Earth's gravity significantly deforms the surface of the moon


    Photo: NASA / LRO / Arizona State University / Smithsonian Institution

    Earth causes peculiar “tidal waves” on the Moon, which, in turn, lead to deformation of the surface of the Earth’s natural satellite. This became known after a detailed study of photographs of the lunar surface obtained by astronomers through the use of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). The device has already taken many pictures, and some of them show geological structures , something like longitudinal slopes, which, perhaps, are a consequence of the influence of the Earth's gravitational field on the Moon in the past or even the present.

    According to scientists, the Earth caused a particularly strong deformation of the moon’s surface even when the hot surface of the moon cooled down, but was not completely solid. “Tidal waves” caused by the Earth led to the fact that the surface of the moon was deformed. Perhaps this process continues now, scientists say.

    In one of the photos sent by LRO, 14 slopes (cliffs) are clearly visible, the length of which is several kilometers. It turns out that such structures are found on the moon very often, there are many thousands of them - or rather, scientists have counted 3200 such objects.


    Map of the moon with “ledges” (red lines and dots)

    The effect of the Earth on its satellite is most pronounced on the surface of the nearest and farthest region of the moon. However, the Earth has a much weaker effect on the Moon than does the Moon on Earth. The difference can be 50 or even 100 times. Although the Moon rotates around its axis, it is always facing the Earth on the same side, that is, the rotation of the Moon around the Earth and the rotation around its own axis are synchronized. This synchronization is caused by the friction of the tides that the Earth produced in the lunar shell. According to the laws of mechanics, the Moon is oriented in the Earth's gravitational field so that the semimajor axis of the lunar ellipsoid is directed to the Earth

    The thickness of the Moon's crust on average is 68 km, varying from 0 km under the lunar sea of ​​Crisis to 107 km in the northern part of the Korolev crater on the reverse side. Under the crust is a mantle and, possibly, a small core of sulphurous iron (with a radius of approximately 340 km and a mass of 2% of the mass of the moon). It is curious that the center of mass of the moon is located about 2 km from the geometric center towards the Earth. According to the results of the Kaguya mission, it was found that in the Sea of ​​Moscow the thickness of the crust is the smallest for the entire moon - almost 0 meters under a 600-meter-thick basaltic lava layer.

    If the scientists' hypothesis is true, then moonquakes can occur on the moon, and quite strong - they can be detected by an earthquake seismograph mounted on the surface of the moon. Astronomers are now continuing to study the Earth’s satellite, carefully examining photographs sent by the LRO.

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