Scientists are confused by the "huge mass" under the surface of the moon



[ad_1]

A mass anomaly

The largest crater on the Moon – the 1200 km / 4 billion-year-old South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin – hides an enormous metal object beneath its surface, discovered by researchers from the Baylor University and revealed to the world this week.

It's a discovery that continues to confuse scientists. Where does this growth of 4.8 quintillion pounds come from? What is it?

"Imagine taking a pile of metal five times larger than the Big Island of Hawaii and burying it underground," said Peter B. James, author of the newspaper, in a press release. "That's about the unexpected mass we detected."

A tale of two theories

According to the researchers who discovered it, the mass exists for two reasons.

The first is "that the metal of the asteroid that formed this crater is still encrusted in the lunar mantle," said James. The second is that the surface of the liquid magma of the Moon has solidified billions of years ago, leaving dense nickel and iron oxides.

"I think both of their suggestions could be valid," wrote Sara Mazrouei, Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Toronto. "It can be the remains of dense oxides or remains of a giant impactor. the [latter] seems more plausible. "

Formation of the moon

Regardless of what caused the gigantic mass on the other side of the Moon, it is essential to understand the origins of the Moon Basin for the SPA in order to learn more about satellite formation.

"There is no doubt that this basin is very interesting. This is the biggest impact characteristic we have in the solar system, "wrote Rosaly Lopes, Senior Research Scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in an e-mail.

"Anyway, the more we learn about the SPA and its formation, the more we will learn about the beginnings of the Moon, the Earth and the inner solar system," wrote Mazrouei.

More questions

The Chinese lunar lander Chang'e-4 landed in the Von Kármán crater – a crater located inside the SPA basin – in January.

It took a long trip outside the moon to examine the chemical makeup of lunar rocks and soil – but it is unlikely that it could probe the weird mass that extends up to " depths of more than 300 km [186 miles]"According to the researchers' paper.

At the same time, efforts to send humans back to the moon are heating up. NASA is considering 2024 for the next opportunity to land American astronauts on its surface. Perhaps we will have the chance to deepen our research on the giant metallic secret of the Moon.

And if you thought the metal could be a buried alien spacecraft, you will not be on the expert side.

"Sorry, I do not speculate on alien civilizations," said one of the researchers we spoke to.

READ MORE: Mass anomaly detected under the biggest crater of the moon [Baylor University]

More on the anomaly: Astronomers discover a "deep structure" under the largest crater of the moon

[ad_2]

Source link