Changes in the brightness and color over small areas of the moon's surface, known as Transient Lunar Phenomena, or TLP, have been observed telescopically for hundreds of years.
The optical flashes have been seen by skywatchers but rarely photographed.
"People over the years have attributed TLPs to all sorts of effects: turbulence in Earth's atmosphere, visual physiological effects, atmospheric smearing of light like a prism, and even psychological effects like hysteria or planted suggestion," said Columbia University researcher Arlin Crotts.
Using data from decades-old observations, Crotts and colleagues have now found a strong correlation between TLP sightings and regions where lunar orbiting spacecraft have detected gas leaking out from beneath the lunar surface.
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