Astronomical Theory Section - Planetary Phenomena


The Moon as Guardian Angel  (1)

  • Introduction
  • Early cratering
  • The Late Heavy Bombardment
  • The post-LHB phase
  • Interim Summary
  • A statistical approach
  • Conclusion
This article describes the various processes by which the craters on the inner planets and the Moon were formed at an early epoch, and goes on to consider how the formation of the lunar maria will have affected the crater density. The "Guardian Angel" hypothesis is then considered in the light of recent work on cratering in more recent times. I then tackle the issue from a statistical perpective, calculating what percentage of incoming impactors could possibly be intercepted by the Moon, before coming to a final conclusion.

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