Re: [ATM] Mirror on the Moon

["Peter Chen" <peterchenmd@gmail.com>]

Hi George:

                 The problem of dust on a Moon telescope is an
interesting one.  If nobody is there, then solar uv photoionization
will charge up some dust and levitate it above ground.  As the
day/night line crosses a given spot, the dust jumps from the lit side
to the shadow.  Height is only about a meter or so.  So generally
speaking, if the telescope is at a moderate hight off the ground, it
should not be a problem.  Unless, of course, someone is nearby with a
big shove or some big meteoroid hits the surface near the telescope.
See

http://www.nianet.org/scienceseries/pdfs/Stubbs_012407.pdf

A colleague at NASA recently gave an excellent review on the subject

ssedso.gsfc.nasa.gov/initiatives/lunar/LESWG/pubs_presentations/7thGM/lunar_dust_051607.ppt

        A final note:  It should be possible to make a telescope
mirror out of a 'smart' material that can periodically clean itself.
Now won't that be fun?

Regards,
P. Chen




>From: George Anderson <tillerman1@videotron.ca>
>Subject: Re: [ATM] mirror on the moon

>They haven't looked at Peter Chen's concern about lunar dust as the
>mirror crosses the terminator line though. It should have a nice coating
>of dust after just a few days.
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