The moon lost its magnetic fields one billion years ago: study
The moon lost its magnetic fields one billion years ago: study
Billions of years ago, the ancient moon had a powerful dynamo at its core that produced a strong global magnetic field.
For story suggestions or custom animation requests, contact tips@nextanimation.com.tw.
Visit http://archive.nextanimationstudio.com to view News Direct's complete archive of 3D news animations.
RESTRICTIONS: Broadcast: NO USE JAPAN, NO USE TAIWAN Digital: NO USE JAPAN, NO USE TAIWAN Billions of years ago, the ancient moon had a powerful dynamo at its core that produced a strong global magnetic field.
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say that they have pinned down when that dynamo stopped, leading to the field's dissipation.
In a study published in Science Advances, researchers say that the Apollo mission collected lunar rocks that preserve a record of the moon's ancient magnetic field.
However, most of these rocks dated to between 3 and 4 billion years, or too long ago for studying the end of the moon's internal dynamo.
To research the moon's later magnetic history, the scientists tested two samples that were 1 billion years old and found them to record a weak lunar magnetic field.
As the rocks were left by a meteor impact, scientists reheated the rocks and obtained the same readings to make sure the impact's heat did not interfere with the rocks' magnetic records.
According to the MIT news release, the moon used to be much closer to earth, and the gravitational effect caused the liquid lunar core to wobble, which created the magnetic field.
The weak magnetism recorded by the two rocks suggests the gravitational effects had begun to seize up one billion years ago.
RUNDOWN SHOWS: 1.
New study pins down the time when the moon stopped generating its own magnetic field 2.
MIT scientists analyze lunar rocks to reconstruct the moon's magnetic history 3.
Two rocks dated to one billion years ago show signs of weak magnetic field 4.
The moon's internal dynamo system as it used to function VOICEOVER (in English): "Billions of years ago, the ancient moon had a powerful dynamo at its core that produced a strong global magnetic field." "Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say that they have pinned down when that dynamo stopped, leading to the field's dissipation." "In a study published in Science Advances, researchers say that the Apollo mission collected lunar rocks that preserve a record of the moon's ancient magnetic field." "However, most of these rocks dated to between 3 and 4 billion years, or too long ago for studying the end of the moon's internal dynamo." "To research the moon's later magnetic history, the scientists tested two samples that were 1 billion years old and found them to record a weak lunar magnetic field." "As the rocks were left by a meteor impact, scientists reheated the rocks and obtained the same readings to make sure the impact's heat did not interfere with the rocks' magnetic records." "According to the MIT news release, the moon used to be much closer to earth, and the gravitational effect caused the liquid lunar core to wobble, which created the magnetic field." "The weak magnetism recorded by the two rocks suggests the gravitational effects had begun to seize up one billion years ago." SOURCES: Science Advances, Phys.org https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/1/eaax0883 https://phys.org/news/2020-01-scientists-pin-lunar-dynamo-demise.html *** For story suggestions please contact tips@nextanimation.com.tw For technical and editorial support, please contact: Asia: +61 2 93 73 1841 Europe: +44 20 7542 7599 Americas and Latam: +1 800 738 8377
