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Astronomers reveal new details about Moon, its evolution

It is estimated that the Moon came into being about 4.5 billion years ago, but astronomers have now found that Earth’s immediate neighbour turned itself inside out to create the lunar surface that later became familiar to humanity.

Wednesday April 17, 2024 9:25 PM, ummid.com Science Desk

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Mumbai: It is estimated that the Moon came into being about 4.5 billion years ago, but astronomers have now found that Earth’s immediate neighbour turned itself inside out to create the lunar surface that later became familiar to humanity.

The new study —published in the journal Nature Geoscience — found that more than 4.2 billion years ago, the Earth’s natural satellite turned itself inside out and eventually formed the outermost surface of it.

The experts analysed the samples from the Moon’s rock collected by the Apollo Mission, and by that, they may have solved the mystery revolving around the lunar composition.

"Our Moon literally turned itself inside out, but there has been little physical evidence to shed light on the exact sequence of events during this critical phase of lunar history, and there is a lot of disagreement in the details of what went down”, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL) Associate Professor and co-author of the study, Jeffrey Andrews-Hanna, said in a statement.

Presence of titanium

The astronomers also discovered a high concentration of titanium in the basaltic lava rock samples.

The observations from the satellites also showed the titanium-rich volcanic rocks located at the lunar nearside, baffling the scientists about how they got there.

A team of the University of Arizona believed that when the Moon came into being, it was covered with a hot magma ocean, which gradually cooled down and formed the outer layers such as crust and mantle.

Models of moon formation suggest the last remains of this giant lunar ocean crystallized into dense materials including ilmenite, a mineral rich in iron and titanium.

"Because these heavy minerals are denser than the mantle underneath, they create a gravitational instability, and you would expect this layer to sink deeper into the moon's interior," said lead researcher Weigang Liang.

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