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About 4.5 billion years ago, when the Earth was still in its infancy, the planet was a molten mess when a Mars-sized object called Theia slammed into our planet. The resulting chunks of debris from Earth and Theia would continue to form the Moon for millions of years to come.
Then, about four billion years ago, the solar system was going through a deadly period known as the Late Heavy Bombardment.
As the name suggests, asteroids and large space rocks were flying throughout the solar system, colliding with our planet and the other celestial bodies in our galactic neighborhood.
To ensure that the solar system was incredibly deadly, the Sun was also going through its formative years, firing deadly solar flares regularly.
However, new research has found that the newly formed Moon may have protected Earth, which didn’t have much of an atmosphere at the time, from deadly solar flares, according to a new NASA study.
Jim Green, NASA chief scientist and lead author of the new study, said: “The Moon appears to have presented a substantial protective barrier against the solar wind for Earth, which was critical to Earth’s ability to maintain its atmosphere during This weather”.
The gravity of the newly formed Moon helped stabilize the Earth’s rotation, which completed a full turn in around five hours at the time, reducing it to the 24 hours we know today.
As a result, the core of the Earth stabilized in the sticky center that allows the creation of the magnetosphere, the layer of the atmosphere that protects our planet from solar radiation.
Also, although the Moon’s core is lifeless now, mounting evidence suggests that it was much softer back then, which also allowed a magnetic shield to form.
Also, the Moon was much closer to Earth then than it is today: 80,000 miles away, compared to 238,000 miles today.
This means that the Earth may have been shielded by two magnetic fields, as both the Earth and the Moon may have connected at the poles, allowing an additional layer of defense against the dangerous solar flares of the time.
David Draper, NASA deputy chief scientist and study co-author, said: “Understanding the history of the Moon’s magnetic field helps us understand not only possible early atmospheres, but also how the lunar interior evolved.
“It tells us what the core of the Moon could have looked like, probably a combination of liquid and solid metal at some point in its history, and that’s a very important piece of the puzzle of how the Moon works inside.”
More research is needed to confirm the theory, according to NASA, which cites upcoming missions to the Moon as the perfect opportunity.
Green added: “We hope to follow up on these findings when NASA sends astronauts to the Moon through the Artemis program, which will return critical samples from the lunar South Pole.”
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