Data obtained from lunar orbiting probes show that terrestrial oxygen periodically hits the moon. This factor prompted many researchers to study the possibility of the formation of the ancient atmosphere of the Earth.
Researchers studying data from the Selenological and Engineering Explorer (SELENE) Lunar Orbiter probes have noticed that something strange is happening during the 5-day lunar cycle. Its surface becomes electrically charged, dust appears, which can form even a small circulating 'storm' in which particles are repelled from each other.
During these five days, the Moon's orbit is believed to cross the Earth's magnetosphere, a vast area of the planet's magnetosphere that is directed backward by the solar wind. The magnetosphere contains the so-called plasma layer, a layer with a weaker magnetic field.
Currently, the results of the Selenological and Engineering Explorer (SELENE) Lunar Orbiter probes show that during this time, when the Moon passes through the Earth's plasma layer, a significant amount of etheric oxygen from the Earth reaches the surface of the Moon. And this is a very interesting factor considering that about 3 billion years have passed since the moment when oxygen appeared in abundance in the Earth's atmosphere.
“Our new finding suggests that the Earth-Moon system is connected not only physically, but also chemically,” said Kentaro Terada, lead author of the study and planetary scientist at Osaka University in Japan. The study, published today in the journal Nature, hints that someday Moon dust may help scientists study the historical past of our atmosphere.
Sources: eos
