Chinese YUTU rover finds glass spheres on far side of moon

Chinese YUTU rover has stumbled across glass spheres while exploring the far side of the moon

The translucent spheres measure more than a 1/2 inch

Glass spheres are not uncommon on the moon, though most are smaller. They are formed by meteor impacts with the surface throwing molten globs of rock which rapidly cool forming the spheres

gizmodo.com...#:~:text=A%20pair%20of%20translucent%20glass%20spheres%2C%20each% 20measuring,macroscopic%20and%20translucent%20glass%20globules%20on%20the%20Moon.%E2%80%9D

a reply to: firerescue

Took a look and I wonder if they're not ball bearings that have fallen from the rover.

It is Chinese after all.

I understand the science behind them, but I'd like to know how they see them as "transluscent" as the shadows don't seem to contain any refraction.

Interesting, thanks for sharing.

originally posted by: nerbot
a reply to: firerescue

Took a look and I wonder if they're not ball bearings that have fallen from the rover.

It is Chinese after all.

I understand the science behind them, but I'd like to know how they see them as "transluscent" as the shadows don't seem to contain any refraction.

Interesting, thanks for sharing.

LOL, yeah, I'm with you, I'm going for a stray wheel bearing of some kind.

Have any of you seen my marbles? I can't find them in my spacesuit bag where I put them.

So, that is what happened to my purie marbles when that jerk picked up our marbles and threw them as hard as he could when I was a kid. Good thing I didn't get in a fight with him when he did that. Heck puries were worth three regular marbles those days when we used to play, boulders were worth five, and I don't remember how much a steely was worth.

originally posted by: nerbot
a reply to: firerescue
I understand the science behind them, but I'd like to know how they see them as "transluscent" as the shadows don't seem to contain any refraction.

Transparent objects can allow light beams to pass clearly enough to show refraction on the far side.
Translucent objects allow light to pass, but usually not clearly enough to show refracted beams.

I just did an experiment using a cough drop as my "glass sphere".
Sitting on white paper (albedo >80%), I could see a bit of cloudy light in the object's shadow.
When I put it on a darker surface (the Moon's albedo is ~12%), the surface was not reflective enough to show significant pass-though light. A camera has a more limited dynamic range than an eyeball, so I'm not surprised the shadows on the photographed objects are dark.

Hope this helps.