The Nature of Anomalous Formations in the Polar Regions of Mercury and the Moon

Abstract

Craters located in the polar regions of Mercury and the Moon are studied. The areas of permanently shadowed zones in the polar regions of both celestial bodies are computed. In the case of the Moon, variations of the position of its rotation pole with respect to the ecliptic pole during the 18.6-year period were taken into account. In the case of Mercury, the computations were performed for a period equal to one Mercurial solar day. The variations of temperature are computed for craters coinciding with the areas of high hydrogen content for the Moon and areas with anomalous reflective properties for Mercury, including craters with anomalous areas discovered with the upgraded radio telescope of the Arecibo observatory (Harmon and Perillat, 2001). Craters that may contain deposits of water ice or other volatile compounds are identified in the polar regions of both celestial bodies.