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The Reiner Gamma Lunar Vortex is seen decorating the surface of the moon, an image taken with NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. A new study hopes to put an end to the mystery surrounding these amazing lunar motifs.
Credit: NASA LRO WAC Science Team
Clear, dark marks are spinning on the moon, looking like cream spinning in the cafe or clouds on a slate gray sky. According to a new study, these lunar vortices can come from the ancient and magnetic lava located just under the surface of the moon.
A joint study between researchers from Rutgers University and the University of California at Berkeley showed that the magnetic field generated by the moon and past volcanic activity accounted for the lunar vortices.
Researchers have known for some time that lunar vortices share a space with localized magnetic fields and that when these fields deflect particles from the solar wind, part of the moon's surface is slower than other parts. "But the cause of these magnetic fields, and therefore whirls themselves, had long been a mystery," said Sonia Tikoo, co-author of the study and researcher at the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences from Rutgers University in New Brunswick. A declaration. "To solve it, we had to find out what kind of geological feature could produce these magnetic fields – and why their magnetism was so powerful." [How the Moon Evolved: A Photo Timeline]
Sonia Tikoo, co-author of a new study explaining lunar vortices and researcher at the Department of Earth Sciences and Planets at Rutgers University, is examining samples of lunar rocks in a Petri dish. Credit: Nick Romanenko / Rutgers University
The researchers developed mathematical models for these localized fields, or "geological magnets," as they are described in the statement. These models have shown that every lunar whirl must exist above a narrow magnetic object located just below the lunar surface.
Even stranger, the researchers believe that these underground magnetic objects are ancient, long, narrow lava tubes formed by lava or lava dikes, which are vertical magma leaves in the crust of a moon. or from a planet. Past experiments have shown that when heated above 1,112 degrees Fahrenheit (600 degrees Celsius) in an oxygen-free environment, some minerals in the lunar rocks decompose and release metallic iron, making the rocks extremely magnetic.
Thus, according to the statement, when the moon was erupting in lava more than 3 billion years ago, these magnetic lava tubes or lava dikes were probably created and became very magnetic when they were erupted. they have cooled down.
"No one had thought of this reaction in terms of explaining these exceptionally strong magnetic features on the moon," Tikoo said, referring to lava becoming a magnetic rock beneath the surface and causing lunar whirlpools. "This was the last piece of the understanding puzzle of magnetism that underlies these lunar whirlpools."
This study was published on July 26 in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.
Email Chelsea Gohd at [email protected] or follow her @ chelsea_gohd. follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
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