Breathtaking Lunar Sunset Images May Unravel a Long-Standing Mystery

A private U.S. lander has captured striking high-definition images of a lunar sunset, offering NASA a new opportunity to investigate the mysterious haze first observed on the Moon in the 1960s.

Texas-based Firefly Aerospace, which released the images on Tuesday, recently became the first private company to land a robotic spacecraft upright on the Moon. Its Blue Ghost lander—about the size of two side-by-side rhinos—touched down on March 2 at Mons Latreille, a volcanic feature in Mare Crisium on the Moon’s northeastern near side. The lander remained operational until March 16, shutting down as lunar night set in.

One image reveals the Sun glowing just above the horizon, its halo tinged with green. Another west-facing shot captures the setting Sun bathed in an eerie green glow. Venus appears as a small dot above the Sun, while Earth’s bright reflection dominates the top of the frame.

NASA scientists are now analyzing the imagery. “One of the things they will be looking for is ‘horizon glow’ or a mechanism called ‘dust lofting,’” said Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration at NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. Researchers suspect that lunar dust particles become electrically charged by solar ultraviolet radiation, causing them to levitate above the surface. This phenomenon, first recorded by NASA’s Surveyor probes in the 1960s and later observed by Apollo astronauts, remains an open question in lunar science.

Analyzing Blue Ghost’s Data: Unraveling Lunar Mysteries Through Stunning Imagery

To refine existing theories, scientists will compare the images with data from Blue Ghost’s instruments, including electromagnetic field and radiation sensors. “The images themselves are beautiful, they’re really aesthetic,” Kearns noted.

A particularly detailed west-facing image shows soil in front of the lander illuminated by light reflecting off mountains behind it. This level of detail could help scientists improve models of how light scatters on the lunar surface.

Earlier in the mission, Blue Ghost also captured high-definition footage of a total solar eclipse from the Moon on March 14. The mission is part of NASA’s collaboration with private industry to lower costs and support Artemis, the program designed to return astronauts to the Moon and eventually send humans to Mars.

Firefly Aerospace is already using lessons from this mission to improve future flights, including Blue Ghost-2 and Blue Ghost-3. Spaceflight program director Ray Allensworth acknowledged the lander’s unlikely survival beyond lunar night but remained hopeful. “The lander is absolutely not designed to withstand the extreme cold of lunar night, so I think the probability is very low that we will power back on – but this lander has surprised me,” she said.

Read Original Article: Science Alert

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