Microwave Thermal Radiation from the Moon

Abstract

Measurements have been made of the thermal radiation from the moon in a 15 Mc/s. band, centred a t 24,000 Mc/s. The radiation from the whole lunar disk has been measured during several phase cycles. Temperatures corresponding to this radiation have been deduced and curves of temperature against phase angle drawn. One of these corresponds to average temperature over the disk and the other to the temperature of a point on the lunar equator. They are found to be approximately sinusoidal, with amplitude k 4 0 . 3 OK, and f 52.0 O K . respectively and with a phase lag behind the lunar phase angle of about 45' in each case.These results conflict with previous measurements of temperature a t long infra-red wavelengths in both amplitude and phase angle of the temperature curve. An explanation is given in terms of radiation from subsurface layers of the moon's crust, which are partially transparent to the electromagnetic waves with which we are dealing. The theory is developed quantitatively and it is found that the results are consistent with the existence of a thin layer of dust covering a solid lunar surface.Estimates are made of the temperatures of the disk of the new moon (I56 O K . ) and of the deep interior (241 OK.).

Moon Formation: Water and Life on the Moon

“…In 1961 Carl Sagan argued that at a depth of less than 50cm some locations on the Moon could have stable temperatures between 0 and 70 ℃, citing microwave radiation data (Piddington and Minnett, 1949) [3] that was consistent with this result. (https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/ 2010/12jul_rabbithole/)…”

Using Earth’s Moon as a Testbed for Quantifying the Effect of the Terrestrial Atmosphere

“…Even though the Moon's mean disk temperature observed in 1948 by Piddington and Minnett [31] is about 26 K higher than that of Monstein [30], it is still 31 K lower than 270 K e T ≅ . Despite the Moon is nearly a perfect example of a planet without atmosphere, some authors argued that Equations (1.3) and (1.4) are only valid for fast-rotating planets so that the Moon must be excluded.…”

An Investigation of the Radio Source 06N2A in Gemini

“…1500 oK. This disk temperature is made less negative by two terms: firstly, that due to the reflection of galactic radiation by the Moon; and, secondly, the temperature of the lunar surface, which, according to the 1·25 cm observations of Piddington and Minnett (1949), is 270 oK at the Moon's last quarter. Tbis lunar radiation is thermal, and so the effective brightness temperature at 3·5 m is likely to be similar.…”