The reason why orbiting the moon is so bumpy

[hh5]

An answer to a lunar mystery: Why is the moon’s gravity so uneven?

 

Ever since the first satellites were sent to the moon to scout landing sites for Apollo astronauts, scientists have noticed a peculiar phenomenon: As these probes orbited the moon, passing over certain craters and impact basins, they periodically veered off course, plummeting toward the lunar surface before pulling back up. 

 

As it turns out, the cause of such bumpy orbits was the moon itself: Over the years, scientists have observed that its gravity is stronger in some regions than others, creating a “lumpy” gravitational field. In particular, a handful of impact basins exhibit unexpectedly strong gravitational pull. Scientists have suspected that the explanation has to do with an excess distribution of mass below the lunar surface, and have dubbed these regions mass concentrations, or “mascons.”  

 

 

 

[Thorn Wilde]

Wow, that's really interesting! And so weird. O.o

[Sasha Distan]

that rocks (literally)

 

Maybe some of the other planets and planetoids are the same? gravity on earth is even, and surely gravity isn't just affected by mass. they think the liquid core has something to do with magnetism, maybe the two are linked?

[Kenny Deheart]

Ooo, uneven gravity. Got my creative juices flowing for a story idea. Probably won't end up posting it and it will end up sitting in my pile of unfinished and unposted story beginnings.

[Zombie]

There are gravity anomalies on Earth too

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_anomaly

Einstein's General Relativity explains gravity as the curvature of space-time by mass but it seems we don't fully understand it and it hasn't been reconciled with quantum theory. And measuring gravity seems to be a bit unclear too, for example the Pioneer spacecraft anomaly

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_anomaly

*reminder to self to retrieve anti-grav experiments from under the bed *
 

[Sasha Distan]

There are gravity anomalies on Earth too

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_anomaly

 

Einstein's General Relativity explains gravity as the curvature of space-time by mass but it seems we don't fully understand it and it hasn't been reconciled with quantum theory. And measuring gravity seems to be a bit unclear too, for example the Pioneer spacecraft anomaly

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_anomaly

 

*reminder to self to retrieve anti-grav experiments from under the bed *

 

 

I was talking to my esteemed friend about this today. Hopefully CERN is going to give us a bit more detail about what Gravitons actually are and we can see if super string theory and M-Theory are correct in any way (the idea that between 12 and 15 other dimensions are wrapped up and hidden within the particles of this universe)

[Thorn Wilde]

I effing love string theory! It's such an abstract, whimsical idea. Things like that make me happy. It's why I, for a misguided few months, thought I wanted to be a physicist, before I realised that I suck at math.

[C J]

The fact is there are variations in the gravity on earth too.  Differences in topography among other things make a difference in the strength of earths gravity.  Only a planet that's a perfect sphere would have uniform gravity on it's entire surface.  The same is true for all planets.  The rotation of the earth also counteracts gravity, especially at the equator.  So you would weigh more on one of the poles than near the equator.  Gravity is less on mountains too.  Probably a good thing for people who climb them.  It all makes sense.  Gravity isn't magic, so different conditions would be expected to make a difference.  I would expect the NASA people to know all this, but then it's not your normal kind of organization..  NASA is, in case you didn't know, a military agency above all else.

[JamesSavik]

Whats under those hills can make a big difference too.

 

Big iron and other deposits of heavy metals can skew the local gravity.

 

If you look at the lunar distribution, you might see that some craters line up with the gravitational anomalies.

 

One of the theories is that impact events enriched those sites.

[W_L]

The fact is there are variations in the gravity on earth too.  Differences in topography among other things make a difference in the strength of earths gravity.  Only a planet that's a perfect sphere would have uniform gravity on it's entire surface.  The same is true for all planets.  The rotation of the earth also counteracts gravity, especially at the equator.  So you would weigh more on one of the poles than near the equator.  Gravity is less on mountains too.  Probably a good thing for people who climb them.  It all makes sense.  Gravity isn't magic, so different conditions would be expected to make a difference.  I would expect the NASA people to know all this, but then it's not your normal kind of organization..  NASA is, in case you didn't know, a military agency above all else.

 

So should we launch a few ICBMs at the moon and see if that makes the gravity more uniform

 

In all reality, most of the topographical maps of earth are inaccurate as well due to the uneven nature of our land masses as well. Square area is rounded in many cases, so in order to actually calculate the actual surface, you will need to extract a fractal equation on surfaces.

[C J]

So should we launch a few ICBMs at the moon and see if that makes the gravity more uniform

 

In all reality, most of the topographical maps of earth are inaccurate as well due to the uneven nature of our land masses as well. Square area is rounded in many cases, so in order to actually calculate the actual surface, you will need to extract a fractal equation on surfaces.

Maps are a whole different subject, but topography, whether we map it correctly or not, affects gravity.  Of course, it might be possible to more accurately map earth's topography by measuring the minute changes in gravity from one point to the next.  The problem is nobody has developed a means of doing that, so we are stuck relying on some rather lame technology.  Darn the bad luck!

[hh5]

our oceans gives us an illusion that our earth is perfectly round

 

 

if u look at the earth without water 

 

our world isn't perfectly round ...

the example isn't a good representation because it doesn't show the other side of earth ... i think its very irregular there

we've begun to realize that certain parts of earth has different gravity ie: the triangles and the trenches

but now at least we're looking that those parts that you guys are talking about (impact craters n deposits)

 

in a way will explain our scary stories like the bermuda triangle

 

asside

 

science is like an open forum ... not everyone accepts new theories until after ones death of defending it

it does feel like every one believes their theory is right and dismissing a new theory is easier

 

ie: I saw the movie of Louis Pastur ... the germ theory was ridiculed by those in power until the needs of the world was saved by the idea of a vaccine

ie: Supermans father had to die to prove his theory that their world will explode ... he proved them wrong ... but the story is virial

 

lol, a theory is like a work in progress ... no one has the time to honor or welcome another theory if it puts them out of the field while it takes away time from their research that keeps them gainfully employed n recognized

 

I hope now .... after 50 years ... science is a little receptive to new theories ... but maybe not because business wants to see a profit ... unless yer google, lol

Edited June 1, 2013 by hh5

[hh5]

actually science is looking at the earth in different ways; it all depends on our business use of it

 

ie: we discovered on how to look inside of something by learning to visualize the sounds waves much like sonograms for pregnant women

     we map the oceans, find treasure, find ship wrecks, build better building after discovering what we're building on top of, rescue miners

 

perhaps what we learn about gravity ... we can understand what happens when we launch something ... or what to consider when we build near high gravity

 

the great thing with new theories ... the syfy writers are making better stories

 

Maps are a whole different subject, but topography, whether we map it correctly or not, affects gravity.  Of course, it might be possible to more accurately map earth's topography by measuring the minute changes in gravity from one point to the next.  The problem is nobody has developed a means of doing that, so we are stuck relying on some rather lame technology.  Darn the bad luck!

Edited June 1, 2013 by hh5