10/29/2015 ReinerGammaWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reiner_Gamma 1/3

UVVISfalsecoloralbedoimageoftheReinerGammaalbedofeature

LunarReconnaissanceOrbiterWideAngleCameraimageofReinerGamma

ReinerGammaFromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

ReinerGamma()isanalbedofeaturethatislocatedontheOceanusProcellarum,tothewestofthecraterReinerontheMoon.Thecenteroftheformationislocatedatselenographiccoordinates

.Ithasanoveralldimensionofabout70kilometres.Thefeaturehasahigheralbedothantherelativelydarkmaresurface,withadiffuseappearanceandadistinctiveswirling,concentricovalshape.Relatedalbedofeaturescontinueacrossthesurfacetotheeastandsouthwest,forminglooplikepatternsoverthemare.

ReinerGammaisnotassociatedwithanyparticularirregularitiesinthesurface,andsothecausewasamysteryuntilsimilarfeatureswerediscoveredinMareIngeniiandMareMarginisonphotographstakenbyorbitingspacecraft.[1]ThefeatureonMareIngeniiislocatedatthelunaroppositepointfromthecenterofMareImbrium.LikewisethefeatureonMareMarginisisoppositethemidpointofMareOrientale.Thusitisbelievedthatthefeatureresultedfromseismicenergiesgeneratedbytheimpactsthatcreatedthesemaria.UnfortunatelythereisnosuchlunarmareformationlocatedpreciselyontheoppositesurfaceoftheMoon,althoughthelargecraterTsiolkovskiylieswithinonecraterdiameter.

ThecentralfeatureofReinerGammadoesbeararesemblancetothedipolarformationcreatedbyironfilingsonasurfacewithabarmagnetontheunderside.Loworbitingspacecrafthaveobservedarelativelystrongmagneticfieldassociatedwitheachofthesealbedomarkings.Somehavespeculatedthatthismagneticfieldandthepatternswerecreatedbycometaryimpacts.Howeverthetruecauseremainsuncertain.

ReinerGamma'smagneticfieldstrengthisapproximately15nT,measuredfromanaltitudeof28km.ThisisoneofthestrongestlocalizedmagneticanomaliesontheMoon.[2]Thesurfacefieldstrengthofthisfeatureissufficienttoformaminimagnetospherethatspans360kmatthesurface,forminga300kmthickregionofenhancedplasmawherethesolarwindflowsaroundthefield.[3]Astheparticlesinthesolarwindareknowntodarkenthelunarsurface,themagneticfieldatthissitemayaccountforthesurvivalofthisalbedofeature.[4]

InearlylunarmapsbyFrancescoMariaGrimaldi,thisfeaturewasincorrectlyidentifiedasacrater.HiscolleagueGiovanniRicciolithennameditGalilaeus,afterGalileoGalilei.ThenamewaslatertransferrednorthwesttothecurrentcraterGalilaei.

7.5N59.0W

10/29/2015 ReinerGammaWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reiner_Gamma 2/3

ReinerandMariusareas

References1. Huddleston,MarvinW."LunarSwirls,MagneticAnomalies,andtheReinerGammaFormation".Associationof

Lunar&PlanetaryObservers.Retrieved20100419.2. Richmond,N.C.etal.(2003)."CorrelationofaStrongLunarMagneticAnomalywithaHighAlbedoRegionof

theDescartesMountains".GeophysicalResearchLetters30(7):48.Bibcode:2003GeoRL..30g..48R.doi:10.1029/2003GL016938.

3. Wieser,Martinetal.(March2010)."Firstobservationofaminimagnetosphereabovealunarmagneticanomalyusingenergeticneutralatoms".GeophysicalResearchLetters37(5):L05103.arXiv:1011.4442.Bibcode:2010GeoRL..3705103W.doi:10.1029/2009GL041721.

4. L.L.HoodC.R.Williams(1989)."TheLunarSwirlsDistributionandPossibleOrigins".Proceedings19thLunarandPlanetaryScienceConference.CambridgeUniversityPress/LunarandPlanetaryInstitute.Retrieved20060627.

Otherreferences

EwenA.Whitaker,MappingandNamingtheMoon:AHistoryofLunarCartographyandNomenclature,CambridgeUniversityPress,1999,ISBN0521622484.

Externallinks

Phillips,Tony(20060626)."MysteriousLunarSwirls".Science@NASA.Retrieved20060627.Overexposed35mmNikoncameraimageofReinerGammafromApollo17:AS1715823895(http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/apollo/frame/?AS1715823895)LunarOrbiter4imageshowingReinerGammainupperleft:IV157H1

10/29/2015 ReinerGammaWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reiner_Gamma 3/3

(http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/lunarorbiter/images/preview/4157_h1.jpg)ObliqueLunarOrbiter2imageshowingpartofReinerGamma:II215(http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/lunarorbiter/frame/?2215)

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Categories: LQ10quadrangle GeologicalfeaturesontheMoon

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