An artist concept without date shows the interior and volcanism of the Moon about 2 to 3 billion years ago. However, the volcanic activity on the nearby lunar side (the side towards the front earth) helped create a landscape dominated by fast plains called mare, which are formed by molten rock that cooled and solidified. | Photo credit: NASA
An exhaustive examination of lunar gravity using NASA two robotic spacecraft is offering new clues about why the two sides of the moon, the perpetual in front of the earth and the other always forward, look so different.
The data of the US space agency. UU., Or the recovery of gravity and the interior laboratory, indicate that the deep interior of the Moon hash an asymmetric structure, apparently falls through an intense volcanism in its parades.
The researchers discovered that the nearby lunar is flexed a little more than the distant during its elliptical orbit around the earth thanks to the gravitational influence of our planet, a process called tide deformation. This indicates differences on both sides of the lunar interior, they said, specifically in the geological layer called mantle.
“Our study shows that the interior of the moon is not uniform: the side that faces the Earth, the Nearside, is warmer and more deep geological than the farce,” said Ryan Park, supervisor of the solar system dynamics group in the Jet Propulsiona -Laborratory of NASA on Wednesday in the journal Nature.
The side of the moon is covered by vast plains, called mare, formed from molten rock that cooled and solidified billions of years. Its distant has a much more resistant terrain, with few plains.
Some scientists have raised the hypothesis that the intense volcanism within the nearby cost that caused the radioactive elements generating heat to accumulate on that side of the mantle promoted the surface differences observed today. The new findings sacrifice the strongest evidence that this notion does not yet support.
The researchers estimated that the close mantle on average is approximately 180-360 degrees Fahrenheit (100-200 degrees Celsius) hotter than the farce, with the thermal difference perhaps sustained by the radioactive decomposition of the thorium and the titanium of the elements.
“The nearby and distant moon look very different, as evidenced by the differences in topography, the thickness of the bark and the number of heat producing elements inside,” Park said.
The diameter of the moon of approximately 2,160 miles (3,475 km) is a little more than a quarter of the diameter of the earth. The lunar mantle is the layer located under the cortex and above the nucleus, the tension a depth of approximately 22-870 miles (35-1,400 km) below the surface. The mantle constitutes approximately 80% of the mass and the volume of the moon and is mainly composed of olivine and pyroxen minerals, similar to the mantle of the earth.
“The fact that the asymmetry detected in the mantle coincides with the pattern of surface geology, for example, differences in the abundance of Mare’s basalt Farside-Farside-Farside-Farside-Farside-Farside-Farside-Farside-Farside-Farside-Farside-Farside-Farside-Farside-Farside-Farside- Farside-Farside-Farside-Farside-Farside-Farside-Farside-Farside-Farside-Farside-Farside-Farside-Farside-Farside-Farside-Farside- “Said the planetary and co -author of the Study of Caltech Computational Alex Berne, affiliated with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory working in the design of severity sensors for the missions to the external solar system.
The researchers spent years analyzing data on the Grail and Flow spacecraft, which orbit the Moon from December 2011 to December 2012.
“Our study offers the most detailed and precise gravitational map of the moon to date,” Park said.
“This improved gravity map is a critical basis for developing lunar systems for positioning, navigation and time (PNT), which are essential for the success of future lunar exploration missions. By improving our understanding of the moon moon, the contribution system, the contribution system, allowing the safest and most reliable navigation for spatial and superficial operations,” Park added.
The same approach used here using gravity data to evaluate the lunar interior, the researchers said, could be applied to other bodies in the Solar System, such as the Lunate Light of Saturn and Jupiter’s moon, Ganymede, two worlds of interest.
Meanwhile, the new findings add to the understanding of the Eternal Companion of the Earth.
“The Moon plays a vital role in stabilization of earth rotation and the generation of ocean tides, which influence natural systems and daily rhythms,” Park said. “Our knowledge of the Moon has expanded through human and robotic missions that have revealed details about its surface and interior, however, many questions about their deep structure and history remain. As our closest approach or continuous.”
Posted on May 15, 2025
