A pair of translucent glass spheres, each more than half an inch thick, were discovered in an impact crater near the moon’s south pole. They are the first of their kind to be discovered on the Moon.
A new study in Science Bulletin describes “the first discovery of macroscopic translucent glass spheres on the Moon.” The spherules could have been formed by heat generated by large impacts or early volcanic activity. The study, led by Xiao Zhiyong, an assistant professor at the Research Laboratory of Planetary Environment and Astrobiology at Sun Yat-sen University, said the discovery is significant because the glass sphere “records important information about the composition of the Earth’s mantle and the history of lunar volcanism and cratering” – Guangzhou, China Sen University .
These “translucent glass spheres,” as scientists describe them, were discovered by the Balu Yutu-2 rover. As part of China’s Chang’e 4 mission, the rover is currently studying the lunar phase (the lunar equivalent of “geology”) and the chemical differences between the near and far sides of the Moon. The small rover landed in the 115-mile (186-kilometer) wide Von Karman crater on January 3, 2019. This large crater is located in the larger Aitken Basin (the Moon’s largest impact basin), near the Moon’s South Pole.
The glass that Yutu-2 encountered was nothing special, as it was scattered across much of the lunar surface. What makes these special objects unique is their large size and translucency. Moon glass is typically small, measuring less than 1 millimeter (0.04 inch), but the Apollo astronauts did find a few beads of this size. The diameter of the two spheres in the Von Karman crater is estimated to be 0.5 to 1 inch (1.5 to 2.5 cm), so their size has been described as “macroscopic”.
Although the Apollo samples were dull in color, the newly discovered beads are “translucent or translucent and have a glassy sheen,” the researchers write. The Yutu-2 panoramic camera also detected four other similar objects, but the image resolution was not clear enough for scientists to identify them as glass spheres.
The shape and position of the spheres suggest that they were objects that struck the glass and were not released by another planetary body or the product of volcanic activity. Glass spheres are formed by the intense heat generated by violent impacts that liquefy the silicates into a spherical shape when exposed to air. A ball of liquid thrown into the sky quickly cools and returns to the surface in the form of glass.
Volcanic eruptions could do the same thing, but the volcanoes on the Moon have not been active for a long time. Moreover, the characteristics of the beads were not consistent with volcanic activity, and scientists believe they are impact glass derived from “anorthosite melts.” Lunar anorthosite is an igneous rock commonly found on the lunar highlands near the South Pole. One limitation of the article is the inability to determine the exact composition of the beads.
Scientists say the glass beads formed recently or were recently exposed. The top inch of lunar regolith was covered in less than 100,000 years, “suggesting that these spheres may be very young,” the paper says. The recent collision likely disturbed the beads, leaving them floating on the surface.
Similar objects are found on Earth and are called tektites. Scientists suspect that these macroscopic objects are a general feature of the Moon and that other spherules should be “abundant at lunar highlands.”
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Post time: Oct-14-2024