A visualization of what the magma ocean may have looked like.
Although over 200,000 miles from Earth, it is our closest celestial neighbor.
It clocks in atone-quarter Earth’s size, and its history is deeply entwined with its larger companion.
A visualization of what the magma ocean may have looked like. (Photo: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Conceptual Image Lab)
This new body became the Moon we know through a cooling process over millions of years.
During that time, scientists have long believed the surface was covered in an ocean of magma.
New evidence from lunar samples supports this theory, as announced inNature.
The surface of the moon’s North Pole. (Photo:JPL/ASU/NASA)
Thus, a lunar magma ocean formed.
Lighter rocks rose while heavier materials sank.
Over the course of 200 million years the molten rock solidified into the rock surface seen today.
Photo:JPL/NASA
The lunar soil, known as regolith, was taken from near the Moon’s South Pole.
The high latitude regions .
However, the importance of landing closer to the poles has been known for quite a while, and .
the number of attempts for landing at high latitudes has been increasing.
This unique sample showed high levels of ferroan anorthosite, a light rock.
This finding supports the magma ocean theory of the Moon’s history.
It matches findings on other, more studied regions of the Moon.
The researchers speculate impacts from asteroids may have flung these minerals up from lower depths.
The Moon was likely once covered by a magma ocean, which eventually cooled to rock.
The surface of the moon’s North Pole.
Photo:JPL/NASA
