Several missions responsible for samples on lunar dust found traces of oxide. He Iron present in the regolito It oxidizes like a wire exposed to the weather or spoon of a box of your kitchen. But the fact that there is an oxide on the moon is quite rare, if we take this into account, as its name indicates, You need oxygen to form. There is no atmosphere in our satellite, only a thin exosphere that does not contain oxygen. Where did this come from? The team of scientists from the University of Macau and the University of Boston recently asked this question and, against any forecast, found that the earth had.
Yes, oxygen that forms oxide on the moon This is happening from our planet. But even it’s hard to believe in it, because Sun wind It contains particles that should be able to inhibit this effect.
The authors of the study discovered why the solar wind cannot stop the process, and, above all, they analyzed the consequences that its conclusion has to better understand The interaction between the Earth and its only satellite.
Why does oxide take place on the moon?
There are many types iron oxidealthough the one found on the moon is known as HematiteWhat type, oxide is produced by the oxidation process, in which the metal, in this case, is iron, Lose electrons when responding with oxygenThe field on the opposite side is reduced. This is a process that contradicts the oxidation, with the help of which metal Win electrons, making contact with hydrogen.
The moon does not contain oxygen, but it is very exposed to sunny winds loaded with hydrogen. Therefore, if there really were some kind of oxygen reaching iron dust, the solar wind would block the oxidation process. This, obviously, does not happen. If not, then hematite could not be found. Therefore, the authors of the study, which was recently published, wanted to conduct an experiment Modeling processes that occur on the moon.
They took samples Pyroxen, Olivin, Ilmenite, Triilitis and iron meteorite As similar materials of iron minerals found on the moon. Then they bombed them oxygen ionsWith all this, they wanted to see the field whether the result could be equivalent samples that were discovered by oxide on the moon. They saw this, indeed, oxygen ions They are able to oxidize iron in metal mineralsThe field for example, Ilmenit and Troilta. In all cases, in addition, the formed oxide was hematite. Instead, silicates containing iron, such as pyroxene and olivin, do not form hematite, so this seems to be a “selective” process.
It was even clear that magnetite This is an intermediate material, which can also become a hematite at the end of the oxidation process. Now, despite all this, there was still unknown sun winds.
Why is oxidation produced from the Earth with inhibited solar winds?
Modeling also demonstrated what process an oxide on the moon will produce. And this is that the solar wind also pushes the magnetosphere of the earth, so that it is filled in The opposite direction to the sunThe field in this way, a kind Magnetic tail which contain particles that avoid the atmosphere of the Earth. During the full moon of the ion of the ground oxygen bombardment of the moon, when it passes through the specified magnetic tail, while 99 % of the solar wind cannot reach itThus, there are about 5 days a month, when there is a constant bombardment that will produce an oxide on the moon, but there is very little solar wind to inhibit oxidation.
All this makes great sense, since most of the hematite is in Lunar polesWhere the majority of oxygen ions obtained from the magnetic tail of the Earth are directed.
There is also water
The discovery of these scientists gives us an explanation of the existence of an oxide on the moon, but also explains some other problems. For example, during their simulation, they tried to bomb iron minerals and rear hematite hydrogen ions, As present in the solar wind. They saw that when this is happening, part of the oxygen of hematite leaves the mineral and connects the hydrogen, leading to water (H2O). This explains why water is usually found next to iron deposits on the moon. Hematitis is formed during the full moon, but when the solar wind returns, part of the mineral into the water.
All this gives us a lot of interesting information about Interactions in the Earth’s system. There is still much to understand, but this is a big step. It would only be clear why in your kitchen they are oxidized to the tablespoons of stainless steel. Unfortunately, sometimes there are unknown people that even science experiences problems with response.
Source: Hiper Textual
