The Moon Is Cooler Than You Think, And Here's The Proof

Bright Side

Scientists have discovered a lot about what's inside the Moon, and it's pretty fascinating. Beneath its dusty surface lies a solid inner core, surrounded by a liquid outer core, just like Earth. But here's where it gets interesting: unlike our planet, the Moon doesn't have a magnetic field to protect it from solar radiation, which explains why it's so barren and lifeless. Another cool fact is that the Moon is slowly drifting away from Earth at a rate of about 3.8 centimeters per year. And get this: there are over 400,000 pounds of human-made trash left behind on the Moon from various missions! And did you know that the Moon is about 4.5 billion years old?   Animation is created by Bright Side. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV   Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en   Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

Transcript

00:00 Okay, I officially give up on the hope that the Moon is made of cheese after all.

00:06 Wow, not even Gouda.

00:07 The shiny lunar ball, or a curved banana, or half of a coin depending on what phase

00:13 it's in, has different layers inside, just like Earth.

00:16 One of these layers is called the inner core.

00:19 About 20 years ago, scientists were observing how the Moon rotates.

00:24 Using that data, they concluded that it had a fluid outer core.

00:28 But the inner core was hard to study, so they didn't know if it was solid like a rock

00:32 or molten like a hot liquid.

00:34 But things are clearer now.

00:37 Astronomers have collected data from different missions, including the Apollo missions, where

00:42 astronauts went to the Moon and gathered information themselves.

00:45 Plus, they've used a special technique called seismic data.

00:49 This method is all about studying how sound waves move through things.

00:53 Take earthquakes on our planet as an example.

00:56 When an earthquake happens, it creates waves that travel through the ground.

01:01 Scientists can detect and analyze these waves to learn more about Earth's interior.

01:05 The same idea can apply to other objects in our solar system, or planets, or in this case,

01:10 the Moon.

01:12 When quakes, or moonquakes, happen, they generate sound waves.

01:16 And by carefully listening to and studying these waves, scientists can create a detailed

01:21 map of what's inside the object.

01:24 They can figure out things like different layers, what they're made of, and how they're

01:28 arranged.

01:29 To check the Moon's deep interior, scientists also use something called laser ranging.

01:35 This method measures the distance between the surface of the Earth and the Moon very

01:39 precisely.

01:40 And ta-da!

01:42 Our natural satellite's inner core is a dense, solid ball made of iron, just like Earth's.

01:48 It's about 310 miles wide, which is nearly 15% the size of the entire Moon.

01:54 Researchers also have stumbled upon evidence that supports the theory that the layer between

01:58 the Moon's surface and its core, called the mantle, has been moving around as the Moon

02:04 evolved over time.

02:06 This movement is something we call lunar mantle overturn, and it could explain why we find

02:11 elements rich in iron on the lunar surface.

02:15 Some material ends up being carried upward, and the volcanic rock remains in the Moon's

02:20 crust.

02:22 Some of the materials in this rock were too dense, like me, so they just sank back through

02:27 the lighter crust material all the way to the core-mantle boundary.

02:32 It's like a cycle where the Moon's mantle material goes up during volcanic activity,

02:37 carries iron-rich elements to the surface, and then sinks back down.

02:42 There's another mystery scientists have been trying to solve – what caused the Moon's

02:47 magnetic field to weaken and nearly disappear over time?

02:50 It seems that now that we know about the iron core and the global mantle overturn, we might

02:56 get some more answers about the Moon's magnetic field.

02:59 Knowing what the inner core is like can help us better understand the Moon's history

03:03 as well as the history of our entire solar system.

03:08 One of the theories that's widely accepted about the origin of the Moon says there was

03:12 a massive collision between Earth in its early stages and another mysterious object in our

03:17 solar system.

03:18 It's called the Large Impact Theory, and this collision was so strong it ripped off

03:23 a big chunk of the primitive molten Earth.

03:26 I mean, not so big compared to what's left – if you put a US nickel next to a green

03:31 pea, you'd get a good idea of how big our planet is compared to the Moon.

03:36 This chunk was set into orbit around our planet.

03:39 And this might've happened about 95 million years after our solar system formed.

03:46 The object that collided with Earth could've been about 10% the mass of our home planet

03:51 and roughly the size of Mars.

03:52 Well, it makes sense – Earth and the Moon do have similar compositions, after all.

03:58 Of course, there are other ideas about how the Moon formed.

04:02 One says that the gravitational force of our planet captured it.

04:07 This means that the Moon was just an object innocently passing by when suddenly it got

04:12 attracted and pulled into Earth's orbit.

04:14 There's even a hypothesis that Earth stole the Moon from Venus.

04:19 In that case, the Moon shouldn't complain.

04:22 I guess the view is way better here.

04:24 So yeah, the Moon and Earth are similar when it comes to rocks and some minerals.

04:29 But the Moon doesn't have the same atmosphere as our planet.

04:32 Its atmosphere is thin and consists of some weird gases that include potassium and sodium,

04:38 which is not something you can find in the atmosphere of Mars, Venus, or Earth.

04:43 And the rocks on the Moon don't contain water.

04:45 But that doesn't mean there's no water at all up there.

04:49 A long time ago, in the 17th century, astronomers saw large dark spots on the Moon's surface.

04:55 One of these astronomers thought these spots looked like oceans, and he called them "Maria,"

05:00 which means "seas" in Latin.

05:03 Other astronomers also made maps of the Moon, and they used the term "Maria" to describe

05:07 these dark spots.

05:09 For example, Mare Tranquillitatis translates to "Sea of Tranquility," where Apollo 11

05:15 made its touchdown.

05:17 But it seems those dark spots are not actually oceans.

05:20 They are plains made of hardened lava that erupted long ago.

05:25 These volcanic eruptions left behind smooth, flat areas called basalt plains.

05:30 In the late 1800s, one sky watcher studied the Moon and found it didn't have an atmosphere.

05:37 Without an atmosphere, there are no clouds and no air to keep water from evaporating.

05:43 So scientists thought that any water on the Moon would just disappear right away.

05:47 They believe the Moon was totally dry.

05:50 "It's dark outside, almost 2am.

05:53 You go outside and look at the sky, and here it is.

05:56 Bright, full Moon.

05:58 You might think you know a lot about Earth's natural satellite, but let me ask you this.

06:03 How did it form?"

06:05 The answer is, nobody knows.

06:08 But of course, there are theories.

06:10 The most popular one, called the Giant Impact Theory, claims that the Moon formed during

06:15 a collision between Earth and another planet.

06:18 This planet must have been smaller than ours, the size of Mars, and the collision itself

06:23 probably happened around 4.5 billion years ago.

06:27 Another theory, called the Capture Theory, claims that the Moon used to be an asteroid

06:32 or some other wandering body.

06:35 It formed somewhere else in the solar system.

06:37 When it was passing by Earth, it got caught by our planet's gravity.

06:41 But here is one catch.

06:43 Our planet and the Moon have remarkable isotopic and chemical similarities.

06:48 So they must have a linked history, which means the Moon couldn't have been created

06:52 elsewhere.

06:55 Other experts think that at some point in the past, Earth was spinning so fast that

06:59 some of its material broke away.

07:02 It soon started to orbit our planet.

07:04 That's how the Moon appeared in the sky.

07:06 But again, there's one problem.

07:08 In this case, the proportion and type of minerals on the Moon would have to be the same as on

07:13 Earth.

07:14 But there are slight differences.

07:16 The Moon is richer in materials that form very fast at high temperatures.

07:21 There's one more theory, and it's probably the least exciting.

07:25 It claims that Earth's natural satellite could simply appear along with Earth during

07:30 our planet's formation.

07:32 Duh!

07:33 But these days, a more urgent question keeps astronomers busy.

07:37 Is the Moon really Earth's satellite?

07:40 Or are these two twin planets?

07:43 The Moon is big compared to our planet, about one-quarter of Earth's size.

07:48 That's why some experts refer to our planetary system as a "double planet."

07:53 But how correct is that?

07:56 If we want to figure it out, we need to give the definition to the word "planet."

08:01 According to the International Astronomical Union, a planet is a space body that orbits

08:06 the Sun, is massive enough to have a nearly round shape thanks to its gravity, and has

08:11 cleared the region around its orbit.

08:14 Now, what about a satellite?

08:17 It's an object in space that orbits around a larger celestial body.

08:22 If we take the system Earth-the Moon, its center of gravity, called a "berry center,"

08:27 is inside the Earth.

08:29 That's why at the moment we can't say that we live in a twin planet system.

08:33 According to this definition, the Moon is the satellite of our planet.

08:37 Now, let's get back to the past, like three or four billion years ago.

08:43 Even though the Moon wasn't a planet, it most likely had a full-fledged atmosphere.

08:48 It formed at times when powerful volcanic eruptions were rocking our satellite.

08:53 Gases spread all over the Moon's surface, and it happened so fast that they didn't

08:57 have enough time to escape into space.

09:01 At that time, the lunar surface was covered with basins filled with volcanic basalt.

09:07 Just imagine ginormous plumes of magma hurtling high into the air, falling to the ground and

09:12 creating lava flows.

09:14 That's how the basalt basins appeared on the surface of the Moon.

09:19 At one point, scientists got their hands on samples brought from the Moon.

09:23 They found out that lava flows there contained not only carbon monoxide and sulfur, but also

09:29 the building blocks of water.

09:32 Thanks to these samples, researchers managed to calculate the amount of gas that rose and

09:37 formed the atmosphere.

09:38 It became the thickest around 3.5 billion years ago and existed for about 70 million

09:44 years.

09:46 After that, poof, the atmosphere was lost in space.

09:51 But the coolest thing?

09:53 When the Moon did have an atmosphere, the satellite was 3 to 10 times closer to our

09:58 planet.

09:59 One computer simulation even suggests the Moon was probably up to 19 times closer than

10:04 it is now.

10:06 The distance between it and our planet could be 18,600 miles.

10:12 While these days, our satellite is around 240,000 miles away.

10:17 That's why the Moon looked much, much bigger in the sky.

10:20 Unfortunately, at that time, not even dinos were around to admire the view.

10:26 These days, the atmosphere of the Moon is almost non-existent, and that's why the satellite

10:31 can't protect itself from meteorites.

10:34 The surface of the Moon is dotted with craters.

10:37 For comparison, there are about 190 identified impact craters on our planet.

10:43 Many of them are hidden by vegetation or covered with water.

10:47 But if we speak about the Moon, the number is so much greater, several million, and around

10:53 5,000 of them are more than 12 miles across.

10:57 And since the Moon is less seismically active than Earth, these craters and other ancient

11:02 formations stay in perfect condition for centuries.

11:07 When you look at the Moon, it's the brightest object in the night sky.

11:11 But in reality, its surface is dark because the reflectance of our natural satellite is

11:16 just a bit higher than that of asphalt.

11:20 Back when Apollo missions were launched, astronauts returning from the Moon claimed that Moon

11:24 dust, the gray sand-like dust covering much of the satellite's surface, smelled and

11:29 tasted (yes, they actually tasted it) like gunpowder.

11:33 But the stuff Moon dust is made of is nothing like gunpowder.

11:37 About half of its composition is silicon dioxide glass from impacts with meteorites.

11:42 They hit the surface of the Moon at incredible speeds.

11:46 The high temperature makes the topsoil fuse into glass, and the impact shatters it right

11:51 afterwards, creating the gray and clingy dust.

11:54 The rest of Moon dust's ingredients are minerals such as iron, calcium, and magnesium,

12:00 while old-fashioned gunpowder consists mainly of saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur.

12:05 In other words, Moon dust shouldn't smell like gunpowder, but it does.

12:10 Besides, when astronauts brought samples of it back to Earth, there was no smell left

12:15 at all.

12:16 One explanation could be that the Moon is similar, in a way, to Earth's sand deserts

12:21 like the Sahara.

12:22 It's extremely dry and arid.

12:24 When you sniff the air in a desert, you don't smell anything.

12:28 But if you get caught in the rain there, the moisture will raise all kinds of odors from

12:32 the ground that were previously trapped in the dry sand.

12:36 With Moon dust, it might be similar.

12:38 While on the surface of the Moon, it doesn't smell at all.

12:41 Not that the astronauts could sniff at it wearing their spacesuits, though.

12:45 But when brought back inside the landing module, the dust came into contact with moisture in

12:50 the air and started emitting its strange odor.

12:53 Another reason for this could be a reaction of Moon dust to the solar wind.

12:58 Ionized particles from the Sun hit the bare surface of the Moon and stay there.

13:02 There's no thick atmosphere to protect it from those ions, so they travel freely right

13:07 to the ground.

13:08 They're very lightweight, so they can fly off and sort of evaporate from the slightest

13:12 of nudges.

13:14 And when astronauts took the Moon dust samples to the landing module, those particles could

13:19 have started moving around and giving off the specific smell.

13:23 This might also explain why the samples didn't keep their odor when brought back to Earth.

13:28 Since the particles are so light, they might have flown off the samples already in the

13:32 landing module.

13:33 And when they were placed in airtight containers, there were little or no ions left on them.

13:39 Another explanation is that those airtight containers weren't so airtight after all.

13:44 Moon dust is basically very small crystals with extremely sharp edges.

13:48 They unexpectedly made tiny cuts in the seals, letting in air and moisture, and so the ionized

13:54 particles leaked out of the containers.

13:57 Scientists believe they should study Moon dust on the surface of the Moon itself to

14:00 find out everything about its properties.

14:04 There are hundreds of thousands of craters on the surface of the Moon made by falling

14:08 asteroids, but one of them drew a lot of attention.

14:11 It turned out to not be just an impact crater, but a tube, looking most like an entrance

14:17 to a cave system.

14:19 Scientists found a specific echo pattern that suggested there was a hollow area beneath.

14:24 They discovered more echo patterns at a couple of places near the hole, so there could be

14:28 more lunar tubes there.

14:30 But in this big tube, you could place an entire football field.

14:35 Researchers believe there could be an entire geological wonderland under the surface.

14:39 It could be a good shelter for astronauts landing on the Moon, or even be a harbor for

14:44 a lunar colony.

14:46 No one ever managed to stay on the Moon for more than 3 days because of the conditions

14:50 on the satellite.

14:51 Wide range of temperatures, low atmosphere, no magnetic field would protect life on the

14:56 surface from things like radiation or solar wind.

15:00 Astronauts wear spacesuits.

15:01 They can't protect them over long periods of time, but a lava tube could.

15:06 When a lava flow cools, it gets a hard crust, which later thickens and creates a roof over

15:12 that same lava.

15:13 It continues to flow, but when it stops, the channel can drain, and that's how an

15:18 empty tube appears.

15:20 Our planet also has lava tubes, but they're not as big as the one found on the Moon.

15:25 Back in 1178, I wasn't around then, at least 5 people in England claimed they had seen

15:31 the Moon split into two from its upper tip.

15:34 It was in the shape of a crescent at the time of the event.

15:37 When the crack widened, fire started blazing from it, which the single monk who chronicled

15:42 it described it as a flaming torch spraying up, spewing out fire, hot coals, and sparks.

15:49 Then the Moon started shifting around and pulsating, but soon stopped and turned a slightly

15:54 darker shade.

15:55 The event didn't receive much attention from scientists, though, until the second

15:59 half of the 20th century.

16:01 Researchers studied the chronicle and figured out there was a huge, 14-mile-wide crater

16:06 on the surface of the Moon at about the spot described in the book.

16:10 Only a very large asteroid could've left such a scar on the satellite's face.

16:15 And when they investigated it more closely, they found out it was pretty recent by astronomical

16:20 standards.

16:21 In fact, it really could've appeared about 800 years ago.

16:25 But in that case, millions of fragments from the asteroid and the Moon would've hit the

16:30 Earth as well.

16:31 And then people would've seen an incredible meteor shower.

16:35 It would've been very bright, and the memories of it would've definitely been in the archives.

16:40 But that didn't happen.

16:41 In addition, many scientists argue that the crater isn't as young as it might seem.

16:46 The most popular and justified theory is that it's about 1-10 million years old.

16:52 If it had appeared as recently as 800 years ago, parts of the surface of the Moon in and

16:57 around the crater would still have been warm from the impact.

17:01 The most likely explanation of what really happened back in 1178 is that observers were

17:07 extremely lucky to see an asteroid falling towards the Earth and burning in our planet's

17:12 atmosphere.

17:13 The spectacle would've been incredible, and seen from a proper angle, the burst of

17:17 the asteroid could've really looked like it was the Moon exploding.

17:21 That would explain why there were so few witnesses of the phenomenon.

17:25 That's it for today!

17:26 So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your

17:30 friends!

17:31 Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

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