Financial Gazette
  • Science
  • Global

Is the moon more iron-rich than what we thought?

  • April 13, 2026 at 7:40 PM
  • 149 views
Is the moon more iron-rich than what we thought?
The moon is Earth's only natural satellite, a rocky celestial body that orbits our planet at an average distance of about 384,000 kilometers. The most widely accepted scientific explanation for the moon's origin is the "giant impact," a high-energy collision between a Mars-sized proto-planet named Theia with the young "proto-Earth" about 4.5 billion years ago. As the newly formed moon cooled down from a hot magma ocean, layers with varying iron-content and mineral compositions crystallized to form the moon's structure that we know today.

Originally published at Phys.org

Share: