National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Monday, November 23, 2009

Photo: Mysterious Moon Flashes Signs of "Last Gasps"?


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For the past 400 years, observers have reported seeing ephemeral, bright patches on the Moon. Scientists aren't sure what these "transient lunar phenomena" (TLPs) are—or if they're even real.

If real, they could be signs of geological activity. That could mean the Moon isn't the dead world scientists have long believed it to be. The white dot in the middle of this picture of the Moon is a TLP photographed in 1953.

Photograph Arlin Crotts