[meteorite-list] Lunar vs. Martian Meteorites

[Gerald Flaherty]

Well said Bernd and credible to my unsophistocated leanings.
Jerry Flaherty
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <bernd.pauli at paulinet.de>
To: <Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 03, 2006 2:09 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Lunar vs. Martian Meteorites



> Hello Listees and Listoids,

>

> There are twice as many lunar meteorites in my collection than martian 

> meteorites

> and I've been asking myself several times why. We all know Mars is an 

> extremely

> interesting celestial body, especially because it is a much better 

> candidate for the

> existence of (microbial) life than, ... say Venus with its seething 

> temperatures and

> rains of sulfuric acid or our celestial neighbor, the Moon, with its 

> tenuous atmosphere

> that is virtually non-existant (compared to Earth's atmosphere).

>

> Here's my very personal answer: Long before I started collecting 

> meteorites, I used to

> watch the starry sky with all its planets, stars, star clusters, galaxies, 

> nebulae, so

> many other wondrous things, and, of course: the Moon, La Lune, Luna, der 

> Mond.

>

> Mars was seldom more than a tiny circular speck in my 8-inch Celestron 

> telescope.

> There were moments - seconds - when the seeing was so steady that I was 

> able to

> see the different hues and shades of planet Mars - a split-second later it 

> was

> gone and nothing was left but a blurry, fuzzy image in my eyepiece :-(

>

> But whenever I point my telescope toward "la lune", it is always a true 

> feast for the

> eyes (even in bad seeing!), a celestial banquet of sorts and I often feel 

> like delving

> into the depths of lunar craters, rilles, flooded lava plains, rays, 

> domes, and so much

> more. I've always enjoyed those subtle color shades - dazzling white, 

> light gray, dark

> gray, the stark contrast between unlit crater-floors and their rims 

> bathing in glaring

> sunlight and all kinds of delicate in-betweens of hues, especially on the 

> mare floors.

>

> Our Moon is much closer to me - both in distance and emotionally than 

> planet Mars and

> it is an undescribable feeling of closeness, of nearness, of familiarness. 

> So, when I

> look at my lunars, especially my latest "Moon" (Norbert, Martin A., 

> Stefan, and a few

> others probably know which one I am talking about :-), when I hold it in 

> my hands while

> watching its progenitor up in the sky, then I feel like greeting a good, 

> old friend so

> far away and yet so near.

>

> Best wishes,

>

> Bernd

>

>

>

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