2024-08-06 07:45:08
Although, for practical purposes, the Moon does not have an atmosphere, it is not surrounded by a complete vacuum. Since the 1980s, many astronomers have observed a series of very weak atoms bouncing off the surface of the moon. This hypertensive atmosphere, technically known as the “exosphere,” is believed to be the result of some form of space erosion. But what exactly is the process or processes involved in such erosion is something that has not had a clear answer in the years since.
Now, scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University of Chicago and NASA, all three institutions in the United States, have identified the main process that formed the lunar atmosphere and continues to sustain it today.
In their study, the researchers analyzed lunar soil samples collected by astronauts during NASA’s Apollo missions.
Their analysis suggests that during the Moon’s roughly 4.5 billion-year history, its surface has been continuously moved, first by large-sized and massive meteorites and, more recently, by micrometeorites, which are grains of dust.
These steady effects threw atoms high into the air. Some atoms are transported into space, while others remain suspended above the moon, creating a tenuous atmosphere that is constantly renewed as meteorites continue to erode the surface and send the atoms flying upwards.
Therefore, by all indications, impact evaporation is the main process by which the Moon has generated and maintained its atmosphere for billions of years.
An artistic hobby of an astronaut working on the surface of the moon during a future mission while helping to raise some dust that will temporarily float on the surface. (Photo: NASA)
The team members who carried out the study are Nicole Nie, from MIT; Nicolas Dauphas, Zhe Zhang and Timo Hopp, from the University of Chicago; and Menelaos Sarantos, from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
The title of the study is “Lunar Soil Record of Atmospheric Loss over Eons.” And it has been published in the academic journal Science Advances. (Source: NYT of Amazings)
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