Tag: South Pole–Aitken basin
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Giant Northern Asteroid Crash May Have Made the Moon Radioactive, New Study Suggests
Revisiting the Moon’s oldest scar A new Nature study led by planetary scientist Jeffrey Andrews-Hanna from the University of Arizona revisits a landmark event in our solar system’s history: the giant impact that created the Moon’s largest basin, the South Pole–Aitken (SPA) basin. This colossal feature stretches about 1,931 kilometres from north to south and…
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Southward Impact Reveals Magma Ocean in Moon’s Pole-Aitken
Overview: A New Clue About the Moon’s Largest Crater For decades, scientists have studied the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin, the Moon’s most expansive impact feature. A new study, published in Nature, upends a long-standing assumption about how this colossal crater formed. By analyzing the basin’s asymmetry and the distribution of radioactive materials, researchers argue that…
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New Clues from Moon’s Largest Crater: Southward Impact Exposed Magma Ocean on the Moon
Hidden History beneath the Moon’s Largest Crater Scientists have long studied the South Pole-Aitken basin (SPA) as a window into the Moon’s formative years. New research published in Nature suggests the basin’s distinctive shape and composition tell a story of a magma ocean at the Moon’s endgame and of an impact that came from the…
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Southward Impact Revealed Magma Ocean Clue at Moon’s Largest Crater
Revisiting the Moon’s Biggest Crater The Moon’s South Pole-Aitken basin (SPA), the largest known impact feature in our solar system, has long been a subject of fascination for planetary scientists. Recent research digging into the basin’s shape and composition suggests a surprising twist: the basin’s oblong form and the distribution of interior materials point to…
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Massive Moon crater could rewrite the Moon’s origin story
New clues from the Moon’s largest crater A fresh interpretation of the Moon’s oldest giant impact hinges on the South Pole–Aitken (SPA) basin, the largest known impact structure in the solar system. Led by planetary scientist Jeffrey Andrews-Hanna of the University of Arizona, the study argues that the downrange rim of SPA lies near the…