A 60-year old mystery about the moon’s magnetosphere is finally solved

One particularly well-known fact about the moon is that it doesn’t have much of a magnetosphere to speak of. There’s no blanket to protect it from the solar wind ravaging its surface, blowing away its atmosphere and charging the notoriously dangerous dust particles that make up its regolith. However, scientists have also known for around 60 years that some parts of the moon do experience sudden spikes in a magnetic field—some of which are up to 10 times stronger than the background magnetization.

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