Scientists in Houston and worldwide are seeing mysterious flashes of light on the moon. Astronomer Dr. Carolyn Sumners of the Burke Baker Planetarium says many countries are trying to figure out what they are. “We’re getting closer to explaining them. We’re starting to actually observe and record them. They are real. They tell us that the moon is not totally frozen in time.It does have changes that happen to it. And that’s kinda cool to find them.”
She says change is rare on the moon.“There’s probably a lot of volcanic material moving in and out of that area. Whereas the rest of the moon:--- NOTHING ever happens!” Powerful telescopes are being set up in Spain and Germany to steadily record that moon area to help scientists understand just what is going on.
Dr. Sumners says, “The flashes are usually redish or pinkish. They may be sparkling or flowing in their appearance. Remember - we’re looking at through a telescope at something far away through a vast sea of earth atmosphere. So --- we’re doing the best we can to describe what we’re seeing.”
Some of the current hypotheses include a lava gas emission, a solar wind and moon dust combination and seismic activity.Dr. Sumner says powerful telescopes are being set up in Europe to continuously record the lunar area.