Posted on 12/06/2008 8:51:38 AM PST by SunkenCiv
Deep down, the moon may be more like Earth than scientists ever thought. A new moon-rock study suggests the satellite has an iron core... The moon's core could be a clue to its ancient origins, which have long puzzled astronomers. "Our moon is too big to be a moon," Taylor said. "It's huge compared to the moons we see around other planets, so it has always been suspected that there was something strange in its origin." ...Rock samples from NASA's Apollo 15 and Apollo 17 moon missions of the early 1970s have now shed more light on the moon's origins, according to Taylor and colleagues' study, to be published in the tomorrow's issue of the journal Science. The group studied a type of lunar rock called mare basalt, which is believed to have been created deep in the moon's mantle and have retained signatures of that region. Mare basalt hails from vast, dark, flat areas of the moon's surface called mares. It is dense, dark gray, and likely formed from cooled magma. The moon rocks suggest that the lunar mantle is very low in elements that bond easily with iron, such as gold and platinum -- like Earth's mantle, but with even lower levels of those elements... "We must have had a core form [in the moon] to have [iron bonding] elements at the [low] levels we see now," Taylor said. "That's the same thing that happened on Earth, Mars, Venus, and Mercury -- the terrestrial planets."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalgeographic.com ...
How did the moon form? The "big whack" theory suggests that a Mars-size object slammed into the hot early Earth. The debris that was ejected went into Earth's orbit and gradually came together, forming the moon, the widely accepted theory says. A new lunar-rock study suggests that the moon's insides are a lot like Earth's -- new evidence that the theory of the big whack is on the right track. [Illustration courtesy NASA]
New evidence for the Moon’s soft middle
New Scientist | 14 February 2002 | Will Knight
Posted on 12/27/2004 2:29:35 PM PST by SunkenCiv
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In the shadow of the Moon
New Scientist | 30 January 1999 | editors
Posted on 08/31/2004 8:42:25 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1203912/posts
When the Days Were Shorter
Alaska Science Forum (Article #742) | November 11, 1985 | Larry Gedney
Posted on 10/04/2004 10:31:59 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1234919/posts
“It’s huge compared to the moons we see around other planets, so it has always been suspected that there was something strange in its origin.”
“Strange in its origin?” That’s because it was created.
I must have been out of town that weekend.
Bush’s fault!
I knew an ole chic once that had a an iron core. Cold.
That the moon has a small iron core has been known for a long time.
bump
whatever or whomever made our earth/moon system, its gravitational pull is what keeps our core molten and thus maintains our van allen belt which protects us from solar radiation.
Chewy caramel center bump.
I wasn't aware that the moon had volcanoes?
Nice try, but we all know you were drivin’.
Huge Impact Crater Uncovered in Canadian Forest
National Geographic News | November 25, 2008 | John Roach
Posted on 11/28/2008 7:56:19 PM PST by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2139853/posts
Lasers Uncover Craters
ScienceNOW Daily News | 1 December 2008 | Phil Berardelli
Posted on 12/03/2008 8:30:16 PM PST by neverdem
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2142556/posts
Cool.
Say what?
At one time, the moon’s craters were all attributed to volcanism. That was laid to rest as a consequence of the Apollo mission astronauts who sampled, examined, and photographed the lunar surface. The volcanic explanation made some sense, but was basically an alibi against impact. The so-called “Late Heavy Bombardment” is ascribed to a 200 million year period beginning 4 billion years ago, putting it waaaay back in time, and farrrrr, farrrrr away from our own.
Scientists unearth ancient impact’s secrets
A giant meteorite struck Earth 1.8 billion years ago, creating Sudbury Basin.
What does this event tell us about early Earth?
by Mark Jirsa (December issue)
http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=i&id=462
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