Moon Hit by 130X Nuclear Blast

Aakhir Tak – In Shorts

An asteroid blast on the Moon released 130 times more energy than all nuclear bombs combined. This discovery was made by lunar and planetary scientists. Two immense canyons were found on the lunar far side. These canyons are similar to Earth’s Grand Canyon. Data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter was used. The blast occurred at a speed of 55,000 km per hour.

Aakhir Tak – In Depth

Moon Was Hit by Asteroid Blast 130 Times Stronger Than All Nuclear Bombs Combined

Scientists at the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) have made a mind-blowing discovery hinting at the nature of asteroid crashes on the Moon. They have discovered two immense canyons hidden in the lunar far side similar in width and depth to the Earth’s Grand Canyon. This discovery of an asteroid blast on the Moon has baffled scientists.

The Grand Canyon in the US is 29 km wide and attains a depth of over 1.8 kilometers. In a study, published in the journal Nature Communication, scientists noted that the two striking structures were produced during a period of planetary upheaval when the Earth and Moon were being resurfaced by impacting asteroids and comets. This asteroid blast changed the lunar landscape.

David Kring, lead author of the paper, said that an asteroid or comet flew over the lunar south pole, brushed by the mountain summits of Malapert and Mouton, and hit the lunar surface. The impact ejected high-energy streams of rock that carved two canyons that are the size of Earth’s Grand Canyon. “While the Grand Canyon took millions of years to form, the two grand canyons on the Moon were carved in less than 10 minutes,” Kring noted. This Chandrayaan mission may provide more details about the canyons.

The scientists mapped the canyons using data obtained by NASA’s robotic Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft and then employed computer modelling to determine the flow directions and speed of the flying debris. They found that the rubble would have travelled up to about 3,600 km per hour. One of the canyons, called Vallis Planck, measures about 174 miles (280 km) long and 2.2 miles (3.5 km) deep. The other, called Vallis Schrödinger, is about 168 miles (270 km) long and 1.7 miles (2.7 km) deep.

The impacting asteroid or comet likely hit the lunar surface at a speed of nearly 55,000 kilometres per hour. The authors calculated the ballistic flight of ejected debris that created the canyons. The object that struck the moon is estimated to have been about 25 km in diameter, larger than the asteroid that struck Earth 66 million years ago and doomed the dinosaurs. Much information about the Moon has been discovered from the NASA mission.

The energy to produce the grand canyons on the Moon is about 130 times larger than the energy in the global inventory of nuclear weapons.

Aakhir Tak – Key Takeaways to Remember

An asteroid blast on the Moon released 130 times more energy than nuclear bombs. Two immense canyons were found on the lunar far side. NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter data was used. The blast occurred at 55,000 km per hour.

Aakhir Tak Editor-in-Chief

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