Scientists discover the Moon once ‘turned itself inside out’
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: Alex Dean/Getty / MASTER/Getty
In yet another exciting scientific discovery, scientists have discovered the Moon actually once 'turned itself inside out'.
Yep, you read that right - the moon illuminating our night skies is not what it would have been billions of years ago.
But, I hear you ask, how does the Moon even do that?
Well, scientists have discovered the impressive sequence of events that likely led to the Earth's Moon turning itself inside out.
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Most knowledge surrounding Moon's origin and its geology is from analysis of basaltic lava rocks collected by Apollo astronauts - and those rocks have shown surprising concentrations of titanium, leaving scientists scratching their heads.
According to researchers at the University of Arizona, when the Moon was formed around 4.5 billion years ago, it was initially hot and covered by a global magma ocean.
Imagine if that came crashing into the Earth?
That was obviously a long time ago - with the Moon having a very different look to it nowadays.
So, while experts have a pretty good idea of the Moon's properties billion years ago - how it formed to be what it is today still remains a mystery.
The molten rock is said to have gradually cooled, subsequently forming the moon’s mantle and the bright crust, while the lower layers would have been in a state of turmoil.
But, according to scientist's latest findings, it was discovered that the magma ocean had crystallized into dense minerals - and surprisingly, it was this dense material that sank into the interior, melted and returned to the surface.
According to the study's co-author, Weigang Liang, this would have created 'a gravitational instability' because 'these heavy minerals are denser than the mantle underneath', adding: "You would expect this layer to sink deeper into the moon’s interior."
This led to more questions as it remains unclear whether it sank all at once or in smaller fragments.
Jeff Andrews-Hanna, another author of the study, said: "Our moon literally turned itself inside out. For the first time, we have physical evidence showing us what was happening in the moon’s interior during this critical stage of its evolution, and that’s really exciting."
To further understand how it flipped inside out, researchers also used simulations of a sinking ilmenite-rich layer on the moon.
And after comparing to previous gravity anomalies presented by NASA and its team of experts, the scientists had some answers.
It's now believed that the Ilmenite materials migrated to the moon’s near side and sunk into the interior.
"[This left] behind a vestige that causes anomalies in the moon’s gravity field, as seen by Grail." researchers said.
Dr Andrews-Hanna added: "It turns out that the moon’s earliest history is written below the surface, and it just took the right combination of models and data to unveil that story."