music throughout
Narrator: : To every astronaut or spacecraft, the Sun is a damaging source of radiation.
All objects traveling through space must contend with this hazard, including planets. Even the moon has the scars
to prove it. New NASA research suggests that some of the coloration
we see on the moon could be a form of sunburn.
Andrew Poppe: The leading hypothesis is that the magnetic fields are blocking
some portion of the solar wind from reaching the surface
Narrator: The solar wind is the Sun’s continuous outflow of particles and radiation that fills the inner solar system. Earth’s magnetic field provides a strong,
global shield against it. However, the magnetic field on the moon is much weaker,
and it forms only small, localized bubbles of protection. In these spots,
the Sun’s particles can be reflected back into the solar wind or funneled to nearby regions.
The shielded areas under the magnetic field form pale swirls.
The bordering parts become darker. The contrast is so prominent,
we can see it from Earth.
Poppe: Those are regions acting as this magnetic sunscreen. You know, sometimes you put on sunscreen
and you miss a tiny little bit, and then you have are really bright red spot on your skin where you missed it.
That's in some ways the analogy for the region of the moon that is extra exposed.
Narrator: Unfortunately, the moon’s patches of magnetic field are not
robust enough to completely protect human explorers from the Sun’s radiation,
but further study of lunar magnetic fields could lay the groundwork for
future innovations. Poppe: It gives a test case for what if we got a strong enough magnetic field that perhaps
we could produce artificially? That’s a question that remains to be answered,
but I think that crustal magnetic fields on the moon and lunar swirls kind of provide a hint in that direction, that we might be able to learn something about.
tone
spacecraft beeping