Scientists have finally confirmed what is inside the moon

French scientists have combined known data and computer simulations to determine what lies beneath the moon's surface. Research results published in the journal Nature.

To learn about the structure of the Moon (as well as the Earth and other celestial bodies), astronomers have to rely on data from seismic activity. The way acoustic waves created by surface vibrations travel through and bounce off material inside a planet or moon helps scientists create a detailed map of an object's interior.

But in the case of the Moon, there is a problem. Thanks to Apollo, we have seismic activity data, but the resolution is too low to accurately determine the composition of the Moon's inner core. We know that it has a liquid outer core, and we assume that there is an iron solid core inside, but so far we have not been able to prove this.

Astronomers at the French National Center for Scientific Research have taken known data as a basis to build a profile of the moon's known characteristics. These include the degree of its deformation as a result of gravitational interaction with the Earth, the variability of the distance from the Earth and the density. Next, they ran simulations with different core materials to find a model that would fit the observational data.

And they found that the lunar core should be very similar to the Earth's - with an outer layer of liquid and a solid inner core. According to simulations, the outer core has a radius of about 362 kilometers, while the inner core has a radius of about 258 kilometers. This is about 15% of the entire radius of the moon.

The inner core, the team found, also has a density of about 7,822 kg per m³. This is very close to the density of iron.

Thus, scientists were able to confirm earlier hypotheses about the lunar core, similar to the earth. And further study of the satellite will help to learn more about both its history and how magnetic fields disappear.

We know that shortly after its formation, the Moon had a powerful magnetic field that began to weaken around 3.2 billion years ago. Such a magnetic field is created by movement and convection in the core, so what the lunar core is made of has a lot to do with how and why the magnetic field disappeared.

Given the hope of mankind to return to the Moon in a relatively short time, we may not have to wait long for seismic confirmation of these discoveries.