That may help us understand how the Moon formed, say researchers. Yes, that seems odd, but the we know surprisingly little about how the Moon—which plays a very important role in enabling life on Earth—was formed.
Tag: Moon
Some researchers hope to grow crops on the moon
Maybe this is the closest we’ll ever really get to extraterrestrial life. Go there and grow stuff.
Rob Sheldon on the chances of the tardigrades (water bears) surviving the recent moon crash
Sheldon: Well, I do think that dormant tardigrades, which could survive for hundreds if not thousands of years in a “freeze-dried” state, can be revived when placed in water. If the spacecraft, Beresheet, had crashed with dormant tardigrades, then most definitely they are scattered about the surface of the Moon, waiting for their resurrection day in water.
NASA says the moon is shaking, shrinking
Moonquakes happen, and they are shaking up lunar geology, Also, SkyNet reveals, “NASA announced earlier this year that it wants to send the first woman, and the next man, to the moon by 2024.” They can call in at the Chinese lunar base for tea… ;
New theory of the Moon’s formation addresses huge discrepancy
If the Moon was really formed when the early Earth was hit by a Mars-sized object, it should mostly be the detritus of that object. But it is mostly Earth stuff. So…
Hugh Ross: The fine-tuning that enabled our life-friendly moon creates discomfort
Astronomer Robin Canup has spent fifteen years developing models that seem to demonstrate that, whether it is a desired finding or not: Such fine-tuning was not lost on Canup, who remarked in a recent Nature review article, “Current theories on the formation of the Moon owe too much to cosmic coincidences.”4 Indeed, the required “coincidences” Read More…
Researchers: The Moon made life on Earth possible
From ScienceDaily: Earth most likely received the bulk of its carbon, nitrogen and other life-essential volatile elements from the planetary collision that created the moon more than 4.4 billion years ago, according to a new study by Rice University petrologists in the journal Science Advances. “From the study of primitive meteorites, scientists have long known Read More…
50th anniversary of Apollo 8: Earth as a privileged planet
We know far more about that now than we did then.
Moonmoons
You read the title right. Recently, some astronomers thought they had spotted an “exomoon,” a moon orbiting an exoplanet. There are, of course, bound to be some. But now Gizmodo introduces us to the concept of the moonmoon, a submoon orbiting a moon. One research team is taking on the possibility: The team’s short analysis Read More…
Astronomers: First possible exomoon is the size of Neptune, and orbiting a “Jupiter”
An MIT astronomer is 75% certain that an object previously suspected of being an Intro of exomoon (a moon orbiting an exoplanets) really is that: The first confirmed detection of an exomoon would mark a milestone in exploring planetary systems throughout the Galaxy. It would, among other things, allow scientists to test ideas of moon Read More…
Might we find evidence of past life on the Moon?
Well, not today. But at one time, the Moon was not completely separate from Earth. It really depends on how long ago life got started here whether some microbial life could have been trapped on the moon and survived a while. The sagas of the worm that survived the space shuttle blowup and the water bears in space should warn against too-hasty dismissal.
Moon formed from smashed moonlets?
From Hanneke Weitering at LiveScience: Earth’s moon may be the product of many small moonlets that merged after multiple objects as big as Mars collided with Earth, leaving disks of planetary debris orbiting the planet, a new study suggests. This idea that multiple impacts led to the moon’s birth challenges the most prevalent theory of Read More…