            APOD: 2017 October 25 - Marius Hills: Holes in the Moon

                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our
 fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a
                           professional astronomer.

                                2017 October 25
                                      [2]
                     Marius Hills and a Hole in the Moon
  Image Credit: NASA [3] , Lunar Orbiter 2 [4] ; Inset:  Lunar Reconnaissance
                                  Orbiter [5]

Explanation: Could humans live beneath the surface of the Moon? This
intriguing possibility was bolstered in 2009 when Japan's Moon-orbiting SELENE
spacecraft [6]  imaged a curious hole beneath the Marius Hills region on the
Moon, possibly a skylight [7] to an underground lava tube. Follow-up
observations [8]  by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter [9]  (LRO) indicated
that the Marius Hills Hole [10]  (MHH) visually extends down nearly 100 meters
and is several hundred meters wide. Most recently, ground penetrating radar
data from SELENE [11]  has been re-analyzed to reveal [12]  a series of
intriguing second echoes -- indicators that the extensive lava tubes exist
under Marius Hills might extend down even kilometers and be large enough to
house cities. Such tubes [13]  could shelter a future Moon colony [14] from
large temperature swings, micro-meteor impact [15] s, and harmful solar
radiation [16] . Potentially, underground lava tubes [17]  might even be
sealed to contain breathable [18]  air. These lava tubes [19] likely formed
when lunar volcanos were active billions of years ago. Pictured, the surface
of Marius Hills [20] region was captured in the 1960s by NASA's Lunar Orbiter
[21] 2 mission, while an inset image of the MHH is shown from NASA's
continuing LRO. Several volcanic dome [22] s are visible, while Marius Crater
[23]  is visible on the upper right.

                    Tomorrow's picture: the cosmic sea [24]

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Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] image/1710/MariusHills_LO2LRO_1673.jpg
  [3] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [4] https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1966-100A
  [5] https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/overview/index.html
  [6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SELENE
  [7] https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA12954
  [8]
https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/
lunar-pits-could-shelter-astronauts-reveal-details-of-how-man-in-the-moon-
formed
  [9] https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/overview/index.html
  [10]
https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/12jul_rabbithole
  [11] http://global.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/selene/
  [12] http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2017GL074998/epdf
  [13]
https://www.universetoday.com/137550/
stable-lava-tube-provide-potential-human-habitat-moon/
  [14]
https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/
lunar-pits-could-shelter-astronauts-reveal-details-of-how-man-in-the-moon-
formed
  [15] ap011117.html
  [16] ap031029.html
  [17] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lava_tube#/media/File:Valentine_Cave.JPG
  [18] ap150401.html
  [19] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQLWIuaNg68
  [20] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marius_Hills
  [21] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Orbiter_program
  [22]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lava_dome#/media/
File:Volc%C3%A1n_Chait%C3%A9n-Sam_Beebe-Ecotrust.jpg
  [23] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marius_(crater)
  [24] ap171026.html
  [25] ap171024.html
  [26] archivepix.html
  [27] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [28] lib/aptree.html
  [29] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  [30] calendar/allyears.html
  [31] /apod.rss
  [32] lib/edlinks.html
  [33] lib/about_apod.html
  [34] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=171025
  [35] ap171026.html
  [36] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  [37] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  [38] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  [39] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  [40] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [41] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  [42] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  [43] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [44] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  [45] http://www.mtu.edu/
