Newest moon mystery is fascinating

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A new discovery of an enormous mass buried under the moon’s surface serves as a reminder of the great unknowns about the birth of the solar system | DrDonLincoln for CNNopinion

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Don Lincoln is a senior scientist at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. He is the author of several science books for general audiences, including the bestselling audio book"The Theory of Everything: The Quest to Explain All Reality." He also produces a series of science education videos. Follow him on Facebook. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely his. View more opinion articles on CNN.

The moon is one of my favorite celestial bodies, beautiful and alluring -- close enough for astronauts to have visited and studied, and yet distant enough to still hold many mysteries. And those mysteries are not just poetical metaphor; a recent scientific article published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters claims that scientists have discovered a huge and unexpected mass buried deep underneath the moon's surface.

Peter B. James, lead author of the article and assistant professor of planetary geophysics in Baylor's College of Arts & Sciences, explained his team's discovery in a Baylor University release. Don LincolnThis mass is enormous -- equivalent to a chunk of metal over five times larger than the Big Island of Hawaii, James said. And it is located under the moon's South Pole-Aitken basin, a huge crater located on the far side of the moon.

This is what life on Mars could be like 08:43 This new feature was discovered by scientists combining precise topographical data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and gravity measurements from the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory spacecraft. Data from the two revealed that the area under South Pole-Aitken basin experiences stronger gravity due to the extra mass, and also the sheer weight of the mass pulls the crater floor down by more than a kilometer .

NASA plans to return to the moon by 2024 01:07 Instead, James' team thinks that the extra mass most likely comes from a primordial impact to the moon, over 4 billion years ago. This hypothesis is perfectly reasonable. The early solar system was full of debris, ranging from the size of pebbles to small planets. In fact, the moon is thought to have been formed about 4.5 billion years ago, when an object the size of the planet Mars hit the Earth.

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DrDonLincoln Opinion Crota down there chillin

DrDonLincoln Opinion

DrDonLincoln Opinion Perhaps it's where the aliens are watching from?

DrDonLincoln Opinion Cmon y’all. It’s just a chunk of Mars.

DrDonLincoln Opinion It would be more awesome if Arthur C. Clarke was right in his book 2001 A Space Odyssey

Scientists discovered a huge mass buried deep underneath the moon's surface 😮

DrDonLincoln Opinion We are still not able to eradicate poverty, starvation, malnutrition, disease on earth, but birth of the universe more important for us

DrDonLincoln Opinion Wait...I thought 'god' created it....

DrDonLincoln Opinion Can anyone say “2001 Space Odyssey”?

DrDonLincoln Opinion If its oil, the Marines will be there tomorrow to 'liberate' it.

DrDonLincoln Opinion It's the mothership.

DrDonLincoln Opinion How about the UNKNOWNS in CLIMATE SCIENCE - do you really think we know anything?

DrDonLincoln Opinion No wonder Amazon & Jeff wanna conquer moon in a hurry

DrDonLincoln Opinion Plastic straws.

DrDonLincoln Opinion Moon's haunted.

DrDonLincoln Opinion Hillary's missing emails?

DrDonLincoln Opinion I only can think in this

DrDonLincoln Opinion gods power!

Barnes_Law DrDonLincoln Opinion cnn is FAKE NEWS.

DrDonLincoln Opinion OK CNN, you could make some REAL news if you persuade NASA to reveal ALL they found/saw on the Dark side of the moon. Forget the Brookings Institute recommend. Earth people have been waiting and are ready for the TRUTH. It may help reverse your ratings/viewer decline.

DrDonLincoln Opinion Bungie Moons haunted

DrDonLincoln Opinion It's part of Mars hiding

Barnes_Law DrDonLincoln Opinion FAKE NEWS

DrDonLincoln Opinion Hope it’s not cancer.

DrDonLincoln Opinion

DrDonLincoln Opinion Its herpes.... yes human gave the moon herpes

DrDonLincoln Opinion ITS THE HIVE FROM DestinyTheGame

DrDonLincoln Opinion We don’t know enough about the oceans, space and the worst part, a problem like the homeless can spiral out of control. The focus sometimes needs to be questioned, we stick our noses where we don’t really need to.

DrDonLincoln Opinion Yeah, but you're CNN, so I don't believe you.

DrDonLincoln Opinion It's common knowledge that the moon is made of Swiss cheese 🌜 🧀 😍

DrDonLincoln Opinion Mascons? That was a plot point for 2001: A Space Odyssey...

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