[TRUEYOUTRUEME]

www.skyandtelescope.com said:

For now, let me tantalize you with a preliminary result from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which viewed the Centaur's demise from nearly overhead and just 48 miles (76 km) up. An instrument dubbed the Lyman-Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP) probed the ultraviolet spectrum of the impact plume after it had risen high enough to be projected against black space above the lunar limb.

"We definitely saw something," notes LAMP scientist Randy Gladstone (Southwest Research Institute). But that "something" wasn't water. Nor was it oxygen or hydrogen atoms, both of which have strong ultraviolet emissions.There's some hint of hydrogen molecules (H2) — and though water is one source of hydrogen, it could also have come from silicate minerals, solar-wind gas trapped in the lunar soil, or (most likely) residual fuel in the Centaur's tanks.

LAMP's strongest and most intriguing observation came at the ultraviolet wavelength of 184-185 nanometers. Gladstone says the only known elements able to create that line are iron, perhaps magnesium … and mercury. "Both mercury and iron still look like the best bets for explaining the plume emission we see with LAMP," Gladstone reiterates, though the spectral match is still tentative and more data-crunching is in progress.

Liquid mercury on the Moon?

Read more...

A little bit of another tease about LCROSS data that is interesting. Something in the signature that may be liquid mercury? Or something else? Any thoughts?

[Peter B]

TRUEYOUTRUEME, on 04 November 2009 - 04:35 PM, said:

A little bit of another tease about LCROSS data that is interesting. Something in the signature that may be liquid mercury? Or something else? Any thoughts?

My thoughts?

*raises eyebrow*

*frowns*

*Spock*

Fascinating.

*/Spock*

Seriously, I'm surprised that the article suggested the mercury might be liquid on the Moon - I thought it would have been too cold or too low atmospheric pressure for that. Still, it's things like this that help me..us...everyone learn something new about the universe. As Isaac Asimov said, "The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I've found it!), but 'That's funny...'

[MID]

TRUEYOUTRUEME, on 04 November 2009 - 01:35 AM, said:

A little bit of another tease about LCROSS data that is interesting. Something in the signature that may be liquid mercury? Or something else? Any thoughts?

What it says is that this is really interesting stuff.

It says that science is fun and constantly energizing.

It doesn't say anything else...

[ninjadude]

The author jumps pretty fast to "liquid" mercury. I'm doubting that any liquid mercury was ever present. Solid maybe. In rocks maybe. Certainly not pure. Converted to gas on impact maybe. Converted to liquid on impact - unlikely.