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There is a striking contrast between the hidden face of the moon and the lower open basins of the Earth. And scientists now think they have solved the lunar mystery of decades. New evidence provided by the NASA space agency now suggests that an old collision between the moon and another celestial object was responsible for the unbalanced lunar surface.
The new research suggests that a collision between the moon and a dwarf planet the size of the moon in the early solar system is the best explanation.
The difference between the near face of the moon facing the Earth and the hidden face of the moon has been debated since the days of NASA Apollo.
Scientists had already thought that the Earth had boasted two billion years ago and had merged to create an uneven surface.
Measurements made by the NASA GRAIL (Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory) mission in 2012 provided the necessary additional data on the structure of the moon.
This is notably the case of the crust of the hidden face of the moon, thicker than that of the near side, which includes an additional layer of material, while the near face has a thinner and smoother crust.
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Dr. Meng Hua Zhu, co-author of the study, said: "The detailed gravimetric data obtained by GRAIL has provided a better understanding of the structure of the lunar crust beneath the surface."
Dr. Hua Zhu's Macao University Science and Technology team performed hundreds of computer simulations in which impacts to the moon resulted in the current crust of the moon.
The researchers found that the best solution is a large body, about 780 km (480 miles), struck the near side of the moon at 14,000 km / h (22,500 km / h).
The model shows that the impact would have projected large amounts of material that would fall on the surface of the moon, burying the crust on the other side in debris 3 to 6 miles (5 to 10 km).
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The model also provides a good explanation for the unexplained differences in isotopes of potassium, phosphorus, and rare earth elements such as tungsten 182 between the Earth's and the Moon's surfaces.
Researchers at the University of Macao wrote: "Our model can therefore explain this isotopic anomaly in the context of the giant impact scenario of the origin of the Moon.
Professor Steve Hauck of Case Western Reserve University added, "This document will be very provocative.
"Understanding the origin of the differences between the near and the far side of the moon is a fundamental question in lunar science.
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"Indeed, several planets have hemispherical dichotomies, but for the Moon, we have plenty of data to test models and hypotheses, so the implications of this work may be broader than the Moon."
Scientists hope to add to their models data from lunar missions, including the Chinese mission Chang'e-4, which landed in the back of the moon in January.
Analysis of the Chang'e-4 mission data revealed the presence of substances from inside the moon on the surface of the crater where the probe had landed.
This adds to the weight of evidence suggesting that a huge collision occurred about 3.9 billion years ago.
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