Moon, big differences between the two faces: the 60-year mystery may have been revealed

The moon is famous for two faces: the well-known face, which “looks” towards the Earth, and the dark side, the so-called “dark side of the moon”. They are famous for being so different, and perhaps this mystery, which has persisted since the Apollo missions, can finally be solved.

They’ve been in the past few hours Simulations published in Science Advances It was made by researchers at Brown University, in collaboration with Purdue University, the Lunar and Planetary Science Laboratory in Arizona, Stanford University, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). There was a first glimpse of the far surface 1959When the Soviet probe Luna 3 showed the whole world how “The dark side”, Darker, harsher and features thousands of pits. For more than 60 years, scientists have tried to understand why this side of the moon is so different from the visible side, and we may encounter solve the puzzle.

NASA, revealed the secret of the two sides? Answers from an interesting new study

“The answer, according to the new study – writes RaiNews – lies precisely in those nuances that we see if we look at our satellite that were the result of ancient volcanic activity.” In detail, the mystery will be revealed How the Antarctic-Aitken Basin (SPA) was formed, that is, what is the largest and oldest lunar meteorite crater. Its creation is considered a crucial event in the evolution of the moon, and through computer simulations of what would have happened billions of years ago, before the lunar surface was affected by volcanic activity, it was discovered that “warming radiates from the effect on the lunar mantle may have created conditions for the formation of the unusual asymmetry “.

According to this study, the effect that led to the birth of SPA would have occurred huge column of heat that will then spread within the moon itself. Then, the column itself brings some material to the visible side of our satellite, so the concentration of the elements contributes to this volcanoes Which created the lava plains at the closest. Matt Jones From Brown University, he added: “We know that large effects such as the one that formed the SPA can create a lot of heat. The question is how this heat affected the internal dynamics of the moon. What we show is that in any case the SPA was formed, the concentration of the elements produced The heat on the near side will still be limited. What we think is that this contributed to the mantle melting that produced the lava flows we see at the surface.”