Moon has deep core - similar to earth
February 14th, 2011 - 2:07 pm ICT by IANSWashington, Feb 14 (IANS) The moon possesses an iron-rich core with a solid inner ball nearly 150 miles in radius, which is similar to that of the earth, according to a new study.
A team of NASA-led researchers applied new technology to seismic data from the Apollo mission and detected what many scientists have predicted: the moon has a core.
“The moon’s deepest interior, especially whether or not it has a core, has been a blind spot for seismologists,” says Ed Garnero, professor at the Arizona State University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, study co-author, reports the journal Science.
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, according to a NASA statement.
Just as geoscientists study earthquakes to learn about the structure of earth, seismic waves of “moonquakes” (seismic events on the moon) can be analysed to probe the lunar interior.
Garnero and his graduate student Peiying Lin found the deepest interior of the moon to have considerable structural similarities with the earth.
- Moon has liquid core just like Earth - Jan 08, 2011
- Moon 'has Earth-like core' - Jan 07, 2011
- Rock defects below earth surface impact quakes - Apr 24, 2012
- Scientists find significant increase in microearthquakes after Chilean quake - Feb 26, 2011
- Delhi's high-rises vulnerable to Himalayan quake (Jan 26 is anniversary of the 2001 Bhuj earthquake) - Jan 25, 2012
- 'Starquakes' discovered by NASA spacecraft to revolutionize stellar study - Oct 27, 2010
- Earth's inner core rotating slower than previously believed - Feb 21, 2011
- 'Speed gun' for Earth's insides developed - Oct 28, 2010
- First-ever measurement of magnetic field inside Earth's core - Dec 17, 2010
- Barrage of small meteorite impacts cause the moon to "hum" - Sep 09, 2009
- Scientists probe earth's core with quake 'whispers' - Apr 29, 2010
- NASA to launch moon mission in September - Aug 26, 2011
- Scientists recreate extreme conditions 1800 miles below Earth's crust - Sep 24, 2010
- Silicates relatively uncommon deep within the Earth, finds study - May 11, 2010
- Researchers find no link between major earthquakes - Mar 28, 2011
Tags: apollo mission, arizona state university, arizona state university college, blind spot, co author, college of liberal arts, composition of earth, feb 14, graduate student, journal science, nasa, new technology, rich core, seismic data, seismic events, seismic waves, seismologists, sensitive seismographs, structure of earth, study earthquakes