Gravity study shows why the moon's two sides look so different

Thermal asymmetry in the Moon’s mantle inferred from monthly tidal response

The Moon undergoes periodic tidal forcing due to its eccentric and oblique orbit around the Earth1. The response to this tidal interaction drives temporal changes in the lunar gravity field and is sensitive to the satellite’s internal structure2–4. We use data from the NASA GRAIL spacecraft5–9 to recover the time-varying lunar gravity field, including a degree-3 gravitational tidal Love number, k3. Here, we report our estimated value of k3 = 0.0…

The moon's very different sides explained in new NASA study

Scientists have long suspected the differences could be explained by what's inside the moon but until now, they couldn't prove it.

For ten years, a team researched the moon and came to exciting results. Thus, the earth-facing side is much warmer – for a certain reason.

Gravity study shows why moon's two sides look so different

An exhaustive examination of lunar gravity using data obtained by two Nasa robotic spacecraft is offering new clues about why the two sides of the moon — the one perpetually facing Earth and the other always facing away — look so different.

Gravity reveals what's hiding beneath the Moon's surface

The moon's nearside is covered by vast plains, called mare, formed from molten rock that cooled and solidified billions of years ago. Its farside has much more rugged terrain, with few plains.

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Ju-young = It is known that the terrain of the front side of the moon, which is always facing the Earth, and the back side, which is the opposite side, are very different. This difference is internal...