美太空网评出“月球十大震惊发现”
本帖最后由 positron 于 2010-9-28 00:13 编辑Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University
The LRO Camera (LROC) has a resolution about ten times better than any previous lunar orbiter mission. LROC gathers 100 pixels to other spacecrafts' single pixel. Researchers can now see detailed craters and individual boulders, some measuring only a few feet on the lunar surface. Further, the public can get involved by doing crater and boulder counts to aid in the research at the "Moon Zoo" (http://www.moonzoo.org).
第十位：月球坑和岩石细节
月球勘测轨道飞行器照相机（以下简称LROC）的分辨率比之前飞行器上的高上十倍。其他航天器捕捉到一个像素，LROC可以用十个像素来表现。研究人员现在可以看清陨石坑与各个岩石的细节，某些测量可以精确到月球表面几英尺。此外，公众可以通过在“月亮动物园”清点月球坑和岩石的数量，来帮助研究人员。
Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University
Russian robotic rover Lunokhod 1 landed on the moon in 1970, and traveled about 6 miles (10 km) before vanishing from detection in September 1971. This past March however, the LROC team announced they had spotted it, miles from its supposed location. A laser pulse was sent to Lunokhod 1, and contact was made with the rover for the first time in nearly four decades. Lunokhod 1's retroreflector returned a signal actually about five times better than returned by Lunokhod 2.
第九位：失踪的俄罗斯月球车
俄罗斯的月球车一号1970年在月球登陆，1971年9月消失之前，它行进了约十公里。今年三月，LROC小组宣布他们在距离预定位置几英里之外发现了它的位置。工作人员向月球者一号发送了激光脉冲波，重新与它建立了联系，这是近四十年来的第一次。月球车一号返回的信号强度是月球车二号的五倍。
Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/LSI
Rilles look like river channels on the lunar surface. Researchers call the type shown here a "sinuous" rille, exhibiting strong meanders. The formation of lunar rilles remains a mystery. It is believed there may be many different formation mechanisms including ancient magma flows and the collapse of subterranean lava tubes.
第八位：月亮上的“河流”
月球表面的山谷看上去像是河道。因为有强烈的曲折，研究人员将这种类型的称为“蜿蜒”山谷。月球山谷的形成仍是一个谜。据信可能是由于多种原因造成的，包括古岩浆流动和地下熔岩道的崩塌。
Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University
On the moon, unlike on the Earth, even the largest lunar mountains were formed in minutes or less as asteroids and comets slammed into the surface, displacing and uplifting enough crust to create peaks that easily rival those found on Earth.
第七位：山脉形成速度快
月球和地球不一样，一旦小行星或彗星撞击月球，造成月球地壳位移和隆起，形成多个高峰，指不定月球最大山脉就此诞生，且与地球上的山脉不相上下。
Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University
LRO has now collected the most detailed images yet of at least two lunar pits, giant holes in the moon. Scientists believe these holes form when the ceiling of a subterranean lava tube collapses, possibly due to a meteorite strike. The image shows the Mare Ingenii pit, which surprisingly lies in an area with relatively few volcanic features. This pit is 426 feet (130 m) in diameter.
第六位：月球坑
LRO现已收集了至少两个月球坑的最详细图片资料。科学家认为，地下熔岩洞顶部的坍塌或流星的撞击，都是这些月球坑形成的原因。令人吃惊的是，这张图像显示巧海坑洞附近并没有多少火山活动的痕迹，这个坑洞的直径是130米。
Credit: NASA/Goddard
The moon's axis tilts only slightly, so there are areas of high elevation at its poles that remain almost constantly exposed to the sun. Using LRO's precise measurements of topography, scientists have been able to map illumination in detail, finding some areas with up to 96% solar visibility. Such sites would have continuous sun for approximately 243 days a year and never have a period of total darkness for more than 24 hours.
第五位：发现连续243天有太阳照射的地区
月亮中轴仅仅略有倾斜，所以两极的高海拔地区常年处于太阳的照射之下。利用LRO上的地形精细测量技术，科学家已经能够绘制月球的光照图，他们发现有些地区的太阳能见度高达96%。这些地点差不多连续243天都将受到太阳的照射，黑夜的总时间不会超过24小时。
Credit: NASA/Goddard
One side of the moon always faces toward our planet. The side that faces away should be referred to as the "far side of the moon" instead of the "dark side of the moon," as it receives just as much sunlight as the side that faces us. This image shows the moon's topography from LRO's LOLA instruments with the highest elevations in red and the lowest areas in blue.
第四位：展示全面的月球背面
月亮的一面始终背对着地球。它被称作“月球背面”，或者是“月球的阴暗面”，虽然它接受的阳光和我们看到的这面差不多。这张图片展示了LRO上的激光测高仪设备（LOLA）拍下的月球地形，红色是高海拔，蓝色是低海拔。
Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of California, Los Angeles
Diviner, LRO's temperature instrument, found a location in the moon's Hermite Crater detected to be -415 degrees Fahrenheit (-248 Celsius), making it the coldest temperature measured anywhere in the solar system. For comparison, scientists believe that Pluto's surface only gets down to about -300 degrees Fahrenheit (-184 Celsius). Extremely cold regions similar to the one in Hermite Crater were found at the bottoms of several permanently shaded craters at the lunar south pole and were measured in the depths of winter night.
第三位：太阳系最冷的地方
LRO上的测温设备“预言者”在赫米特陨石坑某处测得零下248摄氏度，这是目前太阳系中测到的最低温度。相比之下，科学家认为冥王星的表面下仅仅是零下184摄氏度。月球南极的几个永久性阴暗陨石坑，也与赫米特陨石坑类似，是极度寒冷的地区，在冬季的夜间也测得了相似的温度。
Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University
Images of the Apollo 11 landing site taken by LRO clearly show where the descent stage (about 12 feet in diameter) was left behind, as well as the astronauts' tracks and equipment deployed. This LRO data has important scientific value, as it provides context for the returned Apollo samples.
第二位：阿波罗登月不是恶作剧
LRO拍摄的阿波罗十一号登陆点照片很清晰的显示出其留下的登陆台（直径约4米），同时还能看到宇航员的脚印和设备放置位置痕迹。这份LRO数据具有重要的科学价值，因为它为阿波罗带回来样品的找到了参照。
Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University
The biggest revelation uncovered by researchers in recent years is the discovery of water on the moon, in ice and rocks, across huge craters and vast lunar plains. LRO helped discover the moon's hidden water by watching its partner probe LCROSS crash into the lunar surface in October 2009. LRO and other spacecraft ultimately found evidence of tons of water ice at the moon's north pole and elsewhere.
第一位：月球上有水
近年来研究人员的最大发现就是月球上有水，这些水在冰和岩石中，分布于巨大的陨石坑和广阔的月球平原上。2009年10月LRO通过观测月球陨坑观测与遥感卫星（LCROSS）撞击月球表面发现，月球上隐藏着水。LRO与其他航天器最终在月球南极与其他地方找到了月球有大量水冰的证据。
图片及英文内容来自美国太空网：http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/top10-lro-discoveries-10.html
译文来自网易：http://news.163.com/photoview/05RQ0001/11077.html#p=6HJ7O82N05RQ0001 可惜太空网没有大图，NASA官网可能有相关大图，不过要找到肯定得费点功夫。 我想看大图::070821_05.jpg::
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