Eruptions occurred on the enigmatic far side of the moon. the moon Billions of years ago, according to new research, this has been confirmed.
Researchers examined moon dirt retrieved from Earth after being collected during missions. China Chang'e-6 spacecraft, which was the first to bring back samples of rock and soil from the less-explored far side.
Two distinct groups discovered pieces of volcanic stone estimated to be around 2.8 billion years old. Interestingly, one sample was even older, tracing back to approximately 4.2 billion years ago.
'To get a sample from this region is truly crucial since it's an area where we currently lack any data,' stated Christopher Hamilton, a planetary volcanologist at the University of Arizona.
Researchers have discovered evidence indicating that active volcanoes existed on the near side of the Moon—the face we can see from Earth—during a comparable period in history.
Earlier research, which included information from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, indicated that the far side could potentially boast a history of volcanism as well.
The initial specimens collected from that area not oriented towards Earth indicate a dynamic past. These findings were released on Friday in both Nature and Science publications.
China has sent multiple space vehicles to the moon.
In 2020, the Chang'e-5 mission brought back lunar samples from the Moon's near side—the first such retrieval since the rock collections made by NASA's Apollo missions and the Soviet Union's craft in the 1970s.
In 2019, the Chang'e-4 probe made history as the first mission to land on the lunar far side.
The moon's distant side is dotted with impact craters and contains less of the smooth, darker areas found on its closer face, which were formed by ancient volcanic activity.
The reason behind the significant differences between the two halves remains unclear, according to study co-author Qiu-Li Li from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Li stated that the recent discoveries show more than a billion years' worth of volcanic activity on the moon’s far side.
Subsequent studies will ascertain the reasons behind why the activity persisted for such an extended period.
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