Rising Carbon Dioxide Levels Carbon dioxide levels are rising Seasonal fluctuations due to plants Long term trend due to clearing of land and consumption of fossil fuels

Per Capita Carbon Dioxide Production United states produces more CO2 per capita than almost any other country And it is currently rising We are doing almost nothing to curb emissions Many countries have lower CO2 production but higher standards of living

Trends in Greenhouse Gasses Developing nations rapidly increasing China is now number one

Carbon Dioxide and Temperature High CO2 levels apparently correspond to hot periods

Temperatures Are Rising

The Moon How We Know What We Know The Outside The Inside Telescopes Numerous Robotic Missions Apollo Moon Rocks The Inside Mass/gravity Mini moonquakes Tiny magnetic field

Current and Future Lunar Missions Reconnaissance Orbiter Chandrayaan-2 Chang’e 4 Artemis Beresheet

Chang’e 4 Image

Apollo Manned Missions

Apollo Manned Missions

Lunar Samples – from Apollo

Moon – Basic Facts Q. 32: Temperature of Moon vs. Earth ¼ the size of Earth 1/81 the mass of Earth Lower density No atmosphere Rotates once per month Q. 32: Temperature of Moon vs. Earth

Moon – Temperature Moon has no atmosphere Heat isn’t transported from hot to cold areas Heat isn’t stored in atmosphere Two weeks of “day” followed by two weeks of “night” Temperatures are much more extreme 100 K to 390 K at the equator As low as 35 K in the bottoms of craters at poles The moon has no weather, with no atmosphere

Craters

Craters

Full Lunar Map Most of it heavily cratered Dark regions less cratered

Moon: Terrain Types Maria Dark Dense Rocks Few Craters 3 – 4 billion years old Highlands Brighter Lighter Rocks More Craters 4 – 4.5 billion years old

Highland vs. Maria

Geologicic Activity? Ancient collapsed lava tube? Apparently currently geologically dead Moon smaller, cooled faster Probably almost all frozen

History of the Moon Formed 4.5 Gyr ago Heavy bombardment Dark magma fills largest craters Ongoing bombardment but slower

Moon - Composition Crust – light rocks Not uniform in thickness No one knows why Mantle – heavy rocks By far the bulk Core –metal Very small Overall – similar to Earth But very little metals

Moon – Giant Impact Theory Large body slammed into early Earth Moon formed from outer layers of Earth Same composition, no metals

Ice on the Moon! Clementine Spacecraft LCROSS Aitiken Crater Permanently shadowed craters near poles Ice could be used for survival on a moon base Chang’e-6 spacecraft will bring back samples Aitiken Crater

Mercury Images True color

How We Know What We Know Mariner 10 Three flybys, 1974-1975 MESSENGER In orbit until April 30, 2015

Mercury – Basic Facts Moon Mercury Q. 34: Temperature of Mercury Size – 1.4  Moon radius smallest planet Mass – 4  Moon Much higher density! Orbit: 0.467 AU, rather elliptical Mercury year = 88 Earth Days Rotation: Once every 59 Earth Days 1 Mercury day = 2 Mercury years! Atmosphere – effectively none Moon Mercury Q. 34: Temperature of Mercury

Mercury – Atmosphere and Temperature Slow rotation + no atmosphere = extreme temperatures Varies from 80 K to 700 K Most extreme temperatures in solar system Atmosphere Close to Sun causes some parts to be high temperature Smallest mass means least gravity High temperature + low gravity  no atmosphere

Mercury – Composition Second highest density, behind Earth Earth’s large gravity compresses our dense core Magnetic field – weak but present Mercury must have large metal core Smaller size – it probably cooled faster than Earth But core is probably molten Probably due to tidal heating from Sun Why such a large core? Best guess – collision removed mantle early in history

Mercury – Surface Features All of Mercury’s surface has been mapped

Mercury – Surface Features Heavily Cratered Surface But not as heavily as the Moon Suggests something has subsequently erased craters Flat plains between craters Caloris Impact Basin A giant crater, from early on Chaotic Terrain Antipodal to Caloris Strong evidence for volcanism Probably now geologically dead Scarps – Cliffs several km tall