2023-08-23 04:00:17
Since 2018, the first probe to land on the far side of the Moon Chang’e-4 has captured panoramas of craters and studied the lunar floor. Today, the probe allows researchers to visualize with unprecedented precision the stacked structures constituting the first 300 meters below the surface (A surface generally designates the superficial layer of an object. The term a…) lunar (For namesakes, see Pierrot lunaire, a work of vocal music by Arnold Schoenberg.).
The findings, published Aug. 7 in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, unlock billions of years of previously hidden lunar history.
The first 40 meters below the lunar surface were mapped in 2020
The Yutu-2 rover, onboard Chang’e-4, is equipped with a technology called Radar (Radar is a system that uses radio waves to detect and determine the…) Lunar Penetrating (LPR). This device, according to the main author Jianqing Feng, researcher (A researcher (fem. researcher) designates a person whose job is to do…) in astro-geology at the Institute (An institute is a permanent organization created for a certain purpose. That is…) of Planetary Sciences in Tucson, Arizona, allows the rover to send radio signals deep below the lunar surface. These “echoes” are used (Servent is the contraction of the word server and client.) then to establish a cartography (Cartography designates the production and study of geographical maps. The…) of the lunar subsoil. In 2020, Yutu-2’s LPR mapped the first 40 meters of the lunar surface, but went no further.
According to this new data, these upper 40 meters are made up of dust, soil and fractured rock. Feng and his team believe that the debris around (Autour is the name that the avian nomenclature in French language (update) gives…) of this formation comes from an impact. Deeper down, five distinct layers of lunar lava dating back billions of years have been identified.
Yutu 2 seen from Chang’e-4.
Scientists believe that the Moon was formed 4.51 billion years ago, following the collision of a object (In general, the word object (from the Latin objectum, 1361) designates an entity defined in…) of the size of Mars with the Earth (The Earth is the third planet of the Solar System in order of distance… ). The Moon then suffered impacts for regarding 200 million years. Some have cracked its surface, letting the magma of the mantle escape through the faults during volcanic eruptions.
Recent information shows a slowing down of this process. Layers of volcanic rock are thinner near the surface, indicating less lava from recent eruptions. “The cooling Moon lost its vigor in its later volcanic stages,” Feng explains.
Lunar volcanic activity probably died out 1 billion (One billion (1,000,000,000) is the natural number following nine hundred…) years ago, although evidence suggests more recent activity . However, magma might still be found at depth.
Chang’e-4 continues its exploration. Feng hopes he will reveal other unexpected geological formations to us in the future.
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