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Jai Singh
Sawai Jai Singh, the first Maharaja of Jaipur, succeeded to the throne of Amber in 1700 at the
age of thirteen. Abandoning that capital, he founded the city of Jaipur in 1727. A soldier, ruler,
and scholar with a lifelong interest in mathematics and astronomy, Jai Singh built observatories
in Delhi, Jaipur, Ujjain, Mathura and Benares. Jai Singh was conversant with contemporary
European astronomy through his contacts with the Portugese Viceroy in Goa. He supplied
corrections to the astronomical tables of de la Hire, and published his own tables in 1723. The
good state of preservation of the Jaipur observatory is due first of all to Chandra Dhar Sharma
Guleri, who restored it in 1901. It has been well maintained from then to the present day.
Jantar Mantar
Jantar means "instrument." Mantar (the same word as "mantra") is usually translated
"formula," but here it means "calculation." So, "Jantar Mantar" means something like
"instrument for calculation."
Additional Resources
Basic Celestial Phenomena, by Kerry Magruder and Mike Keas. A good introduction to basic
observational astronomy including the ecliptic, the celestial equator, and the zodiac.
Jantar Mantar (1996), by Dr. Bonnie G. MacDougall at Cornell U. The Web version of an
academic paper that places the observatory in its cultural context.
Astronomical Instruments, from the Jiva Institute, discusses ten of the instruments and their
mode of operation.
Astronomical Observatory of Jaipur, by Daulat Singh Rajawat. Delta Publications, Jaipur, India.
This book is sold near the observatory and elsewhere in Jaipur. It provides a useful and engaging
description of the theory and practice of the observatory from a Vedic point of view.
Transcript
All these contactsgreatly helped India ingreatly helped India inenriching her
sciences,enriching her sciences,particularly astronomy.particularly
astronomy.Darius
3. There is ample evidence to show thatThere is ample evidence to show
thatAryabhata (499 A.D.) and Varahamihira (6thAryabhata (499 A.D.) and
Varahamihira (6thcentury A.D.) were well-acquainted withcentury A.D.) were
well-acquainted withGreek astronomy.Greek astronomy.The most celebrated
astronomers afterThe most celebrated astronomers afterVarahamihira were
Brahmagupta (b.598Varahamihira were Brahmagupta (b.598A.D.), Lalla (8th
cent.), Manjula or MunjalaA.D.), Lalla (8th cent.), Manjula or Munjala(10th
cent.), Shripati (c.1039 A.D.) and(10th cent.), Shripati (c.1039 A.D.)
andBhaskaracharya (b.1114 A.D.).Bhaskaracharya (b.1114 A.D.).In the postBhaskara period not muchIn the post-Bhaskara period not muchoriginal work
in astronomy and mathematicsoriginal work in astronomy and
mathematicswas done in India till modern times.was done in India till modern
times.AryabhataAryabhataVarahamihiraVarahamihiraBhaskaracharyaBhaskar
acharya
4. Nasir al-din at-Tusi (1201-1274 A.D.).Nasir al-din at-Tusi (1201-1274
A.D.).The last one was in- charge of theThe last one was in- charge of
theobservatory at Maragha in Iran.observatory at Maragha in Iran.In 1420
A.D., Ulugh Begh, grandson ofIn 1420 A.D., Ulugh Begh, grandson ofTimur,
built an observatory at Samarkand.Timur, built an observatory at
Samarkand.Using very big but high-precisionUsing very big but highprecisioninstruments he prepared a Star catalogueinstruments he prepared a
Star cataloguewhich was much better than that ofwhich was much better
than that ofPtolemy.Ptolemy.SamarkandMaragha Omar Khayyam (10481124 A.D.)Omar Khayyam (1048-1124 A.D.) Al-Biruni (973-1848 A.D.)AlBiruni (973-1848 A.D.) Al-Sufi ( 10th cent.)Al-Sufi ( 10th cent.) Tabit ibn
Qurra (836-901 A.D.)Tabit ibn Qurra (836-901 A.D.) Al-Battani (850-929
A.D.)Al-Battani (850-929 A.D.) Al-Khwarismi (780-850 A.D.)Al-Khwarismi
(780-850 A.D.)The Islamic world produced greatThe Islamic world produced
greatmathematician-astronomers:mathematician-astronomers:
5. Later on he was appointed by MohammadLater on he was appointed by
MohammadShah governor of the province of Agra andShah governor of the
province of Agra andthen also of Malwa. From an early age Jaithen also of
Malwa. From an early age JaiSingh was very much interested inSingh was
very much interested inastronomical observations and hadastronomical
observations and hadacquired thorough knowledge of itsacquired thorough
knowledge of itsprinciples and rules.principles and rules. He was born in the
ruling family of AmberHe was born in the ruling family of Amberin Rajasthan
in 1686 A.D., one year afterin Rajasthan in 1686 A.D., one year afterNewton
published his book Principia. HeNewton published his book Principia.
Hesucceeded to the Amber throne at the agesucceeded to the Amber throne
at the ageof thirteen.of thirteen. After a long time Sawai Jai Singh II was
theAfter a long time Sawai Jai Singh II was theman from India who showed the
greatestman from India who showed the greatestinterest in Arabic/Persian
astronomy.interest in Arabic/Persian astronomy.
6. For observing the heavens Jai Singh builtFor observing the heavens Jai
Singh builtobserv Jai Singh felt a great urge in reviving theJai Singh felt a
great urge in reviving thestudy of astronomy in India. With the aim ofstudy of
astronomy in India. With the aim ofpreparingpreparing new tables, Jai Singh
at firstnew tables, Jai Singh at firststarted with the traditional brassstarted
with the traditional brassinstruments. Realising their inadequacy,
heinstruments. Realising their inadequacy, hediscarded them in favour of
stone anddiscarded them in favour of stone andmasonry instruments of huge
size.masonry instruments of huge size.atories at five places :observatories
at five places : Delhi,Delhi,Jaipur, Mathura, Ujjain andJaipur, Mathura, Ujjain
andVaranasi.Varanasi. The first one was built in DelhiThe first one was built in
Delhiin year around 1724. These observatories,in year around 1724. These
observatories,which in course of time came to be calledwhich in course of
time came to be calledJantar Mantar, housed a wide variety ofJantar Mantar,
housed a wide variety ofmasonry and metal instruments.masonry and metal
instruments.
7. Jai Singhs court astronomer Pt.Jagannatha, who hadJai Singhs court
astronomer Pt.Jagannatha, who hadmastered in Arabic and Persian,
translated from Arabicmastered in Arabic and Persian, translated from
Arabicinto Sanskrit works titled Rekhaganita and Siddhanta-into Sanskrit
works titled Rekhaganita and Siddhanta-Samrata. The translation of the
former was completed inSamrata. The translation of the former was
completed in1718 A.D. and of the latter in 1731 A.D.1718 A.D. and of the
latter in 1731 A.D. Jai Singh, making use of the masonry and metalJai Singh,
making use of the masonry and metalinstruments of his observatories,
prepared theinstruments of his observatories, prepared theastronomical
treatise Zij-I -Muhammad Shah andastronomical treatise Zij-I -Muhammad
Shah anddedicated it to the reigning monarch Muhammad Shah.dedicated it
to the reigning monarch Muhammad Shah.The work was completed around
1727-28 A.D.The work was completed around 1727-28 A.D.
8. Jai Singh want to determine newJai Singh want to determine newplanetary
constants but his primaryplanetary constants but his primaryinterests in
astronomy centered on theinterests in astronomy centered on themoon. He
was more interested inmoon. He was more interested inobserving and
mathematically predictingobserving and mathematically predictingthe
position of this heavenly body. He wasthe position of this heavenly body. He
wasalso interested in the prediction of Solaralso interested in the prediction
of Solareclipses and in calculation of theeclipses and in calculation of
theoccultation of stars and planets by theoccultation of stars and planets by
themoon.moon. Jai Singh had established contacts withJai Singh had
established contacts withJesuit missionaries in India and had alsoJesuit
missionaries in India and had alsoknown the telescope. But he did not
makeknown the telescope. But he did not makeuse of the Copernican
revolution ushereduse of the Copernican revolution usheredin Europe. He
remained a firm follower ofin Europe. He remained a firm follower ofthe
geocentric system of Indian traditionthe geocentric system of Indian
traditionand of Ptolemy. It seems that Jai Singhand of Ptolemy. It seems that
Jai Singhhad no knowledge of the works of Keplerhad no knowledge of the
works of Kepler(1571-1630) or Newton (1642-1727).(1571-1630) or Newton
(1642-1727).
sun across the celestial equator.passage of sun across the celestial equator.
Jai Singh built Nadivalays at each hisJai Singh built Nadivalays at each
hisobservatory site except Delhi.observatory site except Delhi. After the sun
has crossed the equator around 21After the sun has crossed the equator
around 21March its illuminate the northern face for sixthMarch its illuminate
the northern face for sixthmonths. After 21 September it is the
southernmonths. After 21 September it is the southernface that receives the
rays of the sun for the nextface that receives the rays of the sun for the
nextsix months.six months.of plates and illuminate them both. Otherfaces
of plates and illuminate them both. Othertime only one or other face remains
in the sun.time only one or other face remains in the sun.
37. The main function of theThe main function of theinstrument is to
measure time.instrument is to measure time. This is the largest
instrumentThis is the largest instrumentin the world for its kind.in the world
for its kind.Instrument is built for theInstrument is built for thelatitude of
Jaipur as there arelatitude of Jaipur as there are27 degree making between
the27 degree making between thezenith and the pole.zenith and the pole.
Orientation of the pillars isOrientation of the pillars issuch that the line joining
themsuch that the line joining themmakes an angle of about 23makes an
angle of about 23degree with the plane ofdegree with the plane
ofmeridian.meridian. Great astrolabe is suspendedGreat astrolabe is
suspendedfrom massive wooden beamfrom massive wooden beamsupported
by tall pillars.supported by tall pillars.Yantra RajYantra Raj
38. Krantiwrita YantraKrantiwrita YantraThis is the unfinished structure and
has twoThis is the unfinished structure and has twocircular plates. Both the
plates have a scalecircular plates. Both the plates have a scalewhich is divide
in degrees.which is divide in degrees.
39. Unnatasha YantraUnnatasha Yantra
40. The rim of the brass circle has graduations marked in such away that
smallest division is a tenth of a degree. The largerdivisions of 1 degree and of
6 degrees are also marked on thecircle. After sighting the celestial object, its
Altitude can be readfrom the position of the pointer.The large graduated
brass circle hung from the supportingbeam, is the measuring instrument of
the Unnatamsa. The brasscircle is pivoted to rotate freely around a vertical
axis. The ring hastwo cross beams in the vertical and horizontal directions.
Asighting tube is pivoted at the centre of the circle, which can bemoved in
the vertical direction, to align towards any celestialobject.Unnatamsa can
measure the Altitude of a celestial object.
41. Dakshinodak Bhitti YantraDakshinodak Bhitti Yantra
42. Daksinottara BittiDaksinottara BittiDaksinottara Bitti yantra consists of
aDaksinottara Bitti yantra consists of agraduated quadrant or a semicircle
inscribedgraduated quadrant or a semicircle inscribedon a north-south wall.
At the centre of the areon a north-south wall. At the centre of the areis a
horizontal rod. The instrument is used foris a horizontal rod. The instrument is
used formeasuring the meridian attitude or the zenithmeasuring the meridian
attitude or the zenithdistance of an object such as the sun, the moondistance
of an object such as the sun, the moonor a planet.or a planet.
43. Jai Prakash YantraJai Prakash Yantra
44. Kapala YantraKapala Yantra
Jantar Mantar
Anjani
7,809
A Sundial-Samrat Yantra
Lokendra Rathore
2,124
Jantar Mantar
Lokendra Rathore
2,103
Humayun tomb
yusra_gul
13,409
Qutub minar
fayazkhorgo
17,140
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Find the average distance Earth-Moon from the the books you have, or among the
data on the server, or the minimum and maximum distances between these two
celestial bodies, and find out the exact value of the velocity of light. Then, infer the
duration of the light travel time (to the Moon and back) in those cases.
If you can get a plan of the reflector, see the trajectory of the light rays. Show it was
conceived to send the reflected light back in the same direction as the incident light
whatever it may be.
Try to answer this:
Why is a Laser used instead of ordinary light?
4. Conclusions
Suggestion:
Ask astronomers what use are these measurements and which new knowledge they
have brought.
Author: Frederic DAHRINGER, CLEA.
Astronomy On-line | EAAE | ESO | Help | Search
Send comments to <Richard.West@eso.org>
Chapter 2
Lasers in Science and Industry
Today scientists, lab technicians, engineers, and industrial technicians regularly utilize
lasers to perform a wide range of important tasks. They measure distances, both short
and long, with lasers, giving astronomers, geographers, and surveyors much more
accurate figures than were available before the invention of these devices. They also use
lasers to drill, weld, cut, and mark all sorts of materials; to study microscopic objects,
including molecules; and even to fight crime.
moon. Before blasting off on their return flight they left behind a bizarre-looking mirror.
A short time later scientists on Earth claimed that the strange mirror had revealed to
them the distance from Earth to the moon, a figure that was accurate to within the
length of a person's finger. This moon mirror was neither mysterious nor magical,
though it would have seemed so to many people only a few years before. In reality,
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) scientists had instructed the
astronauts on exactly how to position the mirror as part of a plan to measure the Earthto-moon distance with a laser beam.
Before lasers existed, scientists already had a fairly good idea of how far away the moon
is. But "fairly good" is not good enough in science. Scientists want their measurements
to be as exact as possible, and bouncing a laser beam off the mirror promised to give
U.S. astronaut Buzz Aldrin stands on the moon's surface. There, the astronauts placed a
special mirror designed to reflect back a laser beam sent from Earth.
them more accurate figures than ever before. The experiment used the simple formula
The scientists already knew the speed of light, so they knew what the rate of travel was. When
the beam bounced off the mirror, it returned to Earth and registered on special sensors. These
recorded how long the beam took to make a round trip, and scientists then knew the time factor
in the equation. After some simple multiplication, they finally had the most accurate
measurement of the Earth-to-moon distance possible. Knowing this has enabled them to learn
much about the relationship between Earth and its natural satellite. For instance, researchers
have repeated this laser-mirror experiment every year since 1969. They have found that the
moon is moving away from Earth at a rate of about one and a half inches (four centimeters) a
year.
Measuring distance by means of lasers and mirrors works just as well on Earth as it does
in space. Every day, surveyors use lasers to measure the distances between houses,
roads, and mountains. A device called a range finder utilizes the same principle as the
moon mirror; a surveyor aims a laser beam at a reflective target and the beam bounces
back to the range finder, which records the time of the round-trip and uses this figure to
calculate the exact distance to the target. This method is more accurate and also much
faster than older surveying methods, which required many calculations with poles and
telescopes that had to be lined up with one another. Erecting skyscrapers, excavating
tunnels and canals, laying pipelines, drilling wells, leveling farmland (making it flatter
and easier to exploit) are only a few of the many other projects made easier by precise
laser measurements. Such measurements also have led to more exact and reliable maps;
using lasers, mapmakers have now charted almost every square mile of Earth's surface.
Just as lasers have come to replace the yardstick in measuring, they also have replaced
the drill, the saw, and the welder. The era of the toolbox laser has arrived.
Laser light is also highly directional, or collimated. This means that all the photons
travel in the same direction. They tend to stay together rather than spread apart as the
photons in ordinary light do. The farther a beam of ordinary light travels, the more it
spreads out and gets dimmer. On the other hand, collimated laser light can travel a great
distance without losing very much of its energy and brightness. Ordinary light could
never have made it to the moon mirror and back, whereas laser light did quite easily.
There is one more important quality of laser light. It is coherent, or very organized. This
means that the light waves are lined up with each other and moving along in step,
almost like a regiment of soldiers marching in a parade. By contrast, ordinary light is
incoherent. Its waves become mixed up as they move along, like the crowd of people
watching the parade. So, the laser light is special. It is concentrated, directional, and
organized.
These three qualities combine to make the laser an extremely powerful and useful tool in
materials processing, the industrial manipulation of metals, plastics, wood, ceramics,
cloth, and other materials for making a wide range of products. Breck Hitz, an expert on
industrial lasers, elaborates:
Lasers are used to cut, drill, weld, heat-treat, and otherwise alter both metals and
nonmetals. Lasers can drill tiny holes in turbine blades more quickly and less
expensively than mechanical drills. Lasers have several advantages over conventional
techniques of cutting materials. For one thing, unlike saw blades or knife blades, lasers
never get dull. For another, lasers make cuts with better edge quality than most
mechanical cutters. The edges of metal parts cut by a laser rarely need to be filed or
polished because the laser makes such a clean cut. 1
Now consider collimated laser light, which is hundreds of times more directional than
ordinary light. It can be focused to produce a beam of light, much hotter than the
surface of the sun, that can cut cleanly through a thick metal bar in a few millionths of a
second.
One of the more important uses of the laser drill in industry is in the production of
copper wire. The wire is formed by forcing copper metal into a small round hole that a
laser has drilled into a diamond. The hard diamond acts like a mold, and the much
softer copper squeezes out the other end in the form of wire. The old method of drilling
holes in industrial diamonds was very time-consuming and expensive. Since the only
naturally occurring material hard enough to cut through a diamond is another diamond,
workers had to use diamond drills. But diamonds are expensive. Furthermore, the
drilling process took several hours, so a worker could drill only two or three holes in a
workday. In contrast, a laser beam drills holes in diamonds at the speed of light. One
worker using one laser can bore hundreds or even thousands of holes in a single hour.
And the same method is used for drilling holes in other gems that are used as moving
parts in watches.
These tiny diamond dies used in telephone lines have been drilled with laser beams. Such small
holes could not be cut in diamonds without lasers.
Though it might seem surprising, lasers are also effective in boring holes in very soft
materials. Some of these materials are easily stretched or torn by ordinary methods. An
excellent example is the common baby bottle nipple. A laser beam burns a perfectly
round hole in the top of the nipple without disturbing any of the surrounding rubber.
Similarly, lasers are used to drill tiny holes in the soft plastic valves of spray cans (such
as those of hair spray or glass cleaner). One such laser can punch over a thousand valve
holes in one minute.
A technician uses a laser to cut holes in carbon steel, one of the hardest of all artificial
substances.
Every good toolbox has a hacksaw and a pair of scissors; the saw to cut metal, the scissors to cut
cloth. The toolbox laser can do the jobs of both. Making saw blades themselves is an excellent
example of using lasers to cut metal. The old methods of producing saw blades involved many
steps, each of which required a person to handle the blades with his or her hands; not
surprisingly, injuries were common. In contrast, a laser cuts the blade out of the sheet metal in
only one step. Only the beam touches the metal, so as long as the operator is wearing protective
glasses there is no chance for injury. In addition, reflective substances like glass can be cut by a
laser if their surfaces are first coated with a dark substance. That way the laser light is absorbed
rather than reflected.
An example of the use of "laser scissors" is to cut patterns for clothes. A laser clothcutting system was designed by Hughes Aircraft, the company that employed Theodore
Maiman, the inventor of the ruby laser. The system works in the following way: Pieces of
cloth are laid out on a large table while the patterns are entered into a computer, which
decides the best way to trace them out on the cloth. Next, the computer directs the laser
beam to cut out the traced patterns very precisely. Cloth for hundreds of suits can be cut
in an hour, and as an added advantage the heat of the beam keeps the edges of the cloth
from fraying.
Such laser scissors can be made to work on a microscopic level as well, not only in
industry but also in biological research. Scientists who study and attempt to manipulate
plant or animal cells can use a laser beam to make tiny alterationsin a sense
performing microsurgeryon such cells. Recent experiments show that the use of lasers
also can eliminate a serious obstacle to such microscopic manipulation; namely, the
difficulty of holding a cell in place while working on it. To accomplish this task laser
scissors are often accompanied by "laser tweezers," as explained by University of
California scholar Michael Berns:
That light can heat or burn, measure or calibrate makes sense. But the idea of light
creating a force that can hold and move an object may seem as fanciful as a Star Trek
tractor beam. Still, light has momentum [a forward-pushing force] that can be imparted
to a target. The resultant [very small] forces fall far below our sensory awareness when,
for example, the sun's light falls on and imperceptibly pushes against us. But these
forces can be large enough to influence biological processes at the subcellular level,
where the masses of the objects are [extremely tiny]. . . . When the geometry of the
arrangement of light beams and target is correct, the momentum imparted to the target
pulls the target in the direction of the . . . laser beam, and the beam can thus hold the
target in place. By moving the beam, the laser operator can pull the target from place to
place. 2
find traces of body oils on the card; the oils were identical to those of the suspect, who
was found guilty and imprisoned.
In another example of lasers acting as detectives, some people are recovering stolen
gems thanks to a system called laser identification. An ID marking is carved into the
gem by a laser that creates a thin and accurate beam. This beam, which is so tiny it can
cleanly drill more than two hundred holes in the head of a pin, carves or etches
microscopic numbers, words, people's names and addresses, or entire messages on any
material, no matter how smooth or hard. This includes precious gems like emeralds and
diamonds. The result is an ID marking so tiny that no one, including a thief, can detect it
with the naked eye. Many other valuable items are now marked in this manner by laser
beams.
Almost every day several new uses are found for toolbox lasers. The devices are still
rather expensive, so
In addition to marking guns with tiny ID numbers, lasers can be used to detect finger-prints
on handguns and other weapons.
they are not yet normally found in home toolboxes. But this situation will surely change. As laser
research continues, ways will be found to produce these tools more simply and cheaply. In the
near future a laser hanging above the basement workbench may become a common sight.
Tweets by @cool_luxury
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abirami
This article is very nice.we use this article for our project.we also get good comment for our
project.thank you very much for providing this article.
Aaron
This was a great article for my school report on lasers, thank you very much for providing
this page. I got good comments for report from my teacher and classmates.
ritu ann
very informative,thanks
great article,,,useful for projects and assignments too
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The ongoing Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment measures the distance between the Earth and
the Moon using laser ranging. Lasers on Earth are aimed at retroreflectors planted on the Moon
during the Apollo program (11, 14, and 15), and the time for the reflected light to return is
determined.
Apollo 15 LRRR
The first successful tests were carried out in 1962 when a team from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology succeeded in observing laser pulses reflected from moon's surface using a laser with a
millisecond pulse length. Similar measurements were obtained later the same year by a Soviet team
at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory using a Q-switched ruby laser.[1] Greater accuracy was
achieved following the installation of a retroreflector array on July 21, 1969, by the crew of Apollo 11,
and two more retroreflector arrays left by theApollo 14 and Apollo 15 missions have also contributed
to the experiment. Successful lunar laser range measurements to the retroreflectors were first
reported by the 3.1 m telescope at Lick Observatory, Air Force Cambridge Research
Laboratories Lunar Ranging Observatory in Arizona, the Pic du Midi Observatory in France, the
Tokyo Astronomical Observatory, and McDonald Observatory in Texas.
The unmanned Soviet Lunokhod 1 and Lunokhod 2 rovers carried smaller arrays. Reflected signals
were initially received from Lunokhod 1, but no return signals were detected after 1971 until a team
from University of California rediscovered the array in April 2010 using images from NASA's Lunar
Reconnaissance Orbiter.[2] Lunokhod 2's array continues to return signals to Earth.[3] The Lunokhod
arrays suffer from decreased performance in direct sunlight, a factor which was considered in the
reflectors placed during the Apollo missions.[4]
The Apollo 15 array is three times the size of the arrays left by the two earlier Apollo missions. Its
size made it the target of three-quarters of the sample measurements taken in the first 25 years of
the experiment. Improvements in technology since then have resulted in greater use of the smaller
arrays, by sites such as the Cte d'Azur Observatory in Grasse, France; and the Apache Point
Observatory Lunar Laser-ranging Operation (APOLLO) at the Apache Point Observatory in New
Mexico.
Contents
[hide]
1 Details
2 Results
3 Photo gallery
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
Details[edit]
The distance to the Moon is calculated approximately using this equation:
Distance = (Speed of light Time taken for light to reflect) / 2.
In actuality, the round-trip time of about 2.5 seconds is affected by
the relative motion of Earth and the Moon, Earth's rotation, lunar
libration, weather, polar motion, propagation delay through Earth's
atmosphere, the motion of the observing station due to crustal
motionand tides, velocity of light in various parts of air
and relativistic effects.[5] Nonetheless, the EarthMoon distance has
been measured with increasing accuracy for more than 35 years.
The distance continually changes for a number of reasons, but
averages about 384,467 kilometers.
At the Moon's surface, the beam is about 6.5 kilometers wide[6] and
scientists liken the task of aiming the beam to using a rifle to hit a
moving dime 3 kilometers away. The reflected light is too weak to be
seen with the human eye: out of 1017 photons aimed at the reflector,
only one will be received back on Earth every few seconds, even
under good conditions. They can be identified as originating from
the laser because the laser is highly monochromatic. This is one of
the most precise distance measurements ever made, and is
equivalent in accuracy to determining the distance between Los
Angeles and New York to 0.25 mm.[4][7] As of 2002 work is
progressing on increasing the accuracy of the EarthMoon
measurements to near millimeter accuracy, though the performance
of the reflectors continues to degrade with age.[4]
Results[edit]
Lunar laser ranging measurement data is available from the Paris
Observatory Lunar Analysis Center,[8] and the active stations. Some
of the findings of this long-term experimentare:
Photo gallery[edit]
See also[edit]
Moon portal
EME (communications)
Lidar
Lunokhod programme