Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Jan 1999
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1999nvm..conf...64s&link_type=abstract
Workshop on New Views of the Moon 2: Understanding the Moon Through the Integration of Diverse Datasets, p. 64
Mathematics
Logic
Lunar Atmosphere, Lunar Rocks, Moon, Lunar Composition, Selenology, Lunar Geology
Scientific paper
Due to the lack of optical phenomena associated with the lunar atmosphere, it is usually stated that the Moon has no atmosphere. This is not correct. In fact, the Moon is surrounded by a tenuous envelope with a surface number density and pressure not unlike that of a cometary coma. However, the analogy ends there: The lunar atmosphere is essentially everywhere collisionless, unlike a cometary coma, its composition is quite different from that of any comet, and the extant lunar species do not create optically bright emissions. Since the lunar atmosphere is in fact an exosphere, one can think of its various compositional components as "independent atmospheres" occupying the same space. Upper limits derived by Apollo-based instruments indicate that the entire native envelope weighs only about 100 t. However, the complexity and scientific value of this atmosphere are not commensurate with its low mass. The lunar atmosphere contains vital information about the location of near-surface volatiles, including water; it also acts as a reservoir of gases released from the interior and may even mirror the composition of certain surface-lying mineralogical units. Furthermore, the lunar atmosphere is the most accessible of the solar system's SBEs, and offers a rich variety of physical processes to study as analogs to other SBEs across the solar system. An important advantage of the Moon for such studies is that we enjoy abundant surface samples and orbital geochemical data that provide key "boundary conditions" to the physics and chemistry at work, unlike any other similarly exposed planetary surface. In this review I will summarize the present state of knowledge about the lunar atmosphere, describe the important physical processes taking place within it, and provide a comparison of the lunar atmosphere to other tenuous atmospheres in the solar system. Particular emphasis will be placed on the intimate connection between the lunar atmosphere and its source. the lunar regolith.
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