Scientists Find Earth Sends Some Oxygen To Moon Every Month
- 7 years ago
A new study out of Japan has found that oxygen ions from Earth may be transmitted to the moon for days out of each orbital cycle.
The moon may contain oxygen particles from Earth, new research has found.
The study, released by a team of scientists from Japan, centers around data collected by an orbiter known as Kaguya which circled over the lunar body between 2007 and 2009.
After researchers examined ions detected by the spacecraft, they determined that the oxygen particles likely originated from Earth.
While this exchange is believed to have started around 2.4 billion years ago, when oxygen first began on our planet, scientists suspect that the transmission only happens about 5 out of every 27 days.
During this period of the lunar orbit, Earth’s magnetic field temporarily blocks the moon from solar winds which allows other material to travel onto its surface.
One of the researchers has suggested that some of the oxygen ions may be buried in lunar soil or “lost into interplanetary space.”
The study concludes by stating that these findings could “suggest the possibility that the Earth’s atmosphere of billions of years ago may be preserved on the present-day lunar surface.”
The moon may contain oxygen particles from Earth, new research has found.
The study, released by a team of scientists from Japan, centers around data collected by an orbiter known as Kaguya which circled over the lunar body between 2007 and 2009.
After researchers examined ions detected by the spacecraft, they determined that the oxygen particles likely originated from Earth.
While this exchange is believed to have started around 2.4 billion years ago, when oxygen first began on our planet, scientists suspect that the transmission only happens about 5 out of every 27 days.
During this period of the lunar orbit, Earth’s magnetic field temporarily blocks the moon from solar winds which allows other material to travel onto its surface.
One of the researchers has suggested that some of the oxygen ions may be buried in lunar soil or “lost into interplanetary space.”
The study concludes by stating that these findings could “suggest the possibility that the Earth’s atmosphere of billions of years ago may be preserved on the present-day lunar surface.”