Enigmatic Lights On The Moon :: essays research papers

Enigmatic lights seen on the Moon argon a classic example of a Fortean enigma. Called transient lunar phenomena (TLP), they take over been a mystery and a source of wonder to skywatchers since the earliest times. And yet, as astronomer Peter Grego points knocked out(p), despite a wealth of detailed observations we depend no closer to an understanding of what these anomalous flashes are.Not long after(prenominal) the telescope was invented at the beginning of the 17th century, astronomers came to realise that the Moon, our only native satellite, was not as dynamic a world as the Earth. The dismal lunar tracts which early astronomers had somewhat optimistically called "maria" (seas) turned out to be nothing more than deceptively smooth plains of straightified lava. untold to astronomers disappointment it became apparent that there were no appreciable expanses of water, though the clean romantic marine nomenclature was retained, regardless - names like female horse Cr isium (the Sea of Crises) and Oceanus Procellarum (the Ocean of Storms) were given in a vain sample to grant the Moon an air of mystery and excitement.In reality, the Moons surface appeared solid and unchanging. The Moon possessed no appreciable atmosphere and there were no detectable signs of lunar life the Church breathed a take a breath of relief, having been spared the embarrassment of attempting to explain wherefore the book of Genesis forgot to mention that our sister planet was teeming with the products of DNA.This initial impression of the Moon as be a barren and entirely dead world has been propagated in the astronomical literature ever since Galileo first published his observations in 1610.2 It seems, however, that the Moon has been receiving unforgivably bad astronomical press for nearly three centuries, for reports of its long-standing status rigourousness mortis have been greatly exaggerated. Lunar observers (mainly amateurs) have noticed that the Moons surface i s on occasion host to anomalous transient lunar phenomena (TLP) which have assumed a variety of forms, including isolated flashes or pulses of light, coloured glows and obscurations of portions of the lunar surface. Just why the science of astronomy has been unwilling to accept that our satellite occasionally displays explicit signs of activity is almost as big a mystery as TLP themselves.There is no shortage of TLP having been observed by reputable astronomers. William Herschel, unity of historys greatest astronomers - he discovered the planet Uranus in 1781 - observed a red glow in the vicinity of the crater Aristarchus on 4 May 1783, at a time when that feature was situated on the unilluminated lunar hemisphere.