While the #moon lacks any breathable #air, it does host a barely-there atmosphere.
Since the 1980s, astronomers have observed a very thin layer of atoms bouncing over the moon’s surface.
This delicate atmosphere
— technically known as an “#exosphere”
— is likely a product of some kind of space weathering.
But exactly what those processes might be has been difficult to pin down with any certainty.
Now, scientists at MIT and the University of Chicago say they have identified the main process that formed the moon’s atmosphere
and continues to sustain it today.
In a study appearing today in Science Advances, the team reports that the lunar atmosphere is primarily a product of “#impact #vaporization.”
In their study, the researchers analyzed samples of lunar soil collected by astronauts during NASA’s Apollo missions.
Their analysis suggests that over the moon’s 4.5-billion-year history its surface has been continuously bombarded,
first by massive meteorites,
then more recently, by smaller, dust-sized “micrometeoroids.”
These constant impacts have kicked up the lunar soil, vaporizing certain atoms on contact, and lofting the particles.
Some atoms are ejected into space,
while others remain suspended over the moon,
forming a tenuous atmosphere that is constantly replenished
as meteorites continue to pelt the surface.
https://news.mit.edu/2024/scientists-pin-down-moons-tenuous-atmosphere-origins-0802