A new study has found that the moon’s axis likely shifted about six degrees around 3 billion years ago due to volcanic activity changing the lunar body’s density in places.
A rare occurrence has been discovered in the distant past of Earth’s moon.
A newly published study has found that the moon’s axis may have moved around 3 billion years ago, causing the lunar body to spin at a different angle than it did before.
The reason for this approximately six-degree shift has been attributed to volcanic activity which resulted in those areas heating up and becoming relatively lighter.
This difference in density enabled the shift in the axis; typically, heavier areas tend to set