People on Earth who have ever received sunburns are familiar with the powerful radiation emitted by the Sun – but it turned out that the Moon also suffers from sunburns.
Some parts of the surface of the moon exhibit distinct dark or light spots in the form of curls. Using NASA’s ARTEMIS mission (Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s Interaction with the Sun), astronomers were able to find out new details about the origin of these curls.
The sun emits a continuous stream of charged particles, called the cosmic wind, into the surrounding space. While Earth’s natural magnetic “shield” reflects solar wind particles, the Moon has a weaker magnetic field, so some areas of its surface remain unprotected from the damaging effects of solar radiation, according to a new statement published by NASA.
Unlike the Earth, the Moon does not have a global magnetic field. Instead, the magnetic field of a natural satellite of our planet consists of separate, local magnetic fields associated with certain volumes of magnetized rocks — however, these fields cover only relatively small areas, according to this statement.
Magnetic fields in some areas of the Moon surface act like a magnetic solar screen.
-Andrew Poppe, a scientist at the University of California at Berkeley, USA, in a statement
These small protective bubbles are able to deflect a fraction of the solar wind particles. As a result, light curls are formed on the surface (in the photo). However, the area surrounding these curls remains dark and represents a sunburn on the surface of the moon, the researchers explained.
The team hopes that these findings will help protect astronauts from the damaging effects of radiation during future missions to the moon. Although the power of magnetic fields associated with individual rock masses of the Moon may not be sufficient to protect a person on its surface, it may be effective to create and maintain artificial magnetic fields.
Solar wind leaves burns on the surface of the moon
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