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| Harvest Moon (Photo by Roadcrusher) |
We know that the moon is dusty, but rusty? How so?
That is the question. When hematite (just plain rust) was recently discovered within samples from India’s 2008 probe, scientists were astonished. After all, rust needs oxygen in order to form, and oxygen is not a lunar commodity. The plentiful supply of lunar hydrogen further tends to negate rust formation.
Researchers theorize that Earth has something to do with it. During six days each lunar month, the Earth’s “magnetic tail” reaches the moon. Over time (as in “several billion years”), oxygen from this tail might have interacted “with lunar water molecules to create rust.”
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Copyright September 7, 2020 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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