Friday, June 3, 2011

SOLAR FLARES SHINE LIGHT ON MOON’S MINERALS

In its 10-month orbit around the moon, Chandrayaan-1’s X-ray Spectrometer (C1XS) has detected titanium, confirmed the presence of calcium, and gathered the most accurate measurements yet of magnesium, aluminium and iron on the lunar surface.

This was made possible by 30 solar flares that acted like “flash bulbs” illuminating the surface, according to a statement by the European Planetary Network.

The European Planetary Science Congress in Potsdam, Germany.
Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad The miniature C1XS instrument investigated the lunar surface using an effect whereby X-ray illumination from the sun causes rocks to fluoresce, emitting light at a different wavelength.

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