4 ms·
First time encountering the phrase “gravitationally lumpy”. I can imagine what that is. But why? I suppose it would naturally occur if the moon were not more or
by PantaloonFlames 2y ago
First time encountering the phrase “gravitationally lumpy”. I can imagine what that is. But why? I suppose it would naturally occur if the moon were not more or less consistent density. But how would that be possible given the moon’s age and shape. (Roughly spherical I am assuming)
- eichin 2y agoBuried "mascons" (mass concentrations), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitation_of_the_Moon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitation_of_the_Moon has some nice color maps of the deviations/anomalies. (TLDR: some of it is explained by basalt but not all of it, and it's still being studied, because it interferes with low altitude lunar orbits.)