70-degree celsius moon surface temperature was not expected: Scientists

The temperature variation monitored by Chandrayaan 3 on the moon is interesting as the high of 70 degrees was not expected, scientists said.

Lunar surface Temperature

As Chandrayaan 3 on Sunday sent its first discoveries on the lunar surface temperature of the south pole, scientists said the high of 70-degree Celsius near the surface was not anticipated. A tem between 20 degrees centigrade to 30 degrees on the surface where Chandrayaan 3 landed and is executing its experiments was estimated. "We all believed that the temperature could be somewhere around 20 degrees centigrade to 30 degrees centigrade on the surface but it is 70 degrees centigrade. This is surprisingly higher than what we had expected," Isro scientist BH Darukesha told news agency PTI.

On the earth, there is barely any such variation and so the first findings of Chandrayaan 3 are very fascinating. "When we go two to three centimetres inside the Earth, we hardly see two to three-degree centigrade variation whereas there (in Moon), it is about 50-degree centigrade variation. This is something interesting," the scientist said.

The temperature deviation on the lunar surface -- around the south pole -- is from 70 degrees Celsius to minus 10 degrees Celsius. This is the first time that the data came to the scientific fraternity of the world, courtesy of Isro's Chandrayaan 3.

In the graph presented by Isro, the lunar surface has been examined by the Vikram payload at distinct depths. As interpreted from the chart, the temperature remains around 50 degrees Celsius on the ground. And it increases to over 60-degree at the height of 20mm. At -80mm depth, which is below the ground, the temperature drops to minus 10 degrees Celsius.

The temperature has been estimated during the day as one lunar day is still going on in the moon. But the south pole is less luminous by the Sun, Isro chairman S Somnath earlier said explaining the justification for picking the south pole for the soft landing of Chandrayaan 3.

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