For decades, the lunar vortex has been the focus of debate among scientists. These curved and rotating bright soils can extend thousands of kilometers on the surface of the moon. Most of them are located on the back of the moon, but the front also exists. For example, the famous Reiners Gamma Vortex is located in the southwest corner of the front of the moon and can be observed through a telescope. Schultz said that when he was an astronomy enthusiast, the Reiners Gamma Vortex was his favorite observation target.
At first glance, the lunar vortex has nothing to do with the surrounding craters and other landforms. "It seems that someone drew them with their fingers," said Professor Schultz. "There is a heated debate about the origin of the lunar vortex." In 1970s, scientists discovered that the lunar vortex was related to the magnetic anomaly of the lunar crust.
This discovery leads to a hypothesis, that is, the surface of the lunar vortex contains magnetic substances left over from the early moon, which is much more magnetic than the present moon rocks. The strong magnetic rock distorts the trajectory of the solar wind and darkens the lunar soil above it, so it looks brighter than the surrounding soil.
However, Schultz holds a completely different view. His idea came from observing the landing process of Apollo's lunar module. "When the airflow generated by the lunar module engine washes the surface of the moon, you can see that the whole area around the lunar module is smooth and bright. This is also part of the reason why I started thinking about comet impact. "
Comets carry a unique gas environment around them, which is called coma. Schultz believes that when a small comet hits the surface of the moon, the airflow from the comet will wash away the loose floating soil on the surface of the moon. Unlike the airflow of the lunar module, the coma airflow of a small comet will produce a bright vortex.
Schultz introduced his views in the journal Nature in 1980, mainly explaining how the airflow caused bright vortices in the surface soil of the moon. The combined particles in the surface soil of the moon scatter sunlight, making it look darker; When the air blows away these bonded particles, the exposed smooth surface appears brighter than other surrounding areas, especially when the sun shines on the smooth surface at a certain angle. For the Renagama vortex, it reaches its brightest before sunrise at the new moon.
With the development of computer simulation technology, Schultz and his student Brooke Searle decided to use this new technology to study the problem of comet impact again. Their recent simulation results show that comets and comets' ice particles do blow away the particles in the surface soil of the moon, forming a stripe that extends for thousands of kilometers, and the appearance of this stripe is also affected by the comet vortex.
In addition, Schultz's comet influence theory can also explain magnetic anomalies. The simulation results show that the comet impact will melt some tiny particles near the surface of the moon, which are rich in iron. After melting, they will cool again and record the magnetic field characteristics. Generally speaking, Schultz's research results explain the formation mechanism of the lunar vortex in many ways. However, the final and thorough solution of the lunar vortex debate still needs to be carried out in the new lunar mission.
As far as the existing theory is concerned, although the lunar vortex is probably formed by the impact of comets, this has not solved the debate about the lunar vortex, and more evidence is needed to prove its cause.