In a breakthrough study published in the journal Nature, scientists have revealed part of the long-guarded secret of the Moon’s internal structure. The study sheds light on the evolution of the Moon’s magnetic field and provides substantial insights into the timeline of lunar bombardment in the first billion years of the Solar System.

The Moon has a solid core about 500 kilometers in diameter, which is approximately 15 percent of its size, and is made of a metal whose density is close to that of iron. The solid core had remained undetectable due to its small size. However, the team of scientists from the CNRS, Universite Cote d’Azur, Observatoire de la Cote d’Azur, Sorbonne University, and Observatoire de Paris-PSL utilized data from different space missions and laser-Moon ranging to detect its existence.

Moreover, the study reveals the presence of iron-rich material in the lunar crust, which is speculated to have risen to the surface and produced volcanic rocks deposited in the lunar crust. The elements that were too dense compared to the surrounding material in the crust fell back and returned to the interface between the mantle and the core. This process is called the reversal of the lunar mantle, which helps explain the presence of iron-rich elements on the surface of the Moon.

The scientists also question the evolution of the Moon’s magnetic field and propose a global mantle overturn scenario to support their findings. The study provides crucial information that informs the history of the solar system and helps understand certain events, such as the disappearance of the lunar magnetic field. The Moon’s magnetic field was originally a hundred times more powerful than that of the present Earth but is now almost non-existent.