Data from China’s Chang’e-6 lunar mission has helped explain why solar wind interacts differently with the near and far sides of the Moon, researchers said.
The findings show that solar wind particles penetrate more deeply into soil on the Moon’s far side, a difference attributed to the shielding effect of Earth’s magnetic field on the near side during certain points in the Moon’s orbit. Chang’e-6, which returned samples from the lunar far side, has given scientists rare direct material to study the phenomenon.
The research adds to a broader understanding of space weathering on the lunar surface and how the Moon’s two hemispheres have developed distinct surface characteristics over billions of years of exposure to solar radiation.
The comparison between the Moon’s two hemispheres gives researchers a clearer picture of how billions of years of differential exposure to solar wind have shaped the lunar surface on each side, using sample material that had not previously been available from the far side.
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Sources:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/news/top/technology/