The Moon in Modern Astronomy; Summary of Twenty Years Selenographic Work, and a Study of Recent Problems

by Philipp Fauth

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1909 ...the heights and curving the slopes have not acted in the moon. These agencies are water and the atmosphere, denudation and weathering. We cannot, therefore, assume when we see mountains 'sunk' in the plain, so to say, as well as ring-walls and 'craters, ' that their feet are buried in diluvial deposits, because it would be a serious question where the material of the deposit came from. For this divergence between terrestrial and lunar phenomena there seems to be only one explanation, and we shall indicate this at a later stage. The close relationship of the plains and the ringformations is seen in their circular borders, their comparative or complete isolation, and the characteristic parallel lines near their edges. We might almost put it that the constructive agencies produced large, medium-sized, small, or very small circular forms, according to the intensity and duration of their action; taking into account, of course, the quality of different parts of the lunar crust in advancing or retarding the work. In this respect we may very well introduce the meteoric influences suggested by W. and A. Thiersch, at least in the sense that meteors may here and there have initiated the formation by their impact and, possibly, perforation of the crust; just as the flow of resin is started by boring a hole in the tree. In the same way the strain of the pressure on some material underneath the crust may cause it to work out, and this may depend on lunar conditions that have nothing further in common with volcanoes than the fact that it is an eruption from within--probably the only direction in which lunar forces can expend themselves. However, that may be, there is certainly an affinity between plains and 'craters'; though the former are large enough to comprise in their..

38 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2012