When the Moon had a magnetosphere

Green, James; Draper, David; Boardsen, Scott; Dong, Chaunfei

doi:10.1126/sciadv.abc0865

When the Moon had a magnetosphere

Journal Article · Wed Oct 14 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · Science Advances

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abc0865· OSTI ID:1814876

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National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Washington, DC (United States)
Univ. of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), Baltimore, MD (United States)
Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)

Apollo lunar samples reveal that the Moon generated its own global magnetosphere, lasting from ~4.25 to ~2.5 billion years (Ga) ago. At peak lunar magnetic intensity (4 Ga ago), the Moon was volcanically active, likely generating a very tenuous atmosphere, and, it is believed, was at a geocentric distance of ~18 Earth radii (R_E). Solar storms strip a planet’s atmosphere over time, and only a strong magnetosphere would be able to provide maximum protection. We present simplified magnetic dipole field modeling confined within a paraboloidal-shaped magnetopause to show how the expected Earth-Moon coupled magnetospheres provide a substantial buffer from the expected intense solar wind, reducing Earth’s atmospheric loss to space.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC (United States); Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States); Univ. of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), Baltimore, MD (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-09CH11466

OSTI ID:: 1814876

Journal Information:: Science Advances, Journal Name: Science Advances Journal Issue: 42 Vol. 6; ISSN 2375-2548

Publisher:: AAASCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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