An international team of researchers coordinated by planetary science expert Yuji Harada, from the China University of Geosciences, has discovered that a warm and soft layer of materials exists deep within our satellite , in the deepest regions of the mantle.
According to these scientists in a study published in the journal Nature Geoscience , the tidal force caused by the gravitational pull of our planet would generate the heat that would keep it in that state.
In their essay, Harada and his collaborators point out that based on theoretical estimates and data provided by different probes, including the Japanese spacecraft Kaguya or Selene, which for two years studied the origin and evolution of the Moon , they suggest that its interior It has not yet cooled and hardened completely , but is heated by the aforementioned phenomenon. Their conclusions, they point out, is proof of the mutual influence that the Earth and its satellite have maintained since their origin.
The gravitational force of one celestial object can alter the shape of another, a process that has been observed in the Earth-Moon system.
Now, the signatories of this study point out that the deformation presented by the latter is better explained if the existence of the aforementioned layer is assumed. What's more, their data support the idea that part of the rocks that make up the lunar mantle are at least partially melted.
Photo: National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
