Researchers solve mysteries of the moon’s interior

If this interior of the moon Whether it is solid or melted has long been a matter of debate among researchers. Now a French research team is expected to work with the astronomer Arthur Briaud found an answer to this question. According to the researchers, the moon, like the earth, has one solid inner corethat of a semi-liquid outer core is surrounded.

For their study, the research team used data from space missions and geophysical measurements. For example, data from the NASA mission were analyzed Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL), in which NASA probes flew over different parts of the moon’s surface in 2011 and measured the gravitational forces between them. The research team examined different variants of the core structure in geophysical and thermodynamic computer models.

According to the calculations of the researchers, the inner core of the Earth’s satellite has a radius of about 258 Kilometer and – similar to iron – a density of 7822 Kilograms per cubic meter. The outer core has a radius of 362 Kilometer and a density of 5.025 Kilograms per cubic meter.

The planetary scientist came to a similar conclusion Renee Weber, which used modern seismological methods to interpret seismological measurements from the manned Apollo missions more than 10 years ago. Their calculations indicated a radius of 240 kilometers and a density of around 8,000 kilograms per cubic meter for the inner core.

Conclusions on the development of the moon

The earlier findings were confirmed by his results, Briaud is quoted as saying by science alert. The earth-like core of the moon also allows interesting conclusions about the development of the moon.

The earth satellite had a strong shortly after its formation Magentfeld had that began to decrease more than 3 billion years ago. The composition of the lunar core could provide information about how and why the magnetic field disappeared.