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Japan's Kaguya lunar orbiter


On June 10 the Japanese probe named the Kaguya lunar orbiter was purposefully crash landed on the moon's surface.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17271-japanese-probe-set-to-crash-into-moon.html

The Anglo-Australian Telescope captured images showing a bright flash at the time of impact.

My question is:
What was the bright flash composed of?

Was it simply a could of moon dust thrown up upon impact and if so why was it just a brief flash instead of lingering for a few moments.

or

Was the bright flash the result of the 3 ton probe impacting the surface at 4,000 to 6,000 mph and generating heat and light as the forward momentum was converted to friction and energy.

Posted by robert page at June 12, 2009 5:28 PM | TrackBack

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