Other
Scientific paper
Dec 1999
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1999baas...31.1583h&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS Meeting #31, late abstracts, #59.02; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 31,
Other
Scientific paper
During the last eight months of the Lunar Prospector mission (Dec. 1998 - July 1999), the spacecraft was placed in a relatively low-altitude (15-30 km periapsis) near-polar orbit that has allowed higher-resolution mapping of crustal magnetic fields. Results confirm and extend earlier results from Apollo data. In particular, the strongest local magnetic anomalies tend to correlate in location with unusual, swirl-like albedo markings of the Reiner Gamma class. Both the magnetic anomalies and the swirls are mostly clustered near the antipodes of the Imbrium, Orientale, Serenitatis, and Crisium impact basins. One model for the origin of the swirls proposes that they represent regions whose higher albedos have been preserved via deflection of the solar wind ion bombardment by strong crustal fields. Prospector data have previously shown that the strongest anomalies produce mini-magnetospheres capable of deflecting the solar wind. The model depends on the hypothesis that implanted solar wind hydrogen is one component of the process that optically matures (darkens and reddens) exposed silicate surfaces in the inner solar system. Specifically, it is hypothesized that implanted hydrogen acts as an effective reducing agent to enhance the rate of production of nanophase iron particles from pre-existing silicates during micrometeoroid impacts. According to the model, the curvilinear shapes of the associated albedo markings are caused, at least in part, by the geometry of ion deflections in a magnetic field. In order to investigate further the correlation of magnetic fields with the locations of swirl features, we have re-examined available lunar imagery (Lunar Orbiter, Apollo, Clementine) to identify and map swirls within several regions on the near and far sides. In these images, swirls are distinguished from other higher-albedo features such as crater rays by their curvilinear shapes and increased visibility in forward scattered light. The mapped fields and swirls allow tests of the solar wind deflection hypothesis, which predicts that all swirls are associated with strong local fields.
Acuña M.
Binder Alan B.
Hood Lon L.
Lin Robert P.
Mitchell David Leroy
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