A new study published in Science Advances by lead author, Shuai Li, found that hematite – a form of rust – was discovered on the Moon.
Rust is made up of iron, oxygen, and water – the latter two ingredients being something the Moon is not known to have, which has been puzzling scientists. Li, of the University of Hawaii, examined data from the Indian Space Research Organisation’s Chandrayaan-1 orbiter, which originally found water-ice on the Moon’s poles in 2008 and continued to map mineralogy on the Moon, according to the study. As NASA explained, a planet such as Mars is known for it’s iron-rust surface, due to its ancient past with water and oxygen – which scientifically makes sense and also causes the red color on Mars.
After closely examining the data, Li discovered the mineral, hematite, on the Moon’s poles – with it being more abundant on the near side to Earth than the far side.
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Hematite is a primary ore of iron – in its pure state hematite is composed of 70% iron and 30% oxygen. To produce rust, iron must be exposed to both oxygen and water.
“It’s very puzzling,” Li said. “The Moon is a terrible environment for hematite to form in.”
Li inquired with NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists, Abigail Fraeman and Vivian Sun to help with confirmation of his hematite discovery.
“At first, I totally didn’t believe it, Fraeman said. “It shouldn’t exist based on the conditions present on the Moon, but since we discovered water on the Moon, people have been speculating that there could be a greater variety of minerals than we realize if that water had reacted with rocks.”
The scientists believe the explanation of rust being present on the Moon has to do with the Earth’s upper atmosphere. The study explains that the Moon has, “trace levels of oxygen” due to the Earth’s magnetic field – dubbed the magnetotail – which carries streams of Earth’s magnetic field as it flows through the solar system, and can split right into the Moon itself, dropping off oxygen from the planet’s upper atmosphere.
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Next comes the issue of water. But the team of scientists think that is a result of dust particles hitting the Moon’s surface, releasing water molecules, which then mixes with the iron in the soils surface. NASA explained that heat as well, could increase the oxidation rate. On the opposite side, hydrogen, which acts as a rust suppressor and could be carried through solar wind, could pose a potential problem.
However, when the Moon is, “shielded from the solar wind and oxygen is present” during certain times in the lunar phase, that’s when a chemical reaction of rust could occur.
More data needs to be gathered to conclude precisely how the interactions are occurring, and especially to answer the question of how hematite is forming on the dark side of the moon – where Earth’s oxygen wouldn’t reach.
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“I think these results indicate that there are more complex chemical processes happening in our solar system than have been previously recognized,” Sun said. “We can understand them better by sending future missions to the Moon to test these hypotheses.”
For more science goodness, check out images of the galaxy discovered that looks like Darth Vader’s TIE Fighter, read about the mysterious jet pack man seen near Los Angeles, and find out more about the existence of aliens.
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Jessie Wade is the Homepage Editor at IGN and the science gal who loves the Moon. Chat with her on Twitter @jessieannwade.
Source: IGN.com The Moon Is Rusting… and Earth May be the Culprit