火箭掠过荡漾的月球
(原标题: Rocket Transits Rippling Moon)
2024-01-02
浏览次数: 18
火箭能使月球泛起涟漪吗？不，但它可以使背景月亮看起来波浪形。这次发射的火箭是上周从美国宇航局肯尼迪航天中心发射的SpaceX猎鹰重型火箭。在这张特别的发射照片中，火箭的排气羽流在它的投影之外发光，投射到遥远的、冉冉升起的、接近满月的月亮上。奇怪的是，月球的下边缘显示出不寻常的水滴状涟漪。月亮本身，在遥远的地方，真的没有改变。这些明显的涟漪的物理原因是相对较热或稀薄的空气对月光的偏转不如相对较冷或压缩的空气对月光的偏转强：折射。虽然这次拍摄是计划好的，但发射的时机必须恰到好处，这样火箭才能在这一次曝光中过境月球。
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Can a rocket make the Moon ripple? No, but it can make a background moon appear wavy. The rocket, in this case, was a SpaceX Falcon Heavy that blasted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center last week. In the featured launch picture, the rocket's exhaust plume glows beyond its projection onto the distant, rising, and nearly full moon. Oddly, the Moon's lower edge shows unusual drip-like ripples. The Moon itself, far in the distance, was really unchanged. The physical cause of these apparent ripples was pockets of relatively hot or rarefied air deflecting moonlight less strongly than pockets of relatively cool or compressed air: refraction. Although the shot was planned, the timing of the launch had to be just right for the rocket to be transiting the Moon during this single exposure.
© Steven Madow