What's Inside the Moon? This Lunar Satellite's Inner Core Is Earth-Like and Solid With Iron-Like Density

The moon's inner core has remained a long-standing mystery, but now scientists have been able to confirm that a solid, earth-like ball lies in the lunar center.

Moon's Inner Core

This was discovered through thorough and in-depth investigations. According to Science Alert, the researchers are hopeful that their recent study will settle the long-standing debate regarding whether a molten or solid core lies at the Moon's center. They also hope that it will foster a better understanding of the history of the Moon.

According to Gizmodo, researchers from the Institute of Celestial Mechanics and Ephemeris Calculations and the Côte d'Azur University were also able to determine that the Moon's inner core consists of a metal with an iron-like density. They also discovered that the diameter of the core is roughly 310 miles, which is roughly equivalent to 15% of the width of the Moon.

The work was published in the Nature journal. Arthur Briaud, the team leader, explains that their results challenge the lunar magnetic field's evolution due to how the findings reveal the inner core's existence. It also supports a planet-wide scenario that offers vital insights regarding the lunar bombardment timeline in the Solar System's first billion years.

Probing Deeper Into the Moon's Inner Core

Science Alert reports that in order to look deeper into the internal composition of cosmic objects, using seismic data would be more effective. The quake-caused waves travel and reflect material within a planet or satellite. This, in turn, could enable scientists to come up with a detailed interior map.

While there is lunar seismic data generated by the Apollo mission, it has a low resolution. Hence, to delve deeper, the team gathered data from various space missions as well as experiments on lunar laser ranging. They did so in order to consolidate the different characteristics of the Moon, including deformation degree, density, and variation in Earth-Moon distance.

They then did modeling with different types of cores to examine which one was similar to the Moon based on the data they collected.

The researchers found out that models that were similar to what is known about the Moon illustrate an active overturn deep within the Moon's mantle. Because of this, denser interior material moves toward the center while less dense material moves upward.

They also discovered that the Moon's inner core is quite Earth-like in the sense that a solid inner core and an outer layer of fluid can be found.

The density of the inner core was found to be roughly 7,822 kilograms per cubic meter, which is extremely iron-like in a sense. Its radius is also roughly equivalent to 362 kilometers.

Briaud and the team note that their findings confirm earlier findings of the Curiosity rover back in 2011. Back then, proof of a solid inner core was found. Astronomers also held that the inner core had a radius of 240 kilometers and a density of roughly 8,000 kilograms per cubic meter.

Such findings may have interesting implications for the evolution of the Moon.

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