Strong, Sporadic Magnetic Fields Could Explain One of The Moon's Enduring Mysteries

[Judi Lynn]

CARLY CASSELLA
16 JANUARY 2022

It's been half a century since the Apollo missions returned from the Moon, and yet the lunar samples they brought home continue to baffle us.

Some of these rocks are more than 3 billion years old and appear to have been formed in the presence of a strong geomagnetic field, like the one on Earth. But the Moon today doesn't have a magnetosphere; it's too small and dense, frozen right through to the core.


Unlike Earth, the Moon's insides aren't constantly churning with electrically conductive material, which produces a geomagnetic field in the first place. So, why do lunar rocks tell us otherwise?

It's possible the Moon didn't freeze over as quickly as we thought; a few billion years ago, its core might have still been slightly molten.

More:
https://www.sciencealert.com/a-patchwork-of-strong-magnetic-fields-could-explain-one-of-the-moon-s-enduring-mysteries

[Duppers]

1. Very interesting. 🤔

Perhaps dh would have some ideas about this; I'll ask.