Moon has iron core, confirmed by Seismic Array Processing

Ed Garnero, a professor at the School of Earth and Space Exploration in ASU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and his graduate student Peiying (Patty) Lin suggested to Renee Weber at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center that Seismic Array Processing would be a useful way to measure the Moon's layers, just as is used on Earth.

Sensitive seismographs scattered across Earth make studying our planet's interior possible. After earthquakes these instruments record waves that travel through the interior of the planet, which help to determine the structure and composition of Earth's layers. Just as geoscientists study earthquakes to learn about the structure of Earth, seismic waves of "moonquakes" (seismic events on the Moon) can be analyzed to probe the lunar interior.

"According to the team's findings, published Jan. 6 in the online edition of Science, the Moon possesses an iron-rich core with a solid inner ball nearly 150 miles in radius, and a 55-mile thick outer fluid shell."
(Fluid, in this case, means "movable" and not liquid)

Deep Interior of Moon Resembles Earth's Core

I would love to see a 150 mile wide iron core, just to see what it looks like, you couldn't imagine something as big as that close up...

earth + moon = giant alternator?

reply to post by Thermo Klein


I guess that knocks the hell out of some professional theories that the Moon was created by fragments of the early earth. Lighter materials, maybe, but iron, not a chance.

OK, ATS, open more slots for the "Moon is a spaceship" threads. Hell, just make a Moon forum and be done with it.

reply to post by Thermo Klein


But I thought it was supposed to be hollow???

Maybe it is and the iron core is the little thingy that swings back and forth and makes it "ring like a bell." (that was scarcasm, btw. )

Check out the moon landing missions if that makes no sense, lol.

reply to post by Aliensun


Why?

I guess that knocks the hell out of some professional theories that the Moon was created by fragments of the early earth.

That makes no sense. It's iron. Where do WE get our iron from? The crust. Oh, and the primordial collision that caused so much ejecta to blast out from Earth went very deep, too. The crust is quite thin, compared to the overall diameter of the planet.

So, as the material coalesced and combined, the heavier elements gravitated towards the center, as would be expected......

reply to post by weedwhacker


the heated spewing of the core seems to have total effect on how the materials of the planet are formed?