Journal of Research of the Na tional Burea u of Standards Vol.

5 1, No, 2, August 1953 Research Paper 2434

Ultraviolet Spectral Radiant Energy Reflected

From the Moon
Ralph Stair and Russell Johnston
R es ults ar e g iven of som e meas ureme nts on t he ultraviolet and s hort-wa velengt ll visi,b le
s ect ral radian t energy reflected from t he surface of the full moon , mad e from Octobe r to
~ rnber 1952 at Wa shington D , C. Although t he reflected lunar spect rum co nta rn s a ll
th~eFraunh orer' bands as found in ?irect sunli ght .wi th approximate ly t he s ame r~e laLr ve
in tens it ies in t he visible spectrum , In tense ab so rp t r ~ n occu r's for so me. of the ult rav iolet
wavelengths. Selecti ve absorp tion for wavele ngths III the spe?tT1!-l reg ron s of 380 to ~9 0
millimi cron s and less t han 360 millimi crons indi cates t he pOSSIbility of a lun ar re flect rn g
s urface s imi la r to t ha t of powde red glassy silicates.
1. Introduction range incident on th e ~oon . l'!le colle~ti~m <?f a
. thin layer of fine meteOrIC matenal contammg Iron
Man has long speculated abo:ut the I1?-0on- lts and other dark substan ces may b e expected also to
orio'in its surface features, and Its path III space. darken t h e lunar surface. .
This interest has stimulated the search for facts The study of t h e moon through m easurem ent of Its
regarding th e exact nature and origin of the surface effect upon r eflected sunlight may ~e .appro~ched
panorama visible through th e telescope. from several a ngles: t hrougb changes m mtenslty or
It is, however , generally agreed th at th e lunar polariza tion [11 to 14,. inclusive] of the. r e.flected
urface features have been sculptured by cata- radian t e nerO'y as a functIOn of the angle of lllCldence,
trophic agents (eith er meteoric ~r volcanic, or bo th ) or through ellanges in th e l:eflected sp ectrum . caused
[1 to 10, inclusiveJ.l The resultmg surfaee featm'es by the lunar sur!aee , ThIS report d.e~ls WIth th e
differ greatly from anything on th e ear th , except fo~' a integrated ultraVIOlet ~p e~tI'al mtensltlCs re~lected
certain resemblan ee to the few known tel'l'estn~l for th e fixed angular .m Clden ces cOl'l'espol"!-dmg to
meteor crater s. B ecause gr avity on th e moon IS n ear full moon and WIth th e moon n eal' ItS most
only about one-sixth th at on th e earth and th er e northern posit ion in th e sky , . . .
is an absence of an atmosphere, th e lunar craters The observed relative sp ectral dlstl'lbutlOn of
a re probably 25 to 50 times as large [l1 J as would ultraviolet radiant en ergy reflected from the moon is
resu lt on th e earth. verv similar in quali ty to tha t emitted b y the s.un
As the resul t of th e absence of an atmosphere il: nd itseH. All the Fraunhofer lines app eal' and WJ th
moisture and, h en ce, of the usuil:l types of weathermg approximately the sam e relative intensities. A.ny
a nd erosion the moon has retamed records of many differences in the two sp ectra resul t from solectlVe
of its early catastrophic experien ce . D,uring its op tical a,bsorption by the lunar .surface. Except ~or
history about 16 times as ma:ny m eteontes have a slight yellowing of th e lun~r.lillage and for var~a­
collided with the ear th , but t hOl[' records have been tions in t h e ul traviolet and VISIble sp ectrum over ItS
largely erased [1], unless we conclude . that t h e surfaee fea tures [20], no thi:ng has b een r el?o.rted in
encounter s with th e larger ones resulted m som e of the available literature no tmg any other chfIeren ces
t h e geologic transitions indicated by abrupt changes b etween the two sp ectra .
between certain layers of the earth 's strata.
The surface of th e moon does change, however. 2. Instruments and Procedure
It is affected b y t h e sun's rays, by gravity, and by The apparatus employed in this iu-yestiga: tion
t idal forces by the temperature change from about consists of a Carl L eiss double quartz-pnsm mnTor
250 0 F [1 5 'to 18, inclusive] during the luna:r .day to sp ectrometer , using ~n R CA 1~28 pho tomultiplier
about - 150° F during its night , and by attl'ltIOr,t ~ue as a detector. The lIght b eam IS m~d~lla~ed at. 5] 0
to falling m eteorites, estimated abt. over one dmillron cis, and the ou tput of the pho tomultrplter IS fed mto
p el' day [2]. These effects com me . to pro u ce a a tuned amplifier [21] and recorder. (see fig . 1). A
pulverization of the surfac.e l~yer, whICh acts as the siderostat was employed for reflectmg ~he beall?- of
efficien t insulating surface mdICated by the character li O'ht from the moon in to th e sp ectroradlOmeter m a
of th e temperature changes on the moon's surface ~anner similar to that previously u sed with SUll-
ob erved during solar eGlipses [1 9]. light [22] . . ,
The black ening of the old surface areas, or " maria", N o condensmg lens or mu'l'Ol' was employed , so
may b e du e in part to exposure of th e surface ;ma- that the resultant m easurem en t was that for the
terials to high frequ ency (short wavelength) radIant integrated surface of t~e. moon. The spectr~l­
ener gy. Oxygen , ozone, and other components of en ergy -response .charactel'.lstIC of the complete ll"!--
the earth 's atmosphere act as a blanket that prevents strument mcludmg the sIderostat and photomultl-
t h e ear th from receiving ultraviolet and other solar plier, wa~ determined by using a special tungsten-
radiant en ergy of wavelengths shorter than about filament-in-quartz lamp [21 , 23], together WIth a
295 mil · Laboratory experiments show that many numb ~r of optical filters to r educe the lamp energy
crystalline and glassy substances 0:r: tJ:.e earth darken for the various parts of the sp ectrum (see fig. 2) to
upon exposure to wavelengths wlthm the spectral values approximating that of the moonbeam at the
I F igures in brackets indicate the literature references at tbe end of tbis paper. speetrometer slit , The radiant energy from the
81
lamp was reflected into the spectrometer by the quite similar (sec fig. 5), although different spectro-
same siderostat mirrors, so that the spectral enel'g~' radiom eters were employed.
calibration for the moonbeam reduced to a simple com- Measurements were made during four nights near
parison of the recorder indications in the two cases. the ends of October and November 1952, when the
The high sensitivity of the detecting and l'ecording moon was near its full phase and also near its maxi-
equipment permitted the use of relatively nanow slit mum northern position, hence near its highest alti-
widths (spectral width approximately 1 m}.! at 310 m}.! tude at the latitude of Washington, D . C. The
and 2 to 3 m}.! at longer wavelengths) . These values best data were obtained dlll'ing the night of Novem-
are comparable to those employed in previous worl.;: ber 30- D ecember 1, when the moon was not onl.v
with sunlight [24], so that the Fl'aunhofer structlll'e nearest its full phase but was also at the highest
of the measured radiant energy in the two cases is altitude for any night during the series of measure-
ments. Also , the atmosphere was entirely free of
clouds and showed least dust or haze scattering on
A T UNED this night. Data on the lunar altitude and air mass
-~
PHOTO-
SIDEROSTAT
~ - -- ------ -
SPECTROMETER
--- - - ----- - -
MULTIPLIER AMPLIFIER for the four nights were calculated in the usual
MOON
manner by means of the celestial triangle through
II the use of the pertinent data published in the
HIGH RECTIFIER
SECTOR American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac for 1952
DISK VOLTAGE AND
SUPPLY FI LTER
for the solar and lunar positions. The resul ting
data are charted in figure 3.
I I
3 . Spectral Radiant Energy Reflected From
RECORDER\ the Moon
The spectral radiant energy reflected from the
FICURE 1. Instrumental layout. moon depends upon the optical and other physical
characteristics of the lunar sllrface. Changes in the
§ 20 solar radiant energy are admittedly small [25] for
b 18
all wavelengths penetrating the terrestrial atmos-
.... phere. Variations at the moon as a function of time
,.,
o 16
may be considered insignificant. In view of the
E
o 14 fact that previous observers have found a marked
..~' 12 L AMP x!.M
variation in the light reflected from the moon as a
function of the angles of incidence and reflection
~

E 10 [11, 15], a similar behavior might be expected for the

~ 8 WW 6 X 10 ultraviolet rays. However, at present the amount
0:
W of this effect is unknown. Furthermore, variations
~ 6 in ultraviolet intensities over the lunar surface are
I-
~ 4 known to be appreciable [20]. Future studies for
is
WW 8 X 10
specific areas of the moon and at various angles of
;2 2
incidence and l'eAection sho uld b e interesting and
~0~0~~~~~~~~
42~0~~4~60~~5~07
0 ~~5~4~0~~5~eo~ informative.
WAV ELENGTH. MILLI MICRONS T errestrial atmospheric absorption further modi-
FICURE 2. Spectral energy distribution of the standard lamp fies the lunar reflected radiant energy. M ean spec-
through the filters used in the calibration of the instrument. tral values (for ascend ing and descending moon) for
AIR MASS a lunar altitude of 65 degrees (air mass l.1O) are
90 r-~-.----':--.--"---r-.----,--.-"---r-T 1.00 given in figure 4. -When s pectral radiant energy
80
data are taken over a range of ascending (or descend-
MOON, WASHINGTON , D.C •• 1952
ing) positions of the moon and plotted logarithmi-
70 cally [24J as a function of airmass and extrapolated
......
."
1.1 0 to airmass equals 0, the intercepts represent the
0: 60 logarithms of the spectral intensities outside the
...aco 1. 20
terrcstrial atmosphere. The data illustrated in
...a
·50 1. 30
1. 40
figure 5 were obtained in this manner.
::>
... 4 0 1. 50 In order to illustrate b etter the similarity between
0: the spectral radiant en ergy reflected from the moon
<l 30
0:
2.00 as compared with that emitted by t.he sun. the data
«
z obtained for the sun at Climax, Colorado, in Septem-
:I 20 3.00 b er 1951 , are taken from th e previous publication
4.00
10
OCT 29- 30 [24] and reproduced Ul figure 5. Although these
data were obtained with different spectroradiometers
PM hi
0
9 10 \I 12 I 2 3
at different times and places, t h e similarity in the
7 8
TI ME OF NIGHT (EST) two curves is strikulg. This is partly b ecause the
FIGURE 3; Changes in ai1' mass for the ascent and descent of dispersions for th e two instruments were not ap-
the moon f or the diffeTent evenings. preciably different. However, slight differences re-
82
 210

WASHINGTON,O.C., 195Z . - SUN, CLIMAX , COLORAOO

180 SEPTEMBER 1"1

MOO N
AIR MA SS · I.IO
NO V 30 -0E C I ~
·:f,lO MOO N, WA SHINGTON, D.C. _

r
~.
NOVE MBER 19'2

~ 90
SC ALE RAT IO ' 1/300000

:i 60
;;
:
30

o 0
3 10 :no 3' 0 370 390 4 10 430 "50 4 70 4 90 510 530
glo 330 3 50 370 390 410 43 0 4 50 4 70 49 0 5 10 530 WAVELENGTH , MILLIMICRONS
WAVELENGTH, MILLI MIC RONS
FLGUlm 5. A com pmison between the spectml distribution of
F I GlJ R ~~ 4. Spectral d-istT-ibution of the radiant energy Te./leeted the radiant en eTgy Fom the sun and the Te./lected en el'gy from
from the moon. the moon.
s uIt in greater sca ttering of th e data plo tted in IOr--r--'--'--'--.---.--r--r--.--.--.-~--.--.

figure 6. o _2.-JJ----6-~--
9
An inspection of the lun ar rel ative to th e . solar ~~6.J>-O-
radiant en ergy curve (fig. 5) discloses I!reater difl'er- 8 0 / 9- ...

ences between th e two toward the shorter wave- o 0 '

~6~o..?- ~ ... o
7
l en gth s. A quantitative plot of thi s ratio (fig. 6) qo 0 0

g ives the relative spectr al reflectivi ty o t the lUl:ar 6 cf~~

s urface. Much of th e scatter of t he data, as 111- )cb
di eated above , res ults from slight differences in the 5
dispersions of th e two sp ectroradiometers, inasmuch I
8
4
as a close inspection of th e individual plotted points
C\i closes th at the high er values resul t from ratios be- 3 I
"
10

t~\-een peaks on th e cur ves, whereas th e lower values

a rc associated with th e Fraunhofer absorption bands.
Three importan t characteristic of this reflect ivi ty
c urve are worthy of no te. First, th e curve decl'NtSeS
:in ordinate value with wavelength , thus indicat ing
t hat, the lun ar s urface h as a lower ref-te ctivitv for
t he shorter ·wavelen gths. Second, th e ):land at, 380
to 390 m,u indica tes selective absorption of th e lun ar
surfac e materi als. Third, th e sh arp cuLoff b eg inn.ing
at abo ut 360 m/-! m a.v b e cons idered indicati ve of some
special composition.
If th e thTee sp ecial ch aracterist ics of the lUJl a r
r efl ectivity curve are consider ed in terms of possible
materials present, and ot.he1' Imown factors about
t h e m oon , s uch as its albedo , polar ization, a nd heat
conductivity are k ept in mind , it appears no t un-
likely th at a yellowish glass-like composition could
be responsible for the observed phenomena. Certain
silica glasses [2 6] have an ultraviolet cu toff corre-
spon.ding closely with the observed CUl'\Te. In a
splintered or crushed form th ey would r efiect a
m eas urable amount of radiant energy after trans-
miLtan ce through an appreciable thickness of ma-
terial. A small iron content would result in selective
absorp t ion at 380 to 39 0 m,u and would give th e
material a slightly yellowish color. A pulveriz ed
glassy silicate lunar s urface would ? e hi ghly insulat-
ing and would produce ch aracten stlCs compa tIble
with Lempera t ure m easurem en ts obtained during
eclipse and with lunar phase changes [15 , 16, 19].
The low average alb edo [7 , 27 to 30, inclusive],
about 7.3 percen t, corresponds closely to th e ex-
pected refiec tivi ty from glassy 111aterial. Although
83
2
gO~O~~23~4~O~~3~8~O~~4~2~O--~~46~O~~~5~O~O~~5~4~O~~5~80
WAVELENGTH. MILLIMICRONS
FI GlJ RIi] 6. R elative spectral reflectivity of the moon.
m eas urements of the albedo of Lh e moon a re not
precise, most of them faU below about 12 p er cen t.
H en ce, the s urface of the moon may b e composed ,
at least in p ar t, of powde red glassy silicates. In-
eiden tally, t be high p ercen tn,ge of 8i0 2 in the earth 's
crust might s uggest the possibility of a terrain
s imilar to th at of the mo on had not air, vvater,
erosion , etc., been present.
The observations on polarization at th e s urface of
th e moon b y Wrigh t [12] indicate r efi ection by a fine
text ure an d " point to pumiceous s ubstances high in
silica, to powders of tra nsparent substances and to
quartz porphyries and possibl y to tr ach ytes and
granites as th e materials w e see at the moon's sur-
face." Similarly, the relative spectral r efiec tivity
c urve for the moon obtained in th e present investiga-
tion points to th e possibility tha t th e surface ma-
terials are, at least in part, composed of powder ed
glassy silicates. Further r efinem en ts in the observa-
tions of this interesting satellite are n eed ed , however,
before definitive conclusions can b e drawn.
4. Atmospheric transmittance and ozone '
The atmospheric transmission curve depicted in
figure 7 is plo tted in th e usual way in terms of the
 - - - - - - - _.

ultraviolet spectral intensities. Preliminary tests

9.S already made of weak fluorescent sources, reflections
WASHINGTON, D. C. from dull surfaces, and of radiant energy from small
9 .6 NOVEMSER 195 2
w
sky areas (even during rainfall or after sundown)
..
~ 9.4
l-
I- 9. 2
indicate a wide range of possible application for the
equipment. 6 . References
~
If)
~ 9. 0
[1] Ralph E . Baldwin, The face of the moon (University of
a: Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. , 1949) .
I- 8.S [2] L . J . Spencer, Meteorites and craters on the moon,
o
(!)- Nature, 139 ,655 (1937) .
3 S.6 [3] R. A. McIntosh, Origin of lunar features, J. Roy. Astro-
!lorn. Soc. Can. 37, 24 (1943).
S ·~1'"::-0---:3~2-:-0--:::33~0--:3::-4""0---::-35:!cO:--::C3~60,....-Jc..,3::-:8""0-'-4""0""'0""4~20""'"450~-=5~00,,--,-l600 [4] S. J. Hacker and J. Q. Stewart, Lunar ray craters,
WAVEL ENGTH, MILLIM IC RONS Astrophys. J. 81, 37 (1935).
FIG URE 7. Atmospheric transmittance (from moon data). [5] Allan O. Kelly, The geo logy of the moon, Popular
Astron. 55,530 (1947) .
logarithm of the observed transmittances of unit [6] A. C. Gifford, Th e mountains of the moon, New Zealand
atmosphere (at Washington) for the different wave- J. Sci. T echno!. 7, 129 (1924).
[7] Henry Korris Ru ssel, Raymond Smith Dugan, and John
lengths as a function of the wavelengths. This, in Quincy Stewart, Astronomy (Ginn & Co. , Chicago,
turn, is expanded [31] according to the function Ill. , 1926).
- (,u- l )2}. -~ of the Rayleigh law of molecular scatter- [8] Robert H. Baker, Astronomy (D. Van Nostrand Co ,
ing, New York, N. Y., 1950) .
[9] Fred L . Whipple, Earth, moon and planets (Blakiston
Co., Philadelphia, Pa., 1941).
[10] W . S. Krogdahl, The astronomical universe (Macmillan
Co., New York, N . Y ., 1952).
in which }. is the 'w avelength of the radiant energy, [11] F. E. 'Wright, The surface features of the moon, Sci.
and ,u is the index of refraction of the atmosphere. Mont hly 40,101 (1935) .
Since, for the zenith position the atmospheric [12] F . E . vVright, Polarization of light reflected from rough
depth, Fl, and the molecular density, N, arc constant, surfaces with special reference to light reflected by the
moon Proc. Nat. Acad . Sci. 13,535 (1927).
the resulting plot of the logarithm of the atmos- [13] F . E. vi~right, The surface of the moon , Carnegie In st .,
pheric transmittances becomes a straight line in Wash. , Pub. Ko. 501, p. 59 (1938) .
those spectral regions wherein the Rayleigh law of [14] B . Lyot, Etude des surfaces planetaires par la polariza-
pUl"e molecular scattering is applicable. In as much tion , Compt. rend. 177, 1015 (1923) .
[15] Edison P ettit, Lunar radiation as related to phase,
as appreciable ozone absorption occurs only at Astrophys. J . 81, 17 (1935).
wavelengths shorter than about 330 m,u, the data [16] Edison Pettit and Seth B. N icholson, Lunar radiation and
herein recorded are inadequate for use in ozone temperature, Astrophys. J. 71, 102 (1930) .
determinations. Between 300 and 330 m,u (fig. 4), [17] Donald H . Menzel, vVater-cell transmissions and plane-
tary temperatures, Astrophys. J . 58, 65 (1923).
the observed intensities were extremely low and the [18] W . vI'. Coblentz, Further tests of stellar radiometers and
instrumental noise levels relatively high . With so me m easurements of planetary radiation , BS Sci .
certain improvements in the equipment, it is hop cd Pap. 18,535 (1922) S460.
to reach sensitivities adequate for use of the appa- [19] Edison Pettit, Rad iation measurements on the eclipsed
moon , Contr. Mt. Wilson Obs. No. 627, 26, 165 (1940) .
ratus in ozone determinations at night. As an [20] R. W. Wood , The moon in ultraviolet light, and spectro-
alternative,the use of a condensing lens or mirror selenography, Popu lar Astron. 18, 67 (1 910).
may be advantageous in supplying sufficient radiant [21] Ralph Stair, Photoelectric spectroradiometry and its
energy from the moon for this purpose. a,pplication to the measurement of fluore scent lamps,
J . Research NBS 46, 437 (1951) RP2212.
S. Summary and Conclusions [22] R. Stair and W. O. Smith , A tungsten- in-quartz lamp and
This report presents the first observed ultraviolet its application in photoelectric radiometry, J . Research
NBS 30, 449 (1943) RP 1543.
photometric CUl"ve of moonlight from data obtained [23] Ralph Stair, Ultraviolet spectral distribution of radiant
primarily on a single .night, although measurements energy from the sun , J . Research NBS 46, 353 (1951)
were made on three additional nights when the moon RP2206.
was near its full phase and at high altitudes. De- [24] Ralph Stair, Ultraviolet radiant energy from the sun
observed at 11,190 feet, J . Research NBS 49, 227
spite the fact that the measurements were made (1952) RP2357 .
through the dense blanket of atmosphere over a sea- [25] Donald H . Menzel, Our sun (Blakiston Co. , Philadelphia,
level station, interesting information was obtained Pa., 1949).
having a bearing on the composition of the lunar [26] Ralph Stair, Spectral-transmissive properties and use of
eye-protective gla sses, NBS Ci rcular 471 (1948).
surface. Further nighttime measurements at higher [27] Henry Norris Russell, On the albedo of the planets and
altitude stations with improved equipment should t heir satellites, Astrophys . J . 43 , 173 (1916).
result in additional information not only on lunar [28] G. Rougier, Photometric comparison of moon and sun,
reflectivity but also on ozone concentration. Photoelectric albedo of the moon, Compt. rend. 202,
463 (1936).
The extremely high sensitivity of the equipment [29] Edison Pettit, The co-albedo of the moon , Contr. Mt.
lends its usefulness in other fields of research, in Wi lson Obs. No. 705, 28, 173 (1945).
particulal' to stellar investigations. With telescopic [30] Handb uch d el' Astrop hysik 2, par t 1, Verlag von Julius
magnification sufficient radiant energy from many Springer, Berlin, 1929) .
[31] Edison Pettit, Spectral energy-curve of t he sun in the
stars, and also from small areas on the moon should ultraviolet, Astrophys. J. 91, 159 (1940) .
be available to permit precise determinations of WASHINGTON, May 15, 1953.
84