Publication Date:
2019-07-13
Description:
Magnetic field observations with the Apollo 15 subsatellite have been used to deduce the components of both the permanent and induced lunar dipole moments in the orbital plane. The present permanent lunar magnetic dipole moment in the orbital plane is less than 1.3 times ten to the eighteenth power gauss-cu cm. Any uniformly magnetized near surface layer is therefore constrained to have a thickness-magnetization product less than 2.5 emu-cm per g. The induced moment opposes the external field, implying the existence of a substantial lunar ionosphere with a permeability between 0.63 and 0.85. Combining this with recent measures of the ratio of the relative field strength at the ALSEP and Explorer 35 magnetometers indicates that the global lunar permeability relative to the plasma in the geomagnetic tail lobes is between 1.008 and 1.03.
Keywords:
LUNAR AND PLANETARY EXPLORATION
Type:
Lunar Science Conference; Mar 18, 1974 - Mar 22, 1974; Houston, TX
Format:
text
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