The discovery of transparent glass balls on the far side of the moon, whose "prank" is it? Transparent, crystal like a pearl!
According to the Chinese Science Magazine, a research team led by Dr. Xiao Zhiyong of Sun Yat-sen University published a paper on the new discovery of the moon, which pointed out that Yutu-2 found a centimeter-sized glass ball on the far side of the earth, with a smooth, rounded and transparent shape, which is the first time in the world.
Because the appearance is too smooth, and the photo moon soil is very different, many netizens feel incredible, there is a dispute over its source, and even some netizens suspect that this is the work of aliens.
The moon faces the earth on one side and the earth on the other, which has been the case for hundreds of millions of years, so many people firmly believe that there is a huge secret hidden on the back of the moon, and the alien supporters once regarded it as a "base", where the aliens landed and lived. From the first time humans launched a probe to the moon to when 12 U.S. astronauts arrived on the moon in an Apollo spacecraft, humans have been in contact with the front of the moon.
The turning point came in 2019. On January 13, 2019, the Chang'e-4 probe independently developed by the mainland achieved the first human landing on the far side of the moon, and then the Yutu-2 lunar rover began to carry out exploration activities. For the sake of facing the earth, the mainland launched a relay star called "Queqiao" in advance, which was responsible for signal transmission, and the data detected by Chang'e-4 and Yutu-2 was first transmitted to the relay star, and then the relay star transmitted the signal to the earth.
Jade Rabbit No. 2 can be described as "hard work and high achievement". Yutu-2 is 1.5 meters long, 1 meter wide and 1.1 meters high, carrying a panoramic camera, lunar radar, infrared imaging spectrometer and other scientific instruments, the overall mass has reached 140 kg, so the driving speed is extremely slow, the speed is not as fast as a turtle, but now the journey is more than 1000 meters! It has been in service for 3 years since it landed on the moon and recently detected a transparent glass ball, while its design life is only 3 months.
In November 2021, Yutu-2 discovered a "mysterious hut", which was later confirmed to be just a stone, most likely a meteorite that hit the far side of the moon. This time, the "transparent glass ball" was found again, which once again made Yutu No. 2 on the hot search.
What exactly is a clear glass ball?
In fact, it is not the first time that human beings have found glass balls on the moon, and American Apollo astronauts have brought back dozens of glass balls from the front of the moon. The difference is that the former glass ball directly reaches several centimeters, is opaque black, and the shape is slightly rough, mixed with a large number of pores and debris, which is significantly different from the fully transparent glass ball found by Yutu No. 2.
There are two conditions for the formation of transparent glass balls, one is material, sand or stone; one is high temperature, the moon is up to 28 days a day and night, resulting in a large temperature difference between day and night on the far side of the moon, the lowest minus 180 ° C, the highest 120 ° C, but to form a glass ball, still need external heat blessing!
Scientists on the mainland point out that the high temperatures brought by meteorite impacts are undoubtedly a perfect opportunity. Because of the natural barrier of the earth on the front of the moon, some meteorites are blocked from falling, so there are more meteorites landed on the back side than on the front, and more craters are formed, and the dense places of craters make people look numb. The result is that in addition to the lunar soil, the lunar surface has a large number of rocks called plagioclase, the main component of which is silicate minerals.
When meteorites hit the moon at high speed, they release a lot of heat, creating a high-temperature environment, and the broken stones are first melted, and then rapidly cooled in a low temperature environment, and finally form a transparent glass ball. The smaller the volume of gravel, the easier it is to form high-quality transparent glass balls.
When Yutu-2 first landed, it was reported to have found some "gels with a mysterious luster", presumably those that meteorites had not yet fully formed or irregular glass when they hit the moon.
Original: Blog post