Earth’s Moon only ever shows us one face. It’s locked into its current orientation, with a permanent nearside and farside, but it wasn’t until the Apollo missions that scientists were able to see just how different the two sides really are. The nearside, with its sea of dark gray basins standing in contrast to the brilliant white powder that covers the rest of its face, varies dramatically from the farside, which is marked with countless smaller craters in a more uniform distribution.
The debate over how the Moon’s split personalities developed has raged for decades, but new research seems to indicate that one of the possible explanations does indeed hold water. The theory, that Earth’s Moon was struck by a tiny dwarf planet long ago, is the subject of a new research paper published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.
BGR Top Deals:
- Today’s top deals: $7 Alexa smart plugs, $45 true wireless earbuds, $25 Fire TV Stick, $20 off AirPods 2, more
- The popular smartwatch with 30-day battery life is back on sale for $79.99
Trending Right Now:
- These impossibly sleek Pixel 4 renders look so much better than the iPhone 11
- This is the first ever deleted scene from ‘Captain Marvel’
- Leaker says a mysterious new Samsung phone will be even more exciting than the Galaxy Fold and Note 10
Researchers say a tiny planet slammed into the Moon a long time ago originally appeared on BGR.com on Tue, 21 May 2019 at 15:11:32 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read more here:: Boy Genius Report