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Artistic representation of a collision between two planetary bodies. New research suggests that the clear difference between the dark side of the heavily cratered Moon and the lower open basins on the near side was caused by the collision of a lost dwarf planet with the Moon at the beginning of the solar system's history.
NASA / JPL-Caltech.
Our moon is a game of two halves, and scientists now think they know why. From Earth, we see only one side of the lunar surface, one side of the low, open basalt plains formed by lava from ancient volcanoes. These lunar mares (in Latin "seas") on the side close to the Moon constitute the famous "man in the Moon". Meanwhile, the dark side of the moon is heavily cratered, has no mares and remains virtually invisible.
What is the cause of these profound differences between the two sides of the Moon? It may be a collision between the moon and a dwarf planet, according to new research, who think they have solved a mystery that has baffled scientists since the dark side of the moon was photographed for the first time in years 1960.
The hidden face of the moon, rarely seen, has a thicker crust and an extra layer of material compared to the near side.
NASA / Goddard / Arizona State University
What is the "dark side of the moon"?
It's an album of Pink Floyd and not a real place. The moon is locked on Earth, rotating every 29 days, the same length of orbit. So, from Earth, we only see one side, the near side, and although it oscillates slightly, most of the far side is impossible to see. It is not "dark" because the hidden face of the Moon is illuminated exactly as much as its visible face. We may not see it, but the far side was photographed by the Apollo missions of the 196 and 1970s and by other spacecraft, most recently by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), which gravitates around the moon since 2009.
It is thought that the "dark side of the moon" a reference to madness by the lyricist of Pink Floyd Roger Waters. This is not a real place.
The side next to the moon is lunar "mares", ancient plains of lava.
Getty
What was discovered?
New evidence on the lunar crust suggests that the differences between the near and the opposite side were caused by the collision of a dwarf planet with the moon at the beginning of the solar system's history. A report on new research has been published in the AGU Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets detailing how the crust is thicker and includes an extra layer of material on its hidden face.
The theory of melting moons
The asymmetry of the moon has been the subject of many theories. The first is that there were once two moons in orbit around the Earth and they merged, creating the unique moon we know today.
Theory of giant impact
Was there once an asteroid or a young dwarf planet orbiting the Sun on a collision course with the Moon? "This idea would have appeared later than the Moon's melting scenario after the Moon formed a solid crust," said Meng Hua Zhu of the Institute of Space Science's University of Science and Technology. Macau and lead author of the new study. Are there any signs of such a visible impact in the structure of the lunar crust today? Yes, says the paper.
The last flight trajectory of NASA's Twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission, which hit the moon on December 17, 2012.
NASA / JPL-Caltech / GSFC / ASU
What is the proof?
Measures taken by the Gravity and Interior Recovery Laboratory (GRAIL) mission& nbsp; in 2012, scientists were able to better understand the structure of the moon. "The detailed gravimetric data obtained by GRAIL has provided a better understanding of the structure of the lunar crust beneath the surface," says Zhu. The authors of the study conducted 360 computer simulations of giant impacts with the Moon to determine if such an event, millions of years ago, could replicate the lunar crust of the moon. Today, as detected by GRAIL.
A "giant impact" model could also explain the differences in isotopes of potassium, phosphorus and rare earth elements such as tungsten-182 between the Earth's and the Moon's surfaces. "Our model can therefore explain this isotopic anomaly in the context of the giant impact scenario of the origin of the Moon," the researchers write.
The dwarf planet that could have touched the nearness of the Moon was a little smaller than Ceres, the largest object of the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and the only dwarf planet located in the inner solar system.
NASA / JPL-CalTech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA
What was the size of the dwarf planet?
The researchers found that the best solution for today 's asymmetric moon is a large body of about 480 km in diameter, impacting the near side of the moon at a speed of 14,000. km / 22,500 km / hour. It's a little smaller than the dwarf planet Ceres.
What happened after the giant impact?
Large amounts of material have been projected and dropped onto the Moon's surface, thus burying the primordial crust of the hidden face in debris three to six miles (5 to 10 kilometers), creating a layer of crust detected on the face. hidden by GRAIL.
What is the importance of this study?
"This is a paper that will be very provocative," said Steve Hauck, professor of planetary geodynamics at Case Western Reserve University and editor of JGR: Planets. "To understand the origin of the differences between the near and the opposite side of the moon is a fundamental question in lunar science, because several planets have hemispherical dichotomies, but for the moon, we have a lot of data for to be able to test models and hypotheses, so the implications of this work could be broader than those of the Moon. "& nbsp;
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Artistic representation of a collision between two planetary bodies. New research suggests that the clear difference between the dark side of the heavily cratered Moon and the lower open basins on the near side was caused by the collision of a lost dwarf planet with the Moon at the beginning of the solar system's history.
NASA / JPL-Caltech.
Our moon is a game of two halves, and scientists now think they know why. From Earth, we see only one side of the lunar surface, one side of the low, open basalt plains formed by lava from ancient volcanoes. These lunar mares (in Latin "seas") on the side close to the Moon constitute the famous "man in the Moon". Meanwhile, the dark side of the moon is heavily cratered, has no mares and remains virtually invisible.
What is the cause of these profound differences between the two sides of the Moon? It may be a collision between the moon and a dwarf planet, according to new research, who think they have solved a mystery that has baffled scientists since the dark side of the moon was photographed for the first time in years 1960.
The hidden face of the moon, rarely seen, has a thicker crust and an extra layer of material compared to the near side.
NASA / Goddard / Arizona State University
What is the "dark side of the moon"?
It's an album of Pink Floyd and not a real place. The moon is locked on Earth, rotating every 29 days, the same length of orbit. So, from Earth, we only see one side, the near side, and although it oscillates slightly, most of the far side is impossible to see. It is not "dark" because the hidden face of the Moon is illuminated exactly as much as its visible face. We may not see it, but the far side was photographed by the Apollo missions of the 196 and 1970s and by other spacecraft, most recently by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), which gravitates around the moon since 2009.
The "dark side of the moon" is thought to refer to madness by the lyricist of Pink Floyd Roger Waters. This is not a real place.
The near part of the Moon presents "lunar mares", ancient plains of lava.
Getty
What was discovered?
New evidence on the lunar crust suggests that the differences between the near and the opposite side were caused by the collision of a dwarf planet with the moon at the beginning of the solar system's history. A report on the new research was published in the AGU Journal. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets detailing how the crust is thicker and includes an extra layer of material on its hidden face.
The theory of melting moons
The asymmetry of the moon has been the subject of many theories. The first is that there were once two moons in orbit around the Earth and they merged, creating the unique moon we know today.
Theory of giant impact
Was there once an asteroid or a young dwarf planet orbiting the Sun on a collision course with the Moon? "This idea would have appeared later than the Moon's melting scenario after the Moon formed a solid crust," said Meng Hua Zhu of the Institute of Space Science's University of Science and Technology. Macau and lead author of the new study. Are there any signs of such a visible impact in the structure of the lunar crust today? Yes, says the paper.
The last flight trajectory of NASA's Twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission, which hit the moon on December 17, 2012.
NASA / JPL-Caltech / GSFC / ASU
What is the proof?
Measurements made by GRAIL (Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory) in 2012 gave scientists more clues about the structure of the moon. "The detailed gravimetric data obtained by GRAIL has provided a better understanding of the structure of the lunar crust below the surface," Zhu said. The authors of the study conducted 360 computer simulations of giant impacts with the Moon to determine if such an event, millions of years ago, could replicate the lunar crust of the moon. Today, as detected by GRAIL.
A "giant impact" model could also explain the differences in isotopes of potassium, phosphorus and rare earth elements such as tungsten-182 between the Earth's and the Moon's surfaces. "Our model can therefore explain this isotopic anomaly in the context of the giant impact scenario of the origin of the Moon," the researchers write.
The dwarf planet that could have touched the nearness of the Moon was a little smaller than Ceres, the largest object of the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and the only dwarf planet located in the inner solar system.
NASA / JPL-CalTech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA
What was the size of the dwarf planet?
The researchers found that the best solution for today 's asymmetric moon is a large body of about 480 km in diameter, impacting the near side of the moon at a speed of 14,000. km / 22,500 km / hour. It's a little smaller than the dwarf planet Ceres.
What happened after the giant impact?
Large amounts of material have been projected and dropped onto the Moon's surface, thus burying the primordial crust of the hidden face in debris three to six miles (5 to 10 kilometers), creating a layer of crust detected on the face. hidden by GRAIL.
What is the importance of this study?
"It's a very provocative article," said Steve Hauck, a professor of planetary geodynamics at Case Western Reserve University and editor-in-chief of JGR: Planets. "Understanding the origin of the differences between the near and the opposite side of the moon is a fundamental problem in lunar science, because several planets have hemispherical dichotomies, but for the moon, we have a lot of data to test models and hypotheses with, so the implications of the work could probably be broader than just the moon ".