Reiner Gamma

Reiner Gamma is an area of unusual brightness in Oceanus Procellarum on the Moon. It is selenografisch at 7 ° 30 'North to 59 ° 00' West, near the crater Reiner, and after its namesake Vincentio Reinieri († 1648) it has been named by the International Astronomical Union ( IAU) in 1935. The average diameter of the swirling oval structure is about 70 kilometers. The most striking feature is the to its environment, a Mare, differing albedo.

Theories

Early astronomers assumed incorrectly that the structure was a crater. Giovanni Riccioli named this Galilaeus, by Galileo Galilei. Later it turned out that there is no crater, and the name Galilean was transferred to another crater.

With the realization that the structure is no sink or collection in the field and back on no earlier Lavaausbruch, she became a mystery. But after similar irregularities in Ingenii Mare and Mare Marginis were discovered, one has to develop a theory on these new findings. The anomalies are located almost opposite the centers of the basins and the other Mary is thought, therefore, that they have formed at the same time as these impact craters by the seismic dislocation and reflected energies of the strikes. The problem lies in the fact that there are over Reiner Gamma is no matching crater, and that the other brightness anomalies are not exactly centered on the assigned Mary on the opposite side of the moon.

1972 of subsatellites who had Apollo 15 and 16 exposed in a lunar orbit, discovered that Reiner Gamma has a magnetic field. This is similar in construction to a dipole. In addition, you can measure relatively strong magnetic fields near the irregularities. The exact cause is unknown, but one suspects a connection with the theory by causing strikes.

The magnetic field is strong enough to deflect the solar wind. Since it is assumed that the solar wind can darken over millions of years the moon's surface, it is speculated that the anomaly of the albedo may has its roots in the magnetic anomaly.