An Indian moon rover may have discovered the first evidence of a “moonquake” since the 1970s. The Lunar Seismic Instrument (ILSA) attached to the Vikram lander recorded seismic activity on the lunar surface 26 August Vikram landed at the South Pole of the Moon on August 23 as part of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, India’s first mission. to the lunar surface.

If confirmed, the lunar poke the mission detected along with other activity, including the movement of India’s Pragyan rover, could offer scientists a rare glimpse into the mysterious interior of Earth’s lunar companion.

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) tweeted on its old Twitter name, X; The lander “recorded what appeared to be a natural event on August 26, 2023.” “The source of this incident is being investigated.”

The Apollo Moon missions between 1969 and 1977 were the first to detect seismic activity on the Moon and proved that the Moon has a complex geological structure hidden deep within, rather than monotonous rocks like Mars’ moons Phobos and Deimos.

In recent years, advanced analysis tools and computer models have allowed scientists to create a clearer picture of the moon’s mysterious interior by examining data collected by Apollo and other missions. A 2011 NASA study found that, like the Earth’s core, the Moon’s core likely consists of liquid iron surrounding a dense, solid ball of iron.

In May 2023, researchers used gravity field data to support this iron core hypothesis, suggesting that pieces of the moon’s molten mantle could separate from the rest, float on the surface in clumps of iron, and create earthquakes as they move. But these findings are only the beginning of revealing the Moon’s secrets. Magnetic fields are created inside planetary bodies by churning up material in the planets’ electrically conductive molten cores.

Today, the non-magnetic Moon’s interior is quite different from the Earth’s magnetized interior; dense and mostly frozen; It contains only a small outer region of the nucleus that is liquid and molten. Scientists believe that the interior of the Moon has cooled fairly rapidly and evenly since it formed about 4.5 billion years ago, meaning that it does not have a strong magnetic field – and many scientists believe it never did.

So how come some of the 3-billion-year-old rocks discovered during NASA’s Apollo mission appear to have been created in a geomagnetic field strong enough to rival Earth’s?

These are the questions that Chandrayaan-3 can help answer. Because the mission’s lander and rover are powered by solar cells, they are currently in hibernation mode until the moon emerges from its approximately 14-day night. Both instruments will be ready to search for answers when the sun touches the moon’s south pole again on September 22.