked eye at any ime, pair of inocubs right jst sha asa small ig ht of the dak alo Fate Buti ards ts wa ut the craters ll dy tr it Cassin the Moon ist craters A and Brestig in ceed urination cater to festre Top tip! "The Moon canbe a dazzling ight through a tor longer th 2 Mace cut down any glare and improve contrastTheophilus Crater pe 3 Get to know one of the most striking but overlooked impacts on the lunar surface vember sks into Deerber urbalent weather fronts often sweep acrorsthe county scrubbing the atmesphere clean of hae to produce the fist est nis of the yar, hitler perf fo nar observations ‘On these beaut stil nigh, the Inighuer andisa dazzling sight tncugh binoculars ora your fount ana the dak tain of Maze Theophilus sone ofthe mos stk the Moon, Named ae the 23 pope of the seen furor five days after new Moon ard ast before lst quarter, when ts dose to the tsminatr Daring full Mon, when the Sun ‘vehead, the cater eure are washed out and it Tock more ike awe smoke ing than apt ati Thwophis is a casi’ seeming set cat Erasthenes and T) rile wide ae 321 yeh cas crate, 60 has rebel fat Lava looke loo, pte with ‘many fr smaller tucisot craters. quartet of [lamer (8:mile) high mountainous peaks rise upfioen Thecus Nlecr and viewed wth high uke many other craters its se, Theophh arp om ane erly sloping walls These ae bk the eastern se, while sem ide hasbeen covered by andes Lal the gen crater Polemaeus, Theophis is 50 half of double crater, vas lasted ont ofthe Moon by an impact that obiteated the northeast comer 1 Alhough no majoe ‘ot even at fll Moon material Wer scattered foxme caew ofthe Apolo 16 mi Descartes Highland region in Apa 1972 So, whens the est time to ae #2 With the approaching full Teoh uly Danita vatually no surface ee Bt a couple Tar the crater becomes prominent as the a wanes During the pet evening the terminator the crate andi sped nto darkness. asthe ist ras of suiight vil bea bead sender ent, lovin the soutves after sunset. pus oaks ts best sung bates al oenil peaks At eran tims, farsin the soy athe face shoul glow with lovely sree asthshine but dort that dstact you fom enoying Theophiis ats best! When the Moon approaches frst quater again Theophis wil sink bckint the hina pare “When the Sun is overhead, the crater's features are washed out”Langrenus crater Tet eRe n Semin) Conde mn ec cues cy he Moen has many telebrtycrates ke Copericus,Tyeho and Eatosthenes, which axe big and right encugh to be obvicusto the miled eye However, these celbiies we thet fame to stoke of god fertune the bedies that blasted them out ofthe ina surface millennia ago struck the fce of the Moon porting right at Earth, ‘There ae other caer just as big and intresting 2s Copemicus but they are reduced to Be or List status because they wer blasted ot of areas nt so wel: bce ee certo Instead We ee them at sng forshortened by the curve ofthe Moon im’ [anggenus one such erate. AsPhlomete- Sane) wide, svklometre G7 rile) deep hol punches into the Moon by a massive sce smpact milena agp Langrenus would val text Copernicus in beauty thd been formed net the cent of te Moon's fice Sadly tas based out ofthe eastern edge of Mae Fecundtai te ancient ea rectly to the sph ofthe dak eye soci of Mate Grisum, and so Langrenus beauty and apparent sive are bth greatly diminished ast isalmost onthe Moon's ib, ‘owogaps taken by Apel cews an lunar cers ho Langrens is very sir in appearance t Copernicus when viewed from above tis a roughly circular crater, with shallow walls that are mare han 20 blometes(2-4mieg wide and broken up into ‘more than haf a dozen sumped weraoes an eles ‘The walls are especly ugg an ripe on its western sie Stak mountains jut up ot of the craters floor with thee lometre- (19) high peaks, hese cast ne, ged shadows across the oor when samlght its them aa aw ange after sunie or before sunset Beyond Langrenus wal, ut onthe Jar plain several ys of ight dere speend avy ‘estar frm the erat, bu again their appearance ‘sdiminshed by the angle of viewing one ofthe most skin things abut Langer is he unusually high albedo ~ reflectivity, or brightness fits floes ors very notes brgher than the surrounding teraintis more afageywhite colour than the dark. ash-gey tones ofthe mare and landscape aroun, This means that hough the cate is reciced to an valor kzenge shape by foresortening sat least aight one and une some craters. fs easy to see whenever sunlight s falling ont Langsenuscan be found asa small brit oral stuinng neat the western nb of theft quater “Moon down at the 4 odock pasion onthe Moanis face as darkness falls. Acund fll Moan, Langenus wilbea very notre bight mark beneath Mare (ist through inocula looking ke a brig smash pate tin an icy ple afer stone has been thr ‘The best rights tose the cater are a ew day ates, when the Moon starting wane ad the eminstr begins to creep towards Langer fm the wes. ‘With the Suns ays slartng across the crater 2a shallow angle t wl eally stan out ram the surface and look moe ke an actual ater, this tise ‘ew it through your telescope with medium thigh aghificaton to sets eral mourtains and the sharks they east cross foc. However afte this, Langrens is smothered by anes and it does emerge agin unt the Moon ‘willbe a beutfl hi resent ow inthe southwest after sunset. The crtr wil sc some surface role forthe next few nigh und al ts shadows are washed avay by the sg Sun, Langrenusisalso known as hot spe of transient ‘nar phenomena -suden bightenings tht may be cause by release of gs flo beneath the crust 50 retake a eye outa Aristatchus (aire lays Seaiey a deoricris the brightest major featute erin Voen afte al. all Jou can see ate the Mecrs ma light and dark area its ft seas and rugged highlands espectvely. Tht. lite untae ar ast quartet full Noon you ot obvious tay other to appreciate the huge dfferencen albedo reflectivity or rightness) between ne uae highlands an the to seehow ince far the ays of bit debris spa onthe Moon, are Tycho. Ard fal Moon sth sure on the away fom the youngest mpact rater such 2s Cope very best time quick Googl serch fr‘ ur setches and ms acs wl tum ofthe our, nding floor and bgt 2 avounte age for har phe ake he regions where ob peak Ithelps hat res and ph changes in appear unarexpets think TLP > frm beneath the Moons surfce, bu tian ara of sve debt en the Moon sas coupe of ays ol, Arstarcus cant be sen 2 ti si night W's not unde teint nally sweeps the crater tas temerges fom the darkness. Then upin the northwest quadrant of the dsc at aroun ‘the 10pm pesto. wil lok ike asa cen thucugh 2 smal eescpe epinkinar , boyd i Cate ery eter io se bright ays f pemerets ener tight sp Binoculars wil enhance its bghtness conser ‘uring the doin a smal tbo surounde bya splash of fits ry Th Moon, Arsarchusis tan pin onthe Moon aed ha bu The caer temas visbe 352 whit dab on th ley hina surfare unl the terminator sweeps once again. At this ime. Arsarchs wl locke rer aga, complete wih tetaced wal, Nt This wl be the time to ok at Aristarchus through the highest ported eyepieces you have f on this evening