The moon has been secretly feasting on Earth’s atmosphere for billions of years, new research reveals
The Moon is silently absorbing tiny fragments of Earth’s atmosphere – and has been doing so for billions of years, a new study reveals. This surprising case of cosmic cannibalism is due to supercharged solar winds and, more importantly, the forces of our own planet. magnetic field.
The findings upend a 20-year-old theory about how certain charged particles, called ions, ended up on the lunar surface, and could have big implications for future lunar missions, researchers say.
Since 2005, leading theory has suggested that this transfer of matter could only have occurred before Earth developed its magnetic field, or magnetosphere, because this invisible force field would likely have trapped any atmospheric ions driven from our planet.
However, in the new study published December 11 in the journal Earth and Environment CommunicationsScientists combined data from the Apollo samples with computer models simulating the evolution of Earth’s magnetosphere and found that the transfer of atmospheric ions was greater each time the Moon passed through it. the magnetic tail of our planet — the largest section of the magnetosphere that always points away from the sun. (This alignment occurs when the Earth is between the Moon and the Sun, approaching the full moon phase each month).
The models revealed that, rather than preventing atmospheric ions from being expelled from our planet, magnetic field lines inside Earth’s tail act as invisible highways for charged particles, guiding them toward the Moon, where they are then settled into lunar regolith.
This means that the transfer of atmospheric ions probably began shortly after the magnetosphere. took shape about 3.7 billion years ago – and this is probably still happening today.
Until now, scientists believed that lunar regolith contain only traces of the earth’s first atmosphere. However, the new study suggests that these samples could actually act as a time capsule for our atmosphere and magnetosphere.
“By combining data from particles preserved in lunar soil with computer modeling of how the solar wind interacts with Earth’s atmosphere, we can trace the history of Earth’s atmosphere and its magnetic field,” co-author of the study. Eric Blackmantheoretical astrophysicist and plasma physicist at the University of Rochester, said in a statement.
As a result, regolith collected during upcoming lunar missions, such as NASA’s Artemis Programwhich aims to put boots on the Moon by 2028, and the Chinese lunar missions, which have already brought lunar samples back to Earth — could help researchers fill in the gaps in our planet’s geological history.
Earth isn’t the only object in the solar system losing tiny pieces of itself to the solar wind. Mercury is often seen with a long dust tail similar to a comet which is blown from its surface, while the moon also has a tail of ablated sodium ions which the Earth passes through several times.
By studying in more detail how the Earth loses its atmosphere to the Moon, researchers hope to learn more about the possible causes of this loss. happened elsewhere in our cosmic neighborhood.
“Our study could also have broader implications for understanding early atmospheric leakage on planets like Mars, which does not have a global magnetic field today but had one similar to Earth’s in the past,” said the study’s lead author. Shubhonkar Paramanicka planetary scientist from the University of Rochester, said in the release. Future research could help scientists “better understand how these processes shape planetary habitability,” he added.
