Solar History: Study Suggests Information About the Evolution of Sun Could be Hiding on the Moon

A team of scientists recently recommended that if one wants to learn about the Sun's history, he should look no further than the Moon.

Such a recommendation is that of the researchers who hope to harness "future Artemis lunar missions" to help understand the life history of the Earth's home star, a ScienceAlert report specified.

Essentially, the Sun has always influenced all of the Solar System's bodies. Not only does the Earth receive heat and light from the Sun, but a constant rain of high-energy particles and solar wind.

And this is not just taking place at present, although it has taken place every day for the past 4.5 billion years.

History of the Influence of the Sun

As specified in a similar Qudach report, on planets like Earth, nonetheless, the ancient history of the influence of the Sun on humans is lost.

The erosion from water, the weathering from wind, and the plate tectonics' constant cycles are taking any alterations that the Sun might have made on the crust and either blowing it away or burying it deep within the Earth's mantle.

However, dead worlds are quite a better record keeper, as indicated in a new white paper recently featured on the arXiv preprint journal.

And since the Moon is the closest dead world to Earth and the target of the Artemis series of missions, humans should go looking there.

Activity on the Moon

Admittedly, there has been some surface activity on the Moon since its first formation, such as lava flows and effects from asteroids and comets. However, that activity is helpful instead of a hindrance, according to the report.

Lava flows can seal off large sections of the Moon's surface from further interaction with the Sun. If people could dig down underneath flows and into the deeper regolith of the Moon, there would be a snapshot in solar history from before the flowing of lava.

Furthermore, while the effects are not inclined to mix up things, they expose deeper layers of the surface, giving humans access to them.

The study investigators outlined a few key quantities that can be measured from lunar specimens and how they link to the Sun's activity.

Moon Is A 'Solar Time Capsule'

For instance, one can look at how long a sample has been exposed to cosmic rays and utilize that to model the rate of the production of cosmic rays from the Sun for the past several billion years.

They can examine the tracks left by high-energy particles as they tunnel into the curst to obtain that same information

Over time, lunar soil slowly transforms into breccia, and this process changes with the same amount of solar radiation.

Through the comparison of specimens at different depths and areas, the change in the brightness of the Sun can be changed over time.

The white paper where this report first came out indicated that there is no more accessible site in the Solar System to peer into the ancient history of the Sun, according to Universe Today. In simple terms, the Moon is a "solar time capsule."

Related information about the Sun and moon are shown on Science Channel's YouTube video below:

Check out more news and information on the Sun in Science Times.