What drove the lunar dynamo? Moon's molten core was likely sustained by alternative power source
Friday, January 27, 2012 - 06:30
in Astronomy & Space
New evidence from an ancient lunar rock suggests that the moon once harbored a long-lived dynamo a molten, convecting core of liquid metal that generated a strong magnetic field 3.7 billion years ago. The findings, published today in Science, point to a dynamo that lasted much longer than scientists previously thought, and suggest that an alternative energy source may have powered the dynamo.