A fascinating discovery: the residual water on the Moon came from the Earth. This means when the Earth suffered the likely collision that produced the Moon it already had oceans and a hard crust, and that the water which made it to the Moon survived the collision (quite a feat). Water is a volatile substance. It had to be imported from the outer solar system, where it could exist in a stable form. The water that eventually reached Earth is essentially the same as the water currently buried in carbonaceous asteroids in the asteroid belt, the water came from the asteroid belt, not comets. This means we probably have to thank Jupiter for life on Earth.
In other news, as I tap this out, there's an annular eclipse approaching over Australia; watch it here.
Showing posts with label Earth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Earth. Show all posts
A little treat
A little bit of beauty for your bank holiday weekend. The collection of April pictures from NASA/ESA have been published in Guardian: Shanghi at night, ice-floes off Kamkatcha, San Francisco from the air, a gem of a collection. On balance this is my favourite picture, the East African Rift, one of the most spectacular geological features on the face of the planet. In a few thousand years this will be an ocean floor, enjoy it while you can:
Space is the place
From space you can truly see what a marvel our world is. Here is a short gallery of photographs taken by ESA and NASA satellites in today's Graun. Take this picture, Greater London at night. Marshall McLuhan noted how electronic media were in effect extensions of our nervous systems. Here you can see the collective neuron, splayed out across the surface of the Earth.
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