FRANCE: Bright “swirl” patterns on the surface of the moon, long a cosmic mystery, may be the signature of ancient comets slamming onto the moon’s surface, scientists say.
For years, scientists have debated the origin of the tangled, swirling bands of brighter soil twisting through the darker dust on the moon’s surface.
Now, Brown University researchers say they’ve come up with computer models of comets crashing into the lunar soil that produce results that match the bright, wispy traces seen across the lunar landscape.
At first glance, they note, the swirls seem not to be associated with any known large lunar impact craters.
“They simply look as if someone had finger-painted the surface,” says Brown planetary scientist Peter Schultz. “There has been an intense debate about what causes these features.”
Schultz says watching lunar landing modules touch down on the moon’s surface during NASA’s Apollo program suggested a possible solution.
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