It’s easy to assume that by now we’d have unraveled all the mysteries of the Moon, considering that it’s been nearly six decades since humans first set foot on its surface. However, the truth is that scientists are still uncovering new details about our nearest celestial neighbor.
Recent studies have particularly piqued interest with findings that hint at the possibility of buried structures on the Moon. Before your imagination runs wild with images of alien bases or secret lunar facilities, it’s important to clarify that these findings pertain to the Moon’s far side, which is different from the so-called “dark side.”
The Moon’s orbit ensures that its same side always faces Earth, which is why we never see the far side from our vantage point. The dark side of the Moon, however, isn’t a constant but shifts with the Moon’s phases, resulting in the varying visibility of full moons and crescent moons.
The intriguing discovery of these subterranean structures was made on the far side of the Moon, which remains perpetually out of our direct sight.
These aren’t extraterrestrial constructions but rather formations deep beneath the lunar surface, detected with the help of data gathered by China’s Chang’e-4 rover. This data could potentially offer insights into billions of years of lunar geological history.
Past ground penetrating radar (GPR) technologies could delve only about 40 meters below the Moon’s surface. Thanks to advancements, researchers can now explore much deeper layers of the Moon’s structure.
A study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets shared insights from this research: “The GPR sends electromagnetic pulses into the lunar interior and receives echoes from subsurface layers. We use the high-frequency channel data to detect the structure of the upper 40m along the rover’s path, primarily consisting of rock debris and soil.”
The study further revealed: “Through this investigation, we have discovered multiple layers in the upper 300m, which likely indicate a series of basalt eruptions that occurred billions of years ago. The thickness variation of these lava flows suggests a decrease in eruption scale over time.”
These findings suggest that there were once volcanoes on the Moon that erupted with lunar lava, an idea that adds an exciting layer to our understanding of lunar history.
Supporting the dynamic past of the Moon, one prevalent theory, known as the ‘Giant Impact Hypothesis’, proposes that the Moon was formed following a colossal collision between the early Earth and a Mars-sized planet. The similarities in the orbits of the Earth and the Moon, as well as the Moon’s lower concentration of metallic content compared to the Earth’s core, lend credence to this theory.