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Shadowed Lunar Craters May Be Coldest Spot In the Solar System
sciencehabit writes "Science reports: 'What's the coldest spot in the solar system? For now, that distinction belongs to permanently shadowed craters near the moon's south pole, according to the first results from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft announced today at a NASA press conference. Another instrument has returned hints of water ice in some of these cold spots, ... but it also showed signs of water ice in impossibly hot places, too.'"
And here I thought it was my exwife.
I RTFA and Pluto is 44 Kelvin. This is the average temperature, no doubt there is some crevasse on Pluto, but it hasn't been measured.
Since nobody is going to read it, the coldest temperature is 33K. The reason they care is because they'll probably find a lot of ice there.
I'm not sure how I feel about this. I was of the understanding that space was on the order of 3K due to the cosmic background radiation. 33K is positively warm compared to this.
Personally, I would have guessed it would be farther away like a moon of Jupiter or Pluto. To have a very cold place so close to us is pretty cool(the cheese is burning me).
But does this have any practical use? Can we use this place for experiments of any kind or is it just pure knowledge?
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power lost.
Sigs are too short to say anything truly profound so read the above post instead.
The coldest spot in the universe would be in Boulder Colorado where they do absolute zero experiments.
[source: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/phenom-200801.html ]
really. just read the article and then ask an intelligent question.
fta:
The coldest place in the solar system is obviously inside the heart of my ex-wife. And probably other Slashdotter exes!
The moon is a frigid mistress
any ice there?
Back when we though Mercury was tidally locked to the Sun (instead of being tidally locked to the Sun and Venus) Larry Niven wrote a short story "The Coldest Place", in which the backside of Mercury, always facing away from the Sun, was the coldest place in the solar system.
Good guess, Larry. Not quite right, but ... good going.
So, Minnesota got bumped to 2nd?
Table-ized A.I.
To be intentionally pedantic, it's the coldest *measured* spot. We "know" spots like Triton that may qualify, but it has not been measured in the detail the moon has.
Table-ized A.I.
So, THIS is where the data centers in 2150 will be.... Will Amazon be selling "Moon Computing" then? :)
What about craters in kuiper belt objects?
I would have thought these to be colder due to the distance from the sun.
But the sun don't shine in Uranus either
Table-ized A.I.
According to Wikipedia, Uranus has the coldest planetary atmosphere, at 49K.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranus
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law
I wonder how practical it would be to tap a thermal gradient for energy on the moon, considering the surface temperature ranges from -153 C to 107 C.
Slashdot's first reaction to VMware
First, craters faced and pock marks, cellulite like cottage cheese, and to top it off FRIGID. A "honeymoon" indeed. "One small step for man.....
...I thought the coldest places in the solar system were the moons of Neptune. You know, how like they're much further away from the Sun than our moon, and how they're highly reflective. They have volcanoes of liquid nitrogen on those moons for pete's sake.
...One side effect is the generation of an extremely large magnetic field:
"The biggest concern with SMES, beyond possible accidents such as a break in the containment of liquid nitrogen, is the very large magnetic fields that would be created by a commercial installation, which would dwarf the magnetic field of the Earth."
Would that enable the potential to 'install' an atmosphere there and keep it? [given a practical way to do so in the near future]
If so, that would be way too cool! [pun not intended, implied, nor endorsed...YMMV]
My understanding of the whole magnetic field around a planetary body/moon is that the MF is what enables the keeping/holding an atmosphere...using Mars as an example.
I am open for corrections and education on this...it seems too simple, but...
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
It's right if you don't consider the other countries part of "the world." Which isn't too inaccurate for a lot of Americans.
Does the Oort cloud count as part of the solar system, or is it beyond the heliosphere? Either way, it's gotta be a tad chilly out there.
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
I understand the expense. I don't want all sorts of 'hub bub" about that.
Wouldn't it be handy to be able to use some of these naturally occurring spots within our solar system for experiments? Granted getting to these locations is tough and expensive, but that could be overcome with focus.
Then again societal focus has been missing from this country for about 30+ years.
I'm no astrophysicist, but I remember seeing a video a couple years back that said Pluto gets much less light than the moon gets from earthshine. Earthshine should be warming up those crevices two weeks out of every four. So, does anybody know why that wouldn't make the crevices warmer than Pluto?
The problem is that the L2 point isn't quite stable like the L4 and L5 points. You need a little bit of fuel to course correct and stay there. Thus anything in the L2 point will eventually leave it. No stable objects.
Er, that's exactly the point he was making. He was criticising the people who say the US has the best healthcare system in the world without comparing it to other healthcare systems. So his point isn't wrong.
Drill baby drill - on Mars