There have been many missions that have been carried out on the Moon for decades in order to obtain samples of it and try to better understand our only satellite. To this day, samples that were obtained from the lunar surface nearly 50 years ago are still being studied. Probably the best known missions on the Moon were those carried out with the Apollo missions , carried out by the United States. However, it seemed unthinkable to solve one of the mysteries of the Moon after so long thanks to the study of these samples, and it could be that the Moon has never had a magnetic field as if it was thought it had.
Samples of lunar glass could lead to this conclusion, following a study by scientists at the University of Rochester.
The Moon may never have had a magnetic field
They have discovered, together with other institutions, something that could change the resources that could be found on the Moon in the future. The main objective of the investigation was to find out if our satellite has had some type of magnetic field at some point in its life.
It has always been thought that the Moon had a magnetic field for hundreds of millions of years, but studies by scientists now call into question this first thought. These studies could suppose a new panorama to know the reality about the possible magnetic field of the Moon.
The idea that has always been had from the beginning is that the Moon had a magnetic field after a series of data obtained in the 70s. This conclusion was reached after analyzing lunar samples taken at that time. These samples had magnetization, hence the conclusion that was drawn.
The small size of the Moon makes it difficult to do tests to drive this supposed magnetic field that the satellite has. The tests that were done might not be very accurate in determining the presence of a magnetic field.
The new evidence seems conclusive
This new study reveals that the lunar glass samples that were analyzed were exposed to a laser to increase the temperature of the samples and thus alter them. They then used very precise mechanisms to measure the magnetism of the samples with the highest possible precision.
The results were that the magnetization that was shown could be caused by the impact of other space objects such as a meteor, and not that this magnetism was produced because there was a magnetic shield.
Therefore, after these results, scientists believe that the evidence is quite clear and the Moon would never have had a magnetic field.
