A team of scientists led by geologist Hannes Bernhardt has made a groundbreaking discovery about the South Pole-Aitken basin, one of the largest and oldest craters on the Moon. The research suggests that the ancient crater may be much bigger than previously thought and formed differently than initially believed.
The South Pole-Aitken basin covers nearly a quarter of the Moon’s surface with a diameter of approximately 2,500 kilometers. Studying this giant crater has proven challenging due to its enormous size and age – over 4 billion years old. However, Bernhardt and his colleagues used data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to investigate the geological features on the Moon’s surface.
They focused on more than 200 mountainous areas around the basin’s outskirts, which they believed might be remnants of the crater rim. But instead of an oval shape, the team found a circular structure that contradicts previous theories. According to Bernhardt, this rounder shape indicates that the impact was struck at a more vertical angle, possibly similar to dropping a rock straight down onto the ground.
This new information has exciting implications for future lunar missions. The research suggests that debris from the impact is equally distributed around the crater, making it possible for astronauts or robots to study rocks from deep within the Moon’s mantle or crust. This could provide valuable insights into how the Moon formed and shed light on the Solar System’s early history.
The current leading explanation for the Moon’s formation is that Earth’s satellite broke off during a giant impact, but new theories include coalescence from debris clouds or gravitational capture. The discovery of this ancient crater’s secrets could help answer these questions and provide a treasure trove of minerals from early in the Moon’s history.
Source: https://www.sciencealert.com/the-biggest-crater-on-the-moon-is-much-bigger-than-we-ever-realized