Visual Observations
What is the evidence? Direct observation of samples of solar system objects, such as rocks from Earth, the Moon, other planets, or asteroids; thinly sliced samples of such objects (“thin sections”) for microscopic examination
What does it tell us? Mineral makeup, structure, age, and physical properties (such as hardness and density) of the rock. From these results, scientists can make inferences about the solar system object where the rock came from or the processes that formed it.
Key limitations: Obtaining samples from other solar system objects is difficult.
Example: Lunar Thin Section
Click image to enlarge
The rock fragments in this lunar sample (called an impact melt breccia) were melted together from high temperature and pressure conditions, indicating a history of impacts that battered the Moon.
Produced by
