APOD 20091008 Target Crater Cabeus

来源：APOD

About 100 kilometers from the Moon's South Pole, 100 kilometer wide crater Cabeus is the target for two LCROSS mission spacecraft on course to impact the Moon tomorrow. The shadowed crater is strongly foreshortened in this mosaic, a representative view of the region for earthbound telescopes. The impacts are intended to create billowing debris plumes extending into the sunlight above the crater walls, that could reveal signs of water. First to impact will be the mission's Centaur upper stage rocket at 11:30 UT (7:30am EDT). The instrumented LCROSS mothership will image the impact and then fly through the resulting debris plume analyzing the material blasted from the crater floor. Four minutes after the first impact, the LCROSS mothership itself will crash into Cabeus. The plumes are expected to be visible in telescopes about 10 inches in diameter or larger, with the timing favoring Moon watchers in western North America and the Pacific. NASA also plans to broadcast live footage from the LCROSS mission on NASA TV starting at 6:15am EDT / 3:15am PDT on October 9.

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说明: 离月球南极约100公里的Cabeus陨石坑，是明天LCROSS卫星任务将进行月球撞击的标的。在这张嵌拼影像裡，这个带著阴影的陨石坑之纵深被大幅压缩，这是此区域在地面望远镜视野中很典型特徵。此次的撞击，预期将產生大团冲出陨石坑并沐浴在阳光中的碎片烟尘，或许也带著是否有水的信息。首先撞击的是太空船的上层Centaur火箭，时间点是世界时11:30 (台湾时间19:30)。LCROSS母船上的仪器将拍摄此次撞击，也将穿越所產生的碎片烟尘，以分析从陨石坑底扬起的物质。在火箭撞击后四分鐘，LCROSS母船也将撞入Cabeus陨石坑。届时，地球上口径超过25公分的望远镜，预期都能看见所撞出的烟尘。位在北美洲东部和亚洲的人，观测此次撞击的时间条件较佳。美国航太总署规画要进行LCROSS任务的网路实况转播，NASA TV的转播将从台湾时间10月9日18:15 (UT 10:15)开始。

译註：10月9日台湾地区的月出时是在21:30左右，无缘直接观测此二次的撞击事件。

转自成大

期待它能正常的撞击！