My Assistant
why is the moon gray? |
Dec 11 2010, 02:55 PM
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 204 Joined: 29-June 05 Member No.: 421 |
Really this applies to a lot of the solar system worlds, just the moon is the nearest and most visible. Why is it gray? I'm thinking there are two contributing possibilities :
(1) it looks gray because human vision is limited to distinguishing only a narrow range of the spectrum; if we could see a wider range of colors it wouldn't be so gray. (2) it really is gray, even well beyond the range of human vision. This is because it is made up of gray rock, which doesn't have interesting spectral features really at any part of the spectrum. My inner seven-year-old is begging to know "why". A bit of googling seems to indicate that (2) is more of a correct answer than (1) -- at least the only colorful images I can find seem to be forced false-color by some processing to give extreme exaggeration to tiny color differences. Is that right? Can anyone elaborate? |
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tfisher why is the moon gray? Dec 11 2010, 02:55 PM
Juramike Here is a really cool site that discusses the spec... Dec 11 2010, 04:49 PM
Phil Stooke Take a good close look at a gravel bar in a river ... Dec 11 2010, 06:31 PM
ElkGroveDan A couple of years ago I asked Buzz about how it ... Dec 11 2010, 06:46 PM
helvick If I remember correctly the moon has quite a brown... Dec 11 2010, 10:15 PM
machi Moon looks grey, but colors can be enhanced.
Look... Dec 12 2010, 02:44 AM
MahFL Well if you look at a rainforest from the air it l... Dec 13 2010, 02:31 PM![]() ![]() |
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