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This scene shows the preparation of the thin crescent moon at the Paranal Iso Observatory in Chile. In addition to the bright crescent, the rest of the moon disk can be seen in a weak voice. This phenomenon is called Earthshine. This is due to the reflection of the sun’s rays from the Earth and the light on the moon. By monitoring Earth’s astronomers, studying the properties of light reflected from Earth can be as if it were an external planet and searching for signs of life. This image was taken on October 27, 2011 and also recorded mercury and flower planets. | Credit: ESO/b. TAFRESHI/Twan
Scientists were arguing about a curious topic recently: Did the temperatures fall on the moon due to the Covid-19 insurance in the world?
Last year, a pair of researchers claimed that closing shock waves could be perceived as possible the moon,, Causing a slight decline in moon surface temperatures. Now, a new paper is scattered on this research, saying that it cannot categorically attribute that the decrease in reducing global emissions associated with the lock.
After several studies revealed that the closure was A major effect on air quality Throughout the world, two researchers in India have achieved whether weather changes could have an impact on the moon.
“We thought it would be a rare opportunity to investigate effects [Covid] On the surface of the moon, “Durga Brasad, a physic research laboratory (PRL) in Ahmed Abad and the author of the study, told Space.com by e -mail.
Prasad and Study Author G. Ambly, also from PRL, data collected from a variety of sites near the lunar equator by NASA Cunna reconnaissance orbit (LRO). They discovered that surface temperatures decreased in the evening by 8 to 10 Cleffen between April and May 2020. The duo attributed this decrease to the global closure at the height of the epidemic.
As It is often the matter in scienceNot everyone agrees with their conclusions.
“The process is actually very complicated, and I think not all factors have been seen,” Sherine Al -Haq, a researcher at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad, told Space.com by e -mail. Haque and her colleague presented an opposition to the original data. “This is what led them to the conclusion they reached.”
Related to: Dramatic effect of Corona virus closure from space
Your light brilliance Ali
With the appearance of Covid-19 at dawn in 2020, China, the country of origin, was the first to close some of its cities. Over the past months, I followed other countriesAnd, which led to a global closure after the World Health Organization announced that the outbreak would be a pandemic in March. By June, the countries began to relax their grip as the world descended to what many call “the new natural”.
numerous Independent studies It revealed that the closure was Significant on Atmosphere – Conclusion supported by anecdotal evidence. Pictures of major cities Like Los Angeles, an unusually clear sky revealed during the spring of 2020, while people stayed at home, Greenhouse gases It was created by the car and the air travel that has been significantly reduced.
When sunlight reaches the Earth, part of it is absorbed on the surface while the rest It is reflected as a radiation. The hot planet also emanates from its radiation. They are both affected by the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Together, this emission creates a slight glow known as ground radiation, or ground bright.
During the moon’s day, the moon feels the card of both Sun And the land. At night, as it appears to the sun and its face to the daytime Earth, the moon’s surface does not feel near the warmth of our planet. Previous studies have shown that Earthshine can affect the moon’s night temperature. The process of the earthly light that reflects the moon was Leonardo Da Vinci suggested it for the first time.
“When aerosols decrease, solar radiation is less widespread into space,” said Brasad.
Researchers have turned into Lro’s Diviner lunar scale experienceA tool designed to measure temperatures on the moon. They found six sites on the near side of the moon with similar and bright roughness values, all near the equator, to reduce the amount of radiation that struck the moon directly. The temperatures were taken between 10 pm and 4 am local time on the moon’s surface to reduce the amount of heat absorbed by the surface during the day. Temperatures were taken from 2017 to 2022 – several years on both sides of insurance peak from April to May 2020.
“Six months represent good data for interpretation,” said Brasad. The results were Posted last September In the magazine the monthly notifications of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS).
Related to: The new moon glows with “Earthshine” in an incredible series of time images
The same data, different interpretations
But it is not an open condition.
The Haquee article was sent by a friend, wanted to find out if the result is correct.
She said: “My first reaction was sudden, and I assumed that it was published in a suspected forum – but he was in a pioneering astronomical magazine.”
Haque began to discuss the new result with other astronomers. “Everyone was the first reaction of disbelief and doubt,” she said. So, she and her colleague William Chonberg, from Missouri University of Science and Technology, decided to consider the new results, as “we found that they are unbelievable to be true.”
Their results It was also published in Mnras, in January 2025.
Whether Earthshine heats the moon’s surface was not in doubt – this process has been documented through previous research. Haque and Schonberg also noticed a decrease in the surface temperature during the nights between April and May 2020. What is questioned by the global closure role in this cooling.
They referred to the timing of low temperature. While the Prasad-SAMPLY sheet highlights the measurements made between April and May, Haque paper indicates that the temperature begins to decrease in 2019, before closing all over the world. They argue that the decline is gradual, not surprising.
Parasad differs.
He said: “Schunberg and Hay claimed that the temperature began to decrease early by visually analyzing the direction line” on a character in the Parasad paper. This trend line is drawn only for visual clarity, which is the average completion of all notes. He said that the most important of this is data groups during April and May.
“This is not a decrease, but a sudden decrease,” said Brasad. “The authors have offended the understanding of the representation of our data.”
In their research, Shunberg and Hai indicated that there is no information on how to get the same trend line, which they called “unfortunate”. Moreover, they indicated that “if the trend line may be misleading, they should not include the direction line.”
The new paper also indicated a significant decrease in temperature in 2018, as Brassad and Imboli also indicated. It is clear that this decrease was not associated with the closure of Covid, and the authors suggested that it might be important.
Brasad confirmed that his paper and Ammily analyzed the period only during the lock and were not interested in the previous cooling. “Our analysis focuses only on the April-May period of all years, because it was the strict closure period in 2020,” he said.
“We believe that it is not possible, at this time, to mention any certainty that the temperature we all noticed is decreased as a result of the low human activity on Earth during the insurance of Covid-19,” Shunberg said. “We believe it is a matter of connection that is confused with causation.”
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Brasad and Mobily stand behind their interpretation of the data.
“We have never mentioned that the observation is only due to the insurance of Kofid,” he said. “Since we did not find any other reason that supports this unique observation, we have attributed that the Covid lock seems to be the most logical reason.”
Haque and Schonberg said they appreciate their colleagues are open for other reasons. However, they said that the title of the original article-“The effects of Covid-19 Global Lockdown on our moon”-appears to be denying uncertainty.
“The title of their work does not seem to convey the feeling of uncertainty that they prefer to take readers from their article.” They added that the conclusion also seems unambiguous, claiming that the decrease in the moon’s temperature is “clearly” related to a global closure.
Brasad stressed that future studies are necessary to better understand the results of their observations.
He said: “In the absence of any concrete explanation for the anomalous DIP note, it is completely compatible with the strict closure period, the Covid 19 lock is likely to be the only reason.”
