The Incredible Structures Beneath the Dark Side of the Moon Unveiled by Yutu-2
According to a recent publication by a team of Chinese-American scientists in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, researchers utilized a special technique known as “Lunar Penetrating Radar” (LPR) to explore a multi-layered structure resembling a 300-meter thick cake beneath the surface of this satellite.
Lead researcher Jiangqing Feng from the Planetary Science Institute (USA) stated that LPR enabled Yutu-2 to send radio signals deep beneath the Moon’s surface, mapping hidden structures that simultaneously help scientists to go back in time and understand the celestial past.
The Moon’s Surface Full of Crater Impacts – (Photo: NASA).
New data reveals that the top 40 meters beneath the Moon’s surface consists of numerous layers of dust, soil, and fragmented rock.
Hidden within this chaos is a crater formed by a very large object that once collided with the Moon. This impact may have created the surrounding soil and debris.
Deeper down, they discovered up to five distinct layers of lava that have seeped through the landscape of the celestial body over billions of years.
According to Space, scientists believe that the Moon formed approximately 4.51 billion years ago, shortly after the birth of the Sun itself, originating from a mixture of the early Earth and a Mars-sized planet called Theia, following a collision between the two planets.
The Earth today is essentially a composition of the early Earth and Theia.
Like Earth, the Moon continued to be bombarded violently about 200 million years after its fiery birth, causing magma in the mantle to seep through newly formed cracks due to a series of volcanic eruptions.
According to Dr. Feng and colleagues, volcanic activity on Earth’s only satellite ceased about 1 billion years ago, leading it to be considered “geologically dead.” However, there may still be magma deep beneath the Moon’s surface.
