We are used to observing the Moon in the evening and night sky. Even with the naked eye you can see craters and hills on its surface. People have long asked questions: “How old is our satellite?”, “There is an atmosphere on Earth, but does it exist on the Moon?”, “Could there be oxygen, water on its surface, and is it habitable?”
Modern scientists can definitely answer these questions.
Basics you need to know
The distance to the Moon is 384,401 kilometers. It is the same age as the Earth and the rest of the solar system, that is, it appeared about 4.5 billion years ago and was formed from rocks and ice.
Our companion always shows us one side. This happens because the Earth and the Moon have the same period of rotation around their axis - 27.3 days. The shadow cast by the planet causes the bright disk in the sky to decrease or increase.
There are very large temperature differences on the Moon. On the sunny side from +130 °C and -170 °C on the dark side.
Is there a
As we know, the Earth's atmosphere consists of gas and forms a shell called air. It is held by gravity, preventing gas molecules from flying into space.
Because the Moon has very little gravity, it cannot retain enough gases to create a full atmosphere. Despite this, our satellite still has a rarefied gas shell, which consists of helium, hydrogen, neon and argon.
However, it is unlikely that the fact that there is an atmosphere on the Moon has any significance for us, because a person will not be able to breathe there without a spacesuit.
Even on the Moon there are no sounds and no wind. The rays of the Sun are not scattered in the air, so the sky there is always black, and even during the day stars are visible above the bright side.
and some more information about the Moon
Since the Moon has an atmosphere, is there water there?
Water is represented on the satellite in the form of ice. If the Moon has no weather or atmosphere, then where did it come from?
Scientists believe that on Earth, water probably came from comets, which are made of ice mixed with rocks. They crashed into the surface when the planet was still very, very young. Ice on the Moon could have appeared in the same way. Most of the water on the Moon evaporated a long time ago, but there is still some water left at the South Pole because it is in a dark region where the sun never shines.
Another question immediately arises: is oxygen present on the Moon, if we have found out that it has an atmosphere and even water? Oxygen in a free state has not been detected, but large areas of ilmenite, a mineral whose crystal lattice contains huge amounts of oxygen, were found on the surface using the Hubble telescope. So, this question can be answered in the affirmative.
So, now we know that there is a conditional atmosphere, water and oxygen on the Moon, although it is unlikely that people will be able to use them for living.
It's sad, but every year the satellite moves away from the Earth by several centimeters. One day the moment will come when he will overcome the force of earth's gravity. Then the Moon will fly away from us and will travel until it is pulled towards itself by the next, heavier cosmic body.
August 18 marks 37 years since the landing of the Soviet station Luna-24 on the lunar surface, which delivered samples of lunar soil to Earth. The study proved the presence of water in the soil. We decided to recall 5 solved mysteries of the Moon.
Is there extraterrestrial life on the Moon?
In 1978, Soviet researchers in the journal Geochemistry first mentioned the discovery of water in lunar soil. This fact was established as a result of the analysis of samples delivered by the Luna-24 probe. The percentage of water found in the sample was 0.1. This substance persisted on the Moon for approximately 4 billion years. Many scientists claim that the formula of “moon” water is H 2 O. Others believe that its formula has been changed. One thing has been definitely proven: it is a liquid. The most important thing is that an extraterrestrial life form was discovered in the water.
Is there oxygen on the Moon?
At the Congress of the International Society of Pure and Applied Chemistry, scientists from the University of Cambridge presented the results of a study of lunar soil in which they found oxygen. The oxygen content in the lunar soil is very high, more than 45%. Scientists noted that if a small settlement is organized on the Moon, only three generators about a meter high each will be able to provide the population with a ton of oxygen per year. In 2005, NASA even organized a competition to develop a technology for pumping oxygen from lunar soil - a minimum of 5 kg is required in 8 hours.
What chemical elements does the Moon's soil contain?
As the results of studies of lunar soil show, it contains all the chemical elements and substances necessary to ensure human life and the production of valuable materials - more than 70 chemical elements and isotopes. These are: silicon, titanium, aluminum, iron, magnesium, thorium, uranium, zirconium. Vanadium, niobium, cobalt, copper, rubidium, carbon, and silver were found in smaller quantities. Scientists suggest that volcanic lava once visited here, which left behind a lot of useful elements.
How old is the Moon's soil?
The age of the lunar soil gives many reasons for controversy. Some scientists insist on a figure of 3 billion years, others - 4.6 billion. Most still agree on one thing: the lunar soil is perfectly preserved. Its upper layer, which has been on the Moon for several billion years, has not been subject to any extraterrestrial influences since the formation of the Moon. This means that the soil can be used to study the formation of the Moon and conclude that its age is indeed at least 3 billion years.
Could the Moon be formed from a super-strong material?
Scientists have come to the conclusion that the basis of the lunar soil is ilmenite. This relatively rare mineral is distinguished by its high titanium content. This super-strong material is used on Earth to build submarines. Ilmenite is also non-magnetic. Some scientists believe that the surface of the moon is almost entirely formed by a mixture with the presence of ilmenite.
Oxygen on the Moon
To study the history of the ancient Earth, we must look to the Moon
A new study by Japanese scientists has shown that for the last 2.4 billion years, it has literally been “bathing” in a stream of oxygen particles escaping from the Earth’s atmosphere. After compiling and analyzing data from the Kaguya lunar orbiter and examining lunar rocks, researchers report what contributes to the unique composition of elements on the lunar surface. These findings support the theory that the solar wind can carry particles of terrestrial origin all the way to the lunar surface. The Earth is constantly bombarded by a stream of charged particles emitted by the Sun, which is called "". This phenomenon is also the cause of the auroras observed on Earth in northern latitudes. The Earth's magnetic field is a kind of bubble that protects the surface of the planet from these charged particles. When the Earth is between the Moon and the Moon, the Moon is temporarily protected from the solar wind by the Earth's magnetic field. During this time, particles escaping from the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere may end up on the Moon. And remain in the surface layer of lunar soil. Having accumulated in the soil over millions of years, these particles can tell researchers how the atmosphere of our planet has changed.
Previous studies
Moon rocks made it possible to detect traces of nitrogen, oxygen and noble gases in them, having an isotopic composition that coincides with those found on. However, it was not clear whether they actually got to the Moon from Earth. To obtain information about these processes, the researchers used instruments aboard the Kaguya. This was done to identify particles that hit the Moon during that short period when it “hides” behind the Earth and is protected from the solar wind. The oxygen ions arriving at this time look completely different from those coming from the Sun. And, since the Earth was at that moment between the Moon and the Sun, this indicates that they came from our planet.
The composition of Earth's oxygen is unique because it is the result of biological processes, the analogues of which we do not yet know in the Universe. If lunar oxygen molecules couldn't appear out of nowhere, we can probably use this knowledge. We can analyze lunar soil and look into the history of the Earth's atmosphere - right up to the time when oxygen first appeared on Earth in a free state. And this happened approximately 2.4 billion years ago. This could potentially give us insight into the progression of biological life, how it evolved and spread throughout our planet.
In the future, it is planned to conduct further studies with lunar soil to find out exactly what elements come from the Earth. If we can successfully distinguish between terrestrial particles on the surface of the Moon and particles carried from the Sun, it will allow scientists to peer into the past and see the atmosphere of the early Earth. After all, it is very different from the one we live with now.
We are used to observing the Moon in the evening and night sky. Even with the naked eye you can see craters and hills on its surface. People have long asked questions: “How old is our satellite?”, “There is an atmosphere on Earth, but does it exist on the Moon?”, “Could there be oxygen, water on its surface, and is it habitable?”
Modern scientists can definitely answer these questions.
Basics you need to know
The distance to the Moon is 384,401 kilometers. It is the same age as the Earth and the rest of the solar system, that is, it appeared about 4.5 billion years ago and was formed from rocks and ice.
Our companion always shows us one side. This happens because the Earth and the Moon have the same period of rotation around their axis - 27.3 days. The shadow cast by the planet causes the bright disk in the sky to decrease or increase.
There are very large temperature differences on the Moon. On the sunny side from +130 °C and -170 °C on the dark side.
Does the Moon have an atmosphere?
As we know, the Earth's atmosphere consists of gas and forms a shell called air. It is held by gravity, preventing gas molecules from flying into space.
Because the Moon has very little gravity, it cannot retain enough gases to create a full atmosphere. Despite this, our satellite still has a rarefied gas shell, which consists of helium, hydrogen, neon and argon.
However, it is unlikely that the fact that there is an atmosphere on the Moon has any significance for us, because a person will not be able to breathe there without a spacesuit.
Even on the Moon there are no sounds and no wind. The rays of the Sun are not scattered in the air, so the sky there is always black, and even during the day stars are visible above the bright side.
Oxygen, water and some more information about the Moon
Since the Moon has an atmosphere, is there water there?
Water is represented on the satellite in the form of ice. If the Moon has no weather or atmosphere, then where did it come from?
Scientists believe that on Earth, water probably came from comets, which are made of ice mixed with rocks. They crashed into the surface when the planet was still very, very young. Ice on the Moon could have appeared in the same way. Most of the water on the Moon evaporated a long time ago, but there is still some water left at the South Pole because it is in a dark region where the sun never shines.
Another question immediately arises: is oxygen present on the Moon, if we have found out that it has an atmosphere and even water? Oxygen in a free state has not been detected, but large areas of ilmenite, a mineral whose crystal lattice contains huge amounts of oxygen, were found on the surface using the Hubble telescope. So, this question can be answered in the affirmative.
So, now we know that there is a conditional atmosphere, water and oxygen on the Moon, although it is unlikely that people will be able to use them for living.
It's sad, but every year the satellite moves away from the Earth by several centimeters. One day the moment will come when he will overcome the force of earth's gravity. Then the Moon will fly away from us and will travel until it is pulled towards itself by the next, heavier cosmic body.
Astronomers have known for a long time that oxygen is present on the Moon. However, only recently a spacecraft from Japan was able to confirm scientists’ guesses by discovering this element, but this is not the main thing. It turned out that lunar oxygen is of a similar nature to terrestrial oxygen. This discovery was made thanks to the SELENE probe, and its author was the head of the research group, Kentaro Tedara, representing Osaka University. Detailed information about the work done and its results was recently published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
Where does terrestrial oxygen come from on the Moon?
Scientists say that new information will allow us to study in more detail the question of the formation of the Earth many billions of years ago. In addition, researchers expect to obtain more data about the state of our planet’s atmosphere in such ancient times.
Every month, for almost five days, the lunar surface is reliably shielded from solar winds by the Earth's magnetosphere. According to some astronomers, oxygen ions could have reached our planet’s satellite during one of these time periods. After which they remained in the upper layer of lunar soil and its rock. Over millennia, geological activity on the Earth has destroyed any evidence of the planet's atmosphere in ancient times. Oxygen ions discovered in the lunar soil may turn out to be untouched for billions of years by particles of the ancient atmosphere of our planet. By collecting samples of this element, scientists will try to answer questions about changes in the Earth's atmosphere over time, as well as how these processes may have influenced the change and development of different living forms.
Studying lunar oxygen ions can do more than tell us about Earth's history. It is possible that particles can play an important role in the process of preparing humanity for the exploration of other planets. There can be no talk of any colonization of space without the oxygen necessary for human life. And the fact that it was found precisely on the Moon, which is closest to us, may turn out to be a decisive factor in organizing colonial missions in the near future.
The moon could become a new home for earthlings
As for Japan's plans, the country has already announced plans to send its astronaut to the Moon. This event should take place closer to 2030. Previously, some experts and businessmen said that humanity is capable of building a permanent colony on the lunar surface. In addition to Japan, the UAE authorities also spoke about plans to build a colony on the satellite. One way or another, many modern scientists agree that the next step in the exploration of space by people should be the colonization of the Moon. It may very well be that in the foreseeable future we will be able to find out whether the Moon will become the first extraterrestrial home for humans.
