Volcanoes were erupting on the mysterious far side of the moon billions of years ago, American and Chinese researchers have found.
Analysis of samples collected by the Chinese mission found pieces of basalt (volcanic rock formed after an eruption) dating back more than 4.2 billion years.
The findings are published in The environment again Science journals on Friday.
Although scientists already know about volcanic activity on the near side of the moon, which we can see from Earth, the “dark side” is very different in its geology, and remains unexplored.
The rock and dust samples – the first to be retrieved from the far reaches of the Moon – were collected by the Chang’e-6 spacecraft, following a two-month journey that was fraught with accidents.
Led by experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the researchers used radiometric dating to determine the age of the volcanic rock.
Their analysis also revealed a “surprisingly recent” explosion that occurred 2.83 billion years ago, something that has never been found near the Moon.
“This is an incredibly exciting study”, Professor Qiuli Li of the Institute of Geology and Geophysics wrote in a detailed peer review.
“This is the first geochronology study from the Chang’e-6 samples, and it will be of great importance to the lunar and planetary science community.”
Although it is widely known as the “dark side”, this part of the Moon actually receives a lot of sunlight – we just don’t see it.
This is because the Moon is partially closed to the Earth, and it takes the same amount of time to orbit our planet – about 27 days – which means that the same side is always facing us.
I first picture of the far side it was taken in 1959 by the Soviet spacecraft, Luna 3. They contained bullets, but they gave Earthlings a glimpse of the Moon from another angle.
There have been several high-quality images released since then, including a rare NASA video shows the Moon in the distance, with the Earth in the background.
And earlier this year, during the Chang’e-6 mission, a small rover was deployed to capture an image of a man sitting on a distant rocky outcrop.
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