Publication Date:
2019-04-17
Description:
Analyses of lunar samples suggest the Moon once possessed a dynamo from ~4.25 Ga until perhaps as recently as 1 Ga, with surface field strengths between ~5 and 100 μT. While the exact timing, strength, and structure of these paleomagnetic fields are not precisely known, such relatively strong fields imply that the Moon also likely possessed a magnetosphere. Here, we present hybrid plasma simulations of the structure and morphology of the putative lunar “paleo-magnetosphere” for varying surface field strengths and orientations, using ambient solar wind conditions representative of the early Sun. The presence of the paleo-magnetosphere reduces total solar wind fluxes to the lunar surface overall yet, for a spin-aligned dynamo, increases the relative solar wind flux to the lunar polar regions. In turn, the paleo-magnetosphere may have altered the rate of volatile accretion to the Moon over its history. ©2019. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
Print ISSN:
0094-8276
Electronic ISSN:
1944-8007
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Physics
Permalink