144 THE MOON st

a
on the moon. Some d
evidence of volcanic activity
This is convincing dead
appear to be
a

for example Ritter and perhaps Aristarchus,

craters, lava tubes while
caldera in appearance. Many
rilles appear to be collapsed
The lava 1
faults and are thus at least seismic in origin.
others are clearly an impact.
flows, rilles and faults could result from activity triggered by
would have seismic effects felt
Certainly the impact that caused Tycho i
everywhere on the moon.

/THE TIDES
The rise and fall of the level of the ocean twice at any place in a little
more than a day has been associated with the moon from early times.
Newton correctly ascribed the tides in the ocean to the attractions of both
the moon and sun and accounted for their general behavior by means of
his law of gravitation.

5.22 To simplify the explanation of the tides we may imagine, as Newton did,
Lunar Tides that the whole earth. is covered by very deep water. Because the gravita-
tional attraction between two bodies diminislhes as their separation is
greater, the moon's attraction is greatest for the part of the ocean directly
under the moon and is least for the part on the opposite side of the earth.
The ocean is accordingly drawn into an ellipsoid of
revolution, which
in the absence of other effects would have its
major axis directed toward
the moon. This axis rotates eastward, following the moon in
its monthly
course around the earth.'
Meanwhile, the earth is rotating eastward under
tide figure. The the
earth makes a
complete
rotation relative to a
particular
figure once in a lunar day, which averages about 24" point in that
High tide occurs at a place of observation at 50" of solar
timhe.
low tide at times halfway between them. Theseintervals of 12h 25m and
are
ocean level at the place is the occasions when the
highest and lowest,
particular cycle. respectively,
for that
Thus succession of tide crests move westward
a
re displaced behind the moon in its diurnal around the earth.
acean loor, because the water motion by Thev
has not the friction with the
depth required
by the simple
nple
 THE TIDES 145
y
static
theory, and their
progress is interrupted by land masses. High tide
ctne
aiffetence
transit of the
moon are generally far from simultaneous. The
re in time
between these occurrences varies from place to place
and is best
determined by observation.
h e sun also causes tides in the occan. It can be shown that the tide- 5.23
producing force of a body varies inversely as the cube of the distance Spring and Neap Tides
of that
body and, accordingly, that the sun, despite its far greater mass,
is less than half as effective as the
moon in raising tides on the earth.
The two sets of tides
may be considered as operating independenty,
the relative
positions of their crests varying with the moon's phases. The
spr1ng tide occurs when the moon is new or full. Because the moon and
sun are then
attracting from the same or opposite directions, lunar and
solar tides reinforce each other. The
neap tide ocurs when the moon is at
either quarter phase. Then the moon and
sun are 90° apart in the sky,
so that one set of tides is
partly neutralized by the other. When the moon
is new or full and also in
perigee, the difference in level between low
and high tides is
especially great.
The earth itself, like the ocean, is deformed
by lunar and solar tides,
but to a much smaller extent.
Consequently, the observed tides in the
ocean represent the differences between ocean and
earth tides and to a
lesser extent other tide-raising forces. We have
already seen that the
rotating earth causes an equatorial bulge. The rotation axis of this bulge
is not perpendicular to the line joining the two bodies which complicates
the noon's tidal action. There is another not inconsequential force which
ari ses from the earth's rotating arournd the center of mass of the earth-
moon system. This force tends to reinforce the lunar tides because it
acts along the line joining the two bodies with a period of 27% days and
has a greater effect on the side opposite the moon.

Quarter Moon.

Figure 5.23
Spring tides and neap tides.
Spring tides occur at new and
D-
Full Moon
-To Sun full moon, when
lunar and
solar tides reinforce
other. Neap tides
each
occur at
the quarter
phases when one
setof tidesis
Spring Tides Neap Tides partly neutralized
by the other.
 MOTIONS OF THE MOON 131

the northwest, and is high in the sky in our northern latitudes at upper
transit. Near position of the winter solstice about 2 weeks later, the
moon rises in the southeast, sets in the southwest, and crosses tiie
meridian at a lower altitude. An example of the many compensations in
nature is furnished by the full moon which, being opposite the sun,
rides highest in the long winter nights and lowest in the summer.
When the inclination of the moon's path to the ecliptic is taken into
account, we note that the range in declination varies perceptibly as the
nodes regress. When the with
ascending node coincides the vernal
equinox, the moon's path is inclined to the celestial equator 23%° plus
5°, or 284°; this occurred in 1968. When the ascending node coincides
with the autumnal equinox, which occurred in 1959, the inclination to
the equator is 23%° minus 5°, or 18%°. Thus the moon's highest and
lowest altitudes at upper transits in latitude 40 north average in the
first case 78%° and 214°, respectively, and in the second case 68%° and
314°-a decrease in range of about 20°.
The variation of 10° in the moon's maximum declinations north and
south in the 18.6-year cycle is chiefly responsible for nutation, the nodding
the earth's axis which accompanies its precessional motion.
of
The moon rotates on its axis in the same period in which it revolves 5.14
around the earth, namely, the sidereal month of 27% days. In consequence The Moon's
of the equality of the two periods the moon presents about the same Rotationand
hemisphere toward the earth at all times. It is always the face of the Librations
"man in the moon" that we see near the full phase and never the back
of his head. An examination of the moon's surface throughout the month,
however, shows that features near the edge of the disk are turned some-
times into view and at other times out of sight. The moon seems to rock
slightly; and these apparent oscillations, or librations, arise mainly fromm
three causes:

-1. The libration in latitude results from the inclination of about 6%°
between the moon's equator and the plane of its orbit. At intervals
of 2 weeks the lunar poles are tipped alternately toward and away
from us; at times we can see 6 ° beyond the north pole, at other
times the same distance beyond the south pole. The explanation
of this libration is analogous to that of the seasons.

N N
Flgure 5.14A
The mon's libration in lati-
tude. The inclination of the
Earth moon's equator to the plane

Moon's Orbit
Equaior of its orbit causes
he moon's
poles to be presented alter-
nately to the earih.
132 THE MOON

2. The libration in longilude is caused by the failure of the moon's rota-

tion and revolution to
keep exactly in step throughout the month,
although they come out together at the end. The rotation is nearly
uniform, whereas the revolution in the elliptical orbit is not uni-
form (5.2). Thus the moon seems to rock in an east-west direction,
allowing us to see as much as 7%° farther around in longitude at
each edge than we could otherwise.
3. The diurnal libration is
consequence of the earth's rotation. Even
a

if the other librations absent, so that the same hemisphere

were
were turned
always toward the center of the earth, we on the surface
view the moon from slightly different directions during the day,
and therefore see slightly different hemispheres. From the elevated
position neearly 4000 miles above the center of the earth the observer
can see about 1° farther over the western edge at moonrise and
the same amount over the castern edge at noonset.

Figure 5.14B
Lunar experiments. E. Aldrin finishing deployment of the seismometer carried bv
Apollo 11. Behind this equipment is the laser retroreflector; direction to the earth
is indicated by the tilt of the reflector's face and the direction of the seismometer s
antenna. Spacecraft Eagle is in the background. (NASA
photograph)

.
 THE MOON'S SURFACE FEATURES 133

in addition to the principal librations, there is a slight physical libration,

because the moon's rate of rotation is not quite uniform. Fully 59 per
cent of the moon's surface has been visible when the sidereal month is
completed. The remaining 41 per cent is never seen from the earth; and
,throughout this region, of course, the earth would always be invisible to
lunar observers.
Measuring the librations has always presented a challenge. Most of our
information is derived from measuring well defined points on the moon
with respect to the moon's limb and bright stars that appear in the
nearby sky. A more accurate technique is to use well identified radar
reflection points or even better using laser ranging techniques and retro
reflectors placed at various points on the moon. A start in this direction
was made by the astronauts of Apollo 11 when they placed a retro-
rcflector on the moon. Unfortunately, Apollo 12 did not transport similar
equipment to its landing site.

THE MOON'S SURFACE FEATURES

The unaided eye can discern only the dark areas of the moon's surface,
which are known as the lunar seas, and occasional irregularities of the
Ierminator, which suggest that the moon is mountainous. The ielescope
shows the mountains themselves and other details of the surface. The
mountains are clearest near the terminator, either the sunrise or sunset
line, where shadows are long and the contrast between mountain and plain

is therefore more pronounced. Spacecraft, manned and unmanned, have

observed and photographed the Moon in a detail unachievable by telescope.

There is no evidence that the moon has any permanent atmosphere. 5.15
lines abrupt divisions Absence of
There is no twilight; the sunrise and sunset are

between day and night. The effect of twilight in prolonging the cusps Atmosphere on
the Moon
observed if a lunar
of the crescent m o o n beyond the diameter could be
atmosphere had a density 10* that of the earth's atmosphere. No per-
haze dims view of the moon, even near the edge where an
ceptible our
atmosphere would be most effective in this respect. When a star is
occulted by the moon, it does not irst become fainter and redder, as it