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MASCON (n. pl. -S)
Definition(s):
- (n.) a concentration of dense mass beneath the surface of a moon or planet
- (n.) a region on the moon having a greater density of rock than the surrounding area
Useful information for game players:
- Front hooks: (none)
- Back hooks: -S
- Anagrams: MACONS, SOCMAN
- Longer extensions: (none)
- Wraparounds: (none)
- Other Spellings: (none)
- Related Forms: (none)
Epilogue:
This word is a PORTMANTEAU, a word formed by the blending of two or more forms, such as how SMOG was formed by combining smoke and fog. (Incidentally, Lewis Carroll was the first to use the term PORTMANTEAU in a linguistic sense, as Humpty Dumpty introduces it in Through the Looking Glass: “You see it’s like a portmanteau — there are two meanings packed up into one word.” The older, established meaning of PORTMANTEAU is “a large suitcase,” thus the allusion to packing up two meanings into one word.)
In this case, the word is a combination of “mass concentration,” a reference to the high concentration of dense mass found in a MASCON. The denseness leads to the area exerting a slightly higher gravitational force on nearby objects such as satellites and spacecraft.
MASCONS, by the way, are types of MARIA (singular MARE), the dark areas on the surface of the moon. The word derives from the Latin mare (“sea”), because when Galileo first observed them he thought they looked like seas! Most MARIA are actually smooth, flat plains of hardened, basaltic lava. The MARIA are also what cause the splotches that form the iconic “man in the moon” shape on its surface.
Theme:
This week we’re over the moon about some lunar words
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