Meteorite dates lunar volcanoes BBC - December 6, 2007
Volcanoes were active on the Moon's surface soon after it was formed.
Moon's interior 'had water' BBC - July 9, 2008
Bits of Ancient Earth Hidden on the Moon Live Science - June 26, 2008
Did Earth once have multiple moons? New Scientist - May 6, 2008
New Moon Map Is Best Ever Space.com - February 27, 2008
Moon Formed Volcanoes Early, Rock Study Shows National Geographic - December 5, 2007
Meteorite dates lunar volcanoes BBC - December 6, 2007
Volcanoes were active on the Moon's surface soon after it was formed.
Moon Has Iron Core, Lunar-Rock Study Says National Geographic - January 13, 2007
Gas Eruptions Likely Formed "New" Moon Features, Study Says National Geographic - November 9, 2006
Moon's odd bulge finally explained CNN - August 3, 2006
The moon's peculiar shape can be explained if the satellite moved in an eccentric oval-shaped orbit 100 million years after its violent formation, when the satellite hadn't yet solidified, the researchers say .It was like a big ball of molasses and all around the equator it got deformed, study team member Ian Garrick-Bethell of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology told SPACE.com. Around that time, conditions, such as orbit shape and position, were optimal for this "ball of molasses" to cool down and become the solid moon that we now know. Today, the moon's orbit around the Earth is nearly circular. To predict the moon's position and orbit millions of years ago, Garrick-Bethel and colleagues extrapolated backwards from ancient records of the timing of historical solar eclipses and of changes in the distance between the Earth and moon.
Moon Is Dragging Continents West, Scientist Says National Geographic - January 25, 2006
How the Man in the Moon was born News in Science - May 26, 2005
Search For Lunar Peaks Of Eternal Light Science Daily - April 2005
Crater on Moon Linked to Rock Found on Earth Space.com - July 2004
The rock left the Moon no more than 340,000 years ago, carved
out of the Imbrium Basin - the right eye of the "Man in the Moon"
by an asteroid impact. Lured by gravity, the fist-sized object
arrived on Earth sometime within the past 9,700 years.
New Mineral Found on the Moon MSNBC - April 2004
A new mineral formed by repeated bombardments from meteorites
and other space debris has been found in a meteorite that fell to
Earth from the moon.
BBC Story - April 2004
Lunar mountain has eternal light BBC - March 2004
A region in which the sun never sets
The Fallacy of the Full Moon Space.com - March 2004
Chandra solves mystery of moon's dark side September 2003 - Scientific American
The Disappearing Moon: Why and Where it Hides Space.com - September 2003
Age-Old Moon Gardening Growing in Popularity National Geographic - July 2003
Lunar gardening is the oldest form of gardening known to man.
A view of the moon from orbit NASA - April 2003
Moon Mechanics: What Really Makes Our World Go 'Round Space.com - March 2003
A billion years ago, the Moon was much closer to Earth than it is now.
Its tighter orbit meant it needed just 20 days to go around us, to
make a lunar month. A day on Earth at that time was 18 hours long.
'Double whammy' created the Moon 4.5 billion years ago BBC - February 2003
Moon's 'youngest' crater discovered - hit in 1953 BBC - December 2002
New view of Moon August 2002 - BBC
The mighty crater Langrenus, 136 km across
June 13, 2000 - BBC
New evidence shows that the Moon is not a totally dead world as was thought by many astronomers. It does still occasionally stir with activity.
Even though they have been reported from time to time for hundreds of years claims of changes on the lunar surface have always been controversial. Many scientists have dismissed the occasional reported sightings of glows and mists hanging over certain lunar features.
Clouds of light were seen dancing inside the crater
Now a French astronomer has obtained some of the most definite proof yet that occasionally something does disturb the lunar surface.
It was seen in 1992 by veteran lunar observer Audouin Dollfus of the Observatoire de Paris using the one metre (39 inch) Meudon reflecting telescope. He has only just finished analysing the results, and has submitted them for publication.
Fading light
On 30 December, he noticed a series of glows on the floor of the large crater Langrenus. They were definitely not there the day before. Professor Dollfus observed them for several days before they faded.
Each time he returned to the telescope he noticed that the shape of the glows had changed.
He believes that the glows are due to escaping gas that lifts dust above the lunar surface into sunlight.
Some lunar observers have expressed surprise that such a mist should have been seen above Langrenus which was not regarded as a prime candidate for lunar changes.
Professor Dolfuss points out that Langrenus, when observed in detail, has an extensive series of fractures on its crater floor and the gas could be escaping from these.
Man on the Moon
So-called "Transient Lunar Phenonemon" (TLP) have been reported from time to time but definite evidence has been lacking.
Responding to observations from the ground, Neil Armstrong was asked to look for glows on the Moon during the Moon landing in July 1969. He reported seeing a part of the Moon glow, but later could not be sure which region it was.
In 1994, the Clementine lunar orbiting satellite observed the crater Aristarchus before and after a TLP was seen from the Earth. Clementine spectral data suggested that parts of the crater had changed color slightly.
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