Lava Tube on the Moon

[jarvist]

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18030-found-first-skylight-on-the-moon.html

"The team found the first candidate skylight in a volcanic area on the moon's near side called Marius Hills. "This is the first time that anybody's actually identified a skylight in a possible lava tube" on the moon, van der Bogert, who helped analyse the feature, told New Scientist.

The hole measures 65 metres across, and based on images taken at a variety of sun angles, the the hole is thought to extend down at least 80 metres. It sits in the middle of a rille, suggesting the hole leads into a lava tube as wide as 370 metres across."

via http://www.nworbmot.org/

 

[Ed W]

Sorry to disappont, but I would bet good money that this is not a lava tube.  Similar features were noted by NASA on Mars a few years ago and were studies in depth by renowned Vulcanospeleological expert Bill Halliday.  He compared these features to those seen in various places on Earth, and came to the conclusion that the feattures were far more likely to be Pit Craters (still very interesting to cavers), but not lava tube skylights.  An abstract of his paper can be found here http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2008CD/finalprogram/abstract_133859.htm.  The photo in the link given by Jarvist shows a feature very similar to those found on Mars.

 

[zippy]

So do you reckon we could get funding for an expedition?