Page:Illustrated Astronomy.pdf/61

 In different regions of the Moon, Apollo’s missions left a few instruments to study the inner core of this satellite, and to measure seismic movements in three dimensions. The so-called moonquakes are very mild and, even though near three thousand movements per year are registered, none of them exceed the 2nd grade in the Richter scale. They are very shallow and occur mainly due to temperature variations, the landing of spatial missions sent from Earth, or the hit of meteorites.

Another aspect that stands out of the Moon is its minimal core, compared with the rest of the rocky bodies in the Solar System. According to the last seismic measurements, its composition is mainly made up of partly molten iron.

The exploration of this satellite will keep providing data about its evolution and formation. It is also possible that the Moon is used as a basis to launch future exploration missions of the Solar System or as a host of future telescopes generations which can work together with some observatories on Earth.

DID YOU KNOW THAT…

''...the Moon would be an ideal place to install a telescope due to its lack of atmosphere, and for that reason, it could be observed with a quality impossible to reach from Earth? Also, it could be observed during most of the lunar day since the sunlight doesn’t scatter, leaving skies in total darkness both at day and at night.'' • • • 61