For the 1st time, scientists confirm the moon has a solid iron 'heart' just like Earth

Live Science ^ | Joanna Thompson

[BenLurkin]

The first hints that the moon had an Earth-like interior came from NASA's Apollo missions. Data gathered by the lunar landers' instruments suggested that the celestial body was differentiated — or layered with denser material at the center and less dense material nearer the surface — as opposed to uniform rock all the way through. Apollo astronauts even left seismometers on the moon, which later revealed that it experiences moonquakes...

However, scientists were only recently able to sort through the massive data sets from the Apollo missions and other lunar probes to get a clearer picture of the moon's insides.

Using a detailed computer model built on geological data from the Apollo program and NASA's GRAIL mission — which used a pair of probes to monitor the moon's gravitational field for more than a year — the researchers determined that the inner core is about 310 miles (500 km) in diameter, or only 15% of the Moon's width.

[linMcHlp]

bkmk

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks BenLurkin.

---

join or quit view topics view or post blog bookmark post new topic subscribe

---

The rest of the Potsdam Gravity Potato keyword, sorted:

• 'Significant Global Event From The Past': Scientists Get Shocking Evidence From Earth's Inner Core [02/22/2023]
• CAPSTONE Becomes First Probe to Enter Unique Halo Orbit Around the Moon [11/14/2022]
• Geologists Have Closely Analyzed Two Bizarre 'Blobs' Detected Deep Inside Earth [03/11/2022]
• Wild New Paper Suggests Earth's Tectonic Activity Has an Unseen Source [01/27/2022]
• Recordings of the magnetic field from 9,000 years ago teach us about the magnetic field today [12/11/2021]
• NASA's New X-Ray Telescope Is A Revolution in Astronomy and Launch Profiles [SpaceX, Van Allen Belt, South Atlantic Anomaly] [12/11/2021]
• Is Earth's core lopsided? Strange goings-on in our planet's interior [06/05/2021]
• How long is a day on Venus? It's always changing, new study reveals [05/11/2021]
• Vast Fragments of an Alien World Could Be Buried Deep Within Earth Itself [03/25/2021]
• Scientists Detect Signs of a Hidden Structure Inside Earth's Core [03/04/2021]
• The spacecraft-killing anomaly over the South Atlantic [02/20/2021]
• The Herky-Jerky Weirdness of Earth's Magnetic Field [12/23/2020]
• Earth Keeps Pulsating Every 26 Seconds. No One Knows Why. [11/04/2020]
• NASA Is Tracking a Vast, Growing Anomaly in Earth's Magnetic Field [08/18/2020]
• Search for MH370 Revealed Ocean Crust Waves [06/12/2020]
• Scientists detect unexpected widespread structures near Earth's core [06/12/2020]
• Part of Earth's Magnetic Field is Getting Weaker in 'Vigorously' Developing Anomaly, Scientists Say [05/22/2020]
• Rapid Drift of Magnetic North Explained [05/19/2020]
• Something Strange Sends Tech Haywire at Earth's Poles, And NASA Wants to Know More [11/30/2019]
• How Earth's mantle is like a Jackson Pollock painting [05/21/2019]
• The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project [12/30/2018]
• Scientists model Mercury's glaciers [12/28/2018]
• Earth's Second Magnetic Field: Satellite Image Reveals Invisible Force From Ocean Currents [04/12/2018]
• US Navy locates crashed plane deep on Pacific seabed [01/06/2018]
• New Seafloor Map Reveals How Strange the Gulf of Mexico Is [05/27/2017]
• The Search for MH370 Revealed Secrets of the Deep Ocean [03/12/2017]
• Earth's Magnetic Field is Changing [12/23/2016]
• Scientists find 500 U.S. seabed vents of powerful greenhouse gas [10/21/2016]
• Vast asteroid created 'Man in Moon's eye' crater [07/20/2016]
• Seabed Scanning for East Anglian windfarm reveals Uncharted WWI German Submarine [01/25/2016]
• Ocean Search for Malaysian Airliner Finds 2nd Shipwreck [MH370] [01/14/2016]
• Seabed Gives Up Spanish Armada Wreck Cannons [06/18/2015]
• MH370 search discovers a shipwreck not the missing plane [05/13/2015]
• Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Gravitational Anomalies of Mercury [05/05/2015]
• Ice age polarity reversal was global event: [04/06/2015]
• Inconvenient study: Methane seepage from the Arctic seabed has been occurring for millions of years [02/07/2015]
• Seafloor volcano pulses may alter climate: [02/05/2015]
• AirAsia QZ8501: Plane tail lifted from seabed [01/10/2015]
• Astronomy Picture of the Day -- The Potsdam Gravity Potato [12/15/2014]
• Potato Earth: Gravity satellite reveals what our planet REALLY looks like [03/31/2011]
• Air France 447 electrical problems and the South Atlantic Anomaly [06/05/2009]
• The Moon reveals its weirder side - SELENE mission reports on gravity anomalies. [02/16/2009]
• Satellites Solve Mystery Of Low Gravity Over Canada [05/11/2007]
• Does a giant crater lie beneath the Antarctic ice? [06/05/2006]
• Exploring The Ocean Basins With Satellite Altimeter Data [03/28/2005]
• Gravity variations predict earthquake behavior [08/04/2003]
• 'Potato' Earth's Deep Secrets (Gravity Map) [07/24/2003]
• Mysterious Shift in Earth's Gravity Suggests Equator is Bulging [08/01/2002]
• Astronomy Picture Of The Day : A Gravity Map of Earth [11/13/2001]

[calljack]

Only recently looked at the Apollo data? The last Apollo mission was in 1972.

[\/\/ayne]

Also, the Moon is in danger of Global Warming from Lunar Lander rocket fuel exhaust. It will probably be destroyed in just 8 years unless we sink billions of dollars into designing electrically powered spacecraft.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Nope. The moon is hollow. An alien from the Dark Side told me so.

[PIF]

Only recently looked at the Apollo data? The last Apollo mission was in 1972.

—
Goes along with the dozens of boxes and file cabinets of Apollo mission photos destroyed to make room for other things. Or the still unexamined Apollo rocks - many of which were just handed out as souvenirs to random people.

[BenLurkin]

I don’t know. Maybe the data wasn’t much use without the kind of computers we have today. Or something.

[Bob434]

oh so it’s no longer made of cheese? Dang, can’t keep up with all the emerging science lately-

[matthew fuller]

Scientists and/or pundits said way back that when they crashed (on purpose) objects into the surface that it “rang like a bell” therefore it had to be hollow.....

[PeterPrinciple]

and NASA’s GRAIL mission —

---

more than apollo data...................

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/grail/in-depth/

[smokingfrog]

Why did the lunar rover have a compass?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/51358764550/in/photostream

[Dutch Boy]

Oddly, so is the Earth. The internet has a all kinds of videos on that topic. The entrance is on Antarctica. However, further research showed that the earth is flat and Antarctica is just a boarder preventing the seas from flowing off the edges. I get confused about the reptilian humanoids. Did they come from space or do they live at the center of the Earth, maybe both.

[Fido969]

“Just like my ex”

[Owen]

Solid is the wrong word for molten.

[Alas Babylon!]

It goes back further than that. From the article:

In 2011, research from NASA suggested that the moon's outer core was made of fluid iron, and created a distinct partially melted layer where it met the mantle. The study also hinted that the moon might have an iron-based inner core. Now, the new study has confirmed that this dense inner core exists.

Also:

Based on recent calculations, researchers have been able to pin down that the temperature of the Moon right where the core meets the mantle ranges between 2,300 and 2,680 degrees Fahrenheit (1,300 and 1,470 C).

We ain't digging that metal out just yet!

[PLMerite]

Iron Heart. Iron Sky:

Houston, we have another problem.

[GingisK]

The computers of yesteryear were just as functional as the ones we have today, just slower. On the other hand, they didn’t need the massive resources required just for the operating system as do the modern ones. Those old number crunchers had enormous integers and some had 128 bit floating point.

[Sawdring]

Throw guided chunks of iron into the gravity well. Free Moon Alliance!