Lunar Lights

In an article published today at Scientific American.com a possible link is made between strange bright flashes on the moon that have been observed (and discounted) for centuries, and possible emissions of volcanic gas.

The theory goes that certain areas of the moon belch volcanic radon gas, and that the dust stirred up by these emissions catches the light and shows up as a brief bright flash.

Other scientists are not so sure that this is the right explanation, or that these transients even exist, because replication and confirmation of the observations is very difficult.

Thanks to Alan Bajandas of Scientific American for a comment on the AstronomyBuff blog for the tip-off on this.