A rather large heat-emitting blob has been spotted on the dark side of the moon, and it is causing concern to experts.
The mysterious heat spot is thought to have been caused by radiation coming from the newly-discovered granite mass buried deep inside the space rock.
The granite is thought to have come from a 3.5billion-year-old dead volcano, and with it the heat spot which could be from magma still in the underground areas where the volcano formerly sat.
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Matt Siegler of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, United States, said: “This is more Earth-like than we had imagined can be produced on the Moon, which lacks the water and plate tectonics that help granites form on Earth.”
The blob is around 31 miles across and measures around 10c – which is very hot for the moon.
It has been a historic week for moon-based discoveries after the mass of granite was found there.
While tiny specks of it have been seen on the Moon before, a new mega-cache has caused confusion as it could change our understanding of the giant rock forever because of how it needs water to form.
According to the Planetary Science Institute, the granite was found in the Compton-Belkovich Volcanic Complex and was “likely formed from cooling molten lava that fed a volcano/volcanoes that erupted approximately 3.5 billion years ago”.
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This could also change our entire understanding of science, too.
Timothy Glotch, a geologist at Stony Brook University in the United States, said: “Typically, granites require either plate tectonics or water-bearing magmas to form.
“While the lunar interior contains small amounts of water, the Moon has never undergone plate tectonics.
“Therefore, this discovery of the granitic complex, or batholith underneath the CBVC, points to some not-yet-understood process that is responsible for the granitic formation.”
The exact size of the giant cache has not yet been made public, but experts are expressing their confusion about how it could have been formed.
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