Earth "air" found on the Moon

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- Learn a lot teaching others.

I wonder if the way to test this theory would be to get samples from the far side of the moon (not an easy feat) and see if the percentages are less than those in the Apollo samples (which came from the near side).

Ah, to see whether the nitrogen is excited particles that escaped the Earth's atmosphere or if the samples are from the event that caused the moon to shucked off the Earth after formation?

If it's escaped particles we would assume a higher concentration on the Earth facing side, if it's consistent on both sides it's a hold over from the separation.

** Edited to add clarification

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Photons have mass? I didn't even know they were Catholic.

Except the researcher's theory is that ions could only escape early in the moon-earth history, presumably before tidal locking occurred. So the escaped particles would still be uniform on both "sides". (Alway's amuses me that a sphere is described as having sides. Maybe I'm just easily amused.)

Well, technically I guess it would be the hemisphere(?) unobservable by direct line of vision from the planet Earth. But that’s such a mouthful and I with the ‘far side’ I don’t have to spell check.

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Photons have mass? I didn't even know they were Catholic.

How about "visible disc"?

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"What you think you thought you saw you did not see." Agent J, MiB - Manhatten Bureau

Isn't far and near side accept as valid names?

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GCS/S d(+) s+:+ a--- C++(+++)>$ W+++>$ L>+ M+>++ w++ P+>++ tv@ PS b+ DI+ G e-> h! r-- !z+

~Jorge Schrauwen

It's because it's tidally locked. How about we use the normal, commonly accepted, and correct terms, "near side" and "far side"? Or if you'd like to get technical, we can call them "hemispheres" instead of "sides"...

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audentes fortuna iuvat

Absolutely --- as mentioned above, I just get amused easily...

That sounds reasonable.


The article states; "The Moon was formed at high temperatures, and should thus be depleted in volatile elements, including nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen and the six "noble" gases, helium, neon, argon, krypton, radon and xenon.
However, all these elements have been found in the lunar soil, which suggests that the source came from elsewhere."

It also suggests to me that the original hypothesis (that it formed at high temperatures) may be wrong.

G^2