Radon emanation from the moon, spatial and temporal variability

Abstract

Observations of the lunar surface with the orbiting Apollo Alpha Particle Spectrometer during the Apollo 15 and Apollo 16 missions have shown spatial and temporal variations in radon emission. There are a number of well localized features in the spatial distribution of lunar222Rn and her daughter210Po which apparently correlate with sites of reported transient visual events. There are sources at Aristarchus, Grimaldi and possibly Tsiolkovsky. Activity of210Po shows enhancement at most maria edges at rates far in excess of222Rn activity. This demonstrates unequivocally the presence of time varying radon activity at the maria edges, taking place at the present time. The increased radon emission is probably caused by sporadic internal activity. In analogy to terrestial processes, radon may be merely a trace component accompanying the release of larger quantities of more common gases to the lunar surface.