Planetologists from the United States have shown that about three billion years ago, the Moon had its own magnetic field. The corresponding study was published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, briefly reported by NASA.
The satellite of the Earth had its own magnetic field for about a billion years, and in its strength it was comparable to the field of the planet. The existence of the magnetic field of the Moon in ancient times was, as in the case of the Earth, due to the dynamo effect.
In the center of the satellite, as scientists believe, there was a heated molten iron-nickel core with impurities of carbon and sulfur. Its crystallization was accompanied by the release of heat, which probably led to the appearance of streams of heated matter in the bowels of the satellite and the appearance of a magnetic field in it.
Experts carried out experiments with a substance that, in their opinion, can form a core, and determined the proportions of iron, nickel, carbon and sulfur in it. Scientists also obtained information on the composition of the lunar rocks of the moon from samples delivered from the satellite during the Apollo mission.
At present, the Moon has practically no magnetic field of its own, and its core consists of a solid core and a liquid shell. It is known that at present in the solar system, in addition to Mercury, the Earth and four gas giants, Ganymede, the largest satellite of Jupiter, also has its own magnetosphere.