Download Section I - General Information Proposal Title: 20

Proposal Identification No.:
R2827
Date Received: 2013-Feb-25 14:37:37
Arecibo Observatory
William E. Gordon Telescope
Observing Time Request
COVER SHEET
Section I - General Information
Submitted for Mar 1 2013.
This proposal has not been submitted before.
Proposal Type:
General Category:
Sub-Category:
Observation Category:
Time Requested this semester:
Hours already used for this project:
Additional Hours required to complete project:
Minimum Useful Time:
Expected Data Storage:
Proposal Title:
ABSTRACT:
Regular
Planetary Radar
Radar
Solar System
14
less than 100 GB
20-m Radar Imaging of Lunar Impact Craters and Hollow Terrain
We propose 20-m per pixel resolution, bistatic (Arecibo/GBT) S-band radar imaging of two fresh impact
craters with complex ejecta blankets and two areas of enigmatic lunar hollow terrains. Observations of
the oblique impact craters Messier and Proclus will be used to map the extent of the impact melt
deposits, search for channels, ponds and flow features, and determine how melt emplacement was
influenced by topography. Radar images of lunar hollow terrains in two areas will be used to search for
possible pyroclastic deposits and to determine whether the near-surface properties of the hollow pits is
the same or different than the surrounding terrain. These observations will help to determine whether the
presence of volatiles was important to hollows formation. The proposed observations are needed because
currently available ground-based radar images have resolutions that are too low to discern important
geologic details and because they were not imaged by spacecraft radar.
Outreach Abstract:
Recent spacecraft data of the Moon have revealed new information and mysteries that were not previously
known. In particular, we have found that impacts on the Moon sometimes produce more melted rock
that was previously thought, and that over time, ejected rocks and melts become covered in dust and
rocks. Scientists have also found many interesting volcanic features, including unusual depressions with
steep cliffs called lunar hollows. The Arecibo S-band (12.6 cm wavelength) radar can penetrate into the
surface up to about a meter and can be used to measure and map the upper structure of the surface and
detect buried rocks and surfaces. We propose to use the Arecibo radar transmitter with the NRAO
Green Bank Telescope to image two impact craters and two lunar hollows at high-resolution (20 m) to
help determine 1.) how impact craters age on the Moon and 2.) how the lunar hollows were formed.
1
Name
Lynn M Carter
Bruce A Campbell
Institution
NASA
Goddard
Space Flight Center
Smithsonian Institution
E-mail
[email protected]
Phone
301-614-6026
Student
no
[email protected]
202-633-2472
no
Additional Authors
Catherine Neish
([email protected])
Michael Nolan ([email protected])
Donald Campbell
([email protected])
This work is not part of a thesis.
Remote Observing Request
X
Observer will travel to AO
Remote Observing
In Absentia (instructions to operator)
Section II - Time Request
The following times are in UT.
For these observations night-time is not needed.
Begin – End
Days Needed at
Interval–Interval
This Interval
12:30 – 16:15
1
13:15 – 17:00
1
14:00 – 17:45
1
15:00 – 18:15
1
Time Constraints (Must Be Justified in the Proposal Text)
We request bistatic (with GBT) observations with the times and dates shown in Table 1 of the proposal
document (Aug. 4-7, 2013). The dates were chosen to provide views of the target regions that are away
from the Doppler equator and that have reasonable incidence angles based on the viewing geometry and
lunar libration. The times include the one hour of radar setup time. These dates will have to be
coordinated with the Green Bank Telescope.
2
Section III - Instruments Needed
S-Band radar
S-band receiver
Atmospheric Observation Instruments:
Special Equipment or setup:
none
Section IV - RFI Considerations
Frequency Ranges Planned
2378-2382 MHz
Section V - Observing List
Target List
Moon
3