Nature Search

Dusty streaks on the Moon: fingerprints of multiphase flow instabilities

Despite observed routinely from spacecrafts landing on, e.g., lunar soil, the origin of radial streak patterns has been unclear up to now. Here, the authors report an experimental study of such instabilities in the coupled dynamics of rocket plumes and sand surfaces.

J. Sebastian Rubio
Neil S. Rodrigues
Rui Ni
ResearchOpen Access19 Jul 2025
Nature Communications

Volume: 16, P: 1-6
In situ and remote observations of the ultraviolet footprint of the moon Callisto by the Juno spacecraft

The detection of the auroral footprint of Jupiter’s moon Callisto is challenging, but a shift in Jupiter’s bright main auroral oval could provide an opportunity for potential detections. Here, the authors show observation of the ultraviolet footprint of Callisto using Juno spacecraft data, benefiting from such opportunity.

J. Rabia
V. Hue
S. J. Bolton
ResearchOpen Access01 Sept 2025
Nature Communications

Volume: 16, P: 1-12
Implications of Convection within the Moon

D. L. TURCOTTE
E. R. OXBURGH
Research19 Jul 1969
Nature

Volume: 223, P: 250-251
Unusual Ti minerals on the Moon produced by space weathering

Micrometeorite impacts are an important process in forming several Ti oxides, including rutile (TiO₂) and new Ti minerals (trigonal Ti₂O and triclinic Ti₂O). These Ti oxides can alter the photocatalytic properties and reflectance spectra of regolith on the Moon and other airless planetary bodies in the Solar System.

Xiaojia Zeng
Yanxue Wu
Jianzhong Liu
Research26 Mar 2024
Nature Astronomy

Volume: 8, P: 732-738
The Moon from Luna 9

G. FIELDER
L. WILSON
J. E. GUEST
Research26 Feb 1966
Nature

Volume: 209, P: 851-853
Origin of Meteorites, in the Light of Recent Rocket Photography of the Moon and Mars

G. MUELLER
Research10 Sept 1966
Nature

Volume: 211, P: 1134-1135
A soft X-ray image of the Moon

J. H. M. M. Schmitt
S. L. Snowden
J. Trümper
Research14 Feb 1991
Nature

Volume: 349, P: 583-587
Exotic clasts in Chang’e-5 regolith indicative of unexplored terrane on the Moon

Out of more than 3,000 clasts contained in the Chang’e-5 lunar sample, 7 do not come from the region of the Chang’e-5 landing sites. These exotic clasts highlight the lithological diversity of the lunar crust, and their scarcity hints at the need for alternative models for impact ejecta onto young lunar terrains.

Xiaojia Zeng
Xiongyao Li
Jianzhong Liu
Research22 Dec 2022
Nature Astronomy

Volume: 7, P: 152-159
Tidally driven remelting around 4.35 billion years ago indicates the Moon is old

Lunar rock and zircon ages were reset by a remelting event driven by the Moon’s orbital evolution, reconciling existing discrepancies in estimates for the formation time of the Moon and the crystallization time of its magma ocean.

Francis Nimmo
Thorsten Kleine
Alessandro Morbidelli
ResearchOpen Access18 Dec 2024
Nature

Volume: 636, P: 598-602
Crust–mantle architecture of the Moon’s South Pole–Aitken basin from Chang’e-6 samples

Impact-melt norites collected by Chang’e-6 have an orthopyroxene-dominated mantle source and a 20-30% contribution of lunar highland crust, according to petrologic analyses and thermodynamic modelling which suggests a three-layer differentiated South-Pole Aitken basin

Bin Su
Yi Chen
Fu-Yuan Wu
ResearchOpen Access29 Nov 2025
Communications Earth & Environment

Volume: 7, P: 1-9
Shallow seismic activity and young thrust faults on the Moon

Shallow moonquakes detected at four Apollo landing sites between 1969 and 1977 occurred during maximum stress and in close proximity to young faults, suggesting that the Moon is tectonically active, according to reanalyses of the seismic data and tidal force modelling.

Thomas R. Watters
Renee C. Weber
Catherine L. Johnson
Research13 May 2019
Nature Geoscience

Volume: 12, P: 411-417
Evidence of a 4.33 billion year age for the Moon’s South Pole–Aitken basin

A lunar meteorite sample called Northwest Africa 2995 probably originated from the South Pole–Aitken basin on the Moon’s farside. Minerals in the meteorite date basin formation to 4.32–4.33 billion years ago.

K. H. Joy
N. Wang
R. Tartèse
ResearchOpen Access16 Oct 2024
Nature Astronomy

Volume: 9, P: 55-65
A recently formed ocean inside Saturn’s moon Mimas

An analysis of the orbital motion of Saturn’s moon Mimas shows that a recently formed global subsurface ocean lies beneath its cratered icy shell and that this ocean is probably still evolving.

V. Lainey
N. Rambaux
K. Baillié
Research07 Feb 2024
Nature

Volume: 626, P: 280-282
A solar wind-derived water reservoir on the Moon hosted by impact glass beads

Analysis of lunar soils sampled by the Chang’e-5 mission suggests that impact glass beads may host a substantial inventory of solar wind-derived water on the Moon’s surface.

Huicun He
Jianglong Ji
Fuyuan Wu
ResearchOpen Access27 Mar 2023
Nature Geoscience

Volume: 16, P: 294-300
Surges in volcanic activity on the Moon about two billion years ago

This work estimates the eruption volume of the young Chang’e-5 lunar samples using diffusion chronology and thermodynamic simulations, and finds that there was an increase in volcanic eruption flux about 2.0 billion years ago.

Heng-Ci Tian
Chi Zhang
Fuyuan Wu
ResearchOpen Access22 Jun 2023
Nature Communications

Volume: 14, P: 1-9
Two-billion-year-old volcanism on the Moon from Chang’e-5 basalts

Basalt samples returned from the Moon by the Chang’e-5 mission are revealed to be two billion years old by radioisotopic dating, providing insight on the volcanic history of the Moon.

Qiu-Li Li
Qin Zhou
Xian-Hua Li
ResearchOpen Access19 Oct 2021
Nature

Volume: 600, P: 54-58
Endogenic Cratering Distribution on the Moon

E. B. GRUDEWICZ
Research01 Jan 1973
Nature

Volume: 241, P: 186-187
Little to no active faulting likely at Europa’s seafloor today

In this study, the authors model the current mechanical properties of the seafloor of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, and find those rocks to be too strong to allow the kind of fracturing that, on Earth, enables rock–water chemical reactions on which chemosynthetic life relies.

Paul K. Byrne
Henry G. Dawson
Douglas A. Wiens
ResearchOpen Access06 Jan 2026
Nature Communications

Volume: 17, P: 1-12
Kinematographic Record of Sunrise on the Moon

R. F. ARNOTT
E. G. F. ARNOTT
J. Q. STEWART
Research13 Jul 1929
Nature

Volume: 124, P: 56-57
The Moon and Poisonous Fish.

D. E. HUTCHINS
Research05 Dec 1912
Nature

Volume: 90, P: 382
Moon-forming impactor as a source of Earth’s basal mantle anomalies

Computer simulations show that mantle material from Theia, a proto-planet theorized to have struck the proto-Earth in the Moon-forming giant impact, may be the source of Earth’s basal mantle anomalies.

Qian Yuan
Mingming Li
Paul D. Asimow
Research01 Nov 2023
Nature

Volume: 623, P: 95-99
The Moon's Course

E. L. GARBETT
Research13 Oct 1898
Nature

Volume: 58, P: 571
Bounds on the P velocity for the whole Moon

E. NYLAND
E. J. ROEBROEK
Research01 Jan 1975
Nature

Volume: 253, P: 179-180
Moon-Stroke

E. BONAVIA
Research19 Oct 1876
Nature

Volume: 14, P: 545
Density of the Moon and Nucleation of Planets

E. OROWAN
Research31 May 1969
Nature

Volume: 222, P: 867
The Moon and Poisonous Fish

E. G. BRYANT
Research14 Nov 1912
Nature

Volume: 90, P: 305
Instability of Motion at the Lagrangian Triangular Point in the Earth–Moon System

E. T. BENEDIKT
Research17 Mar 1962
Nature

Volume: 193, P: 1063
Meteorites and the Craters on the Moon

W. H. STEAVENSON
Research01 Jul 1937
Nature

Volume: 139, P: 968
Constraints on the Moon's origin from the partitioning behaviour of tungsten

Horton E. Newsom
Michael J. Drake
Research20 May 1982
Nature

Volume: 297, P: 210-212
Prolonged KREEP magmatism on the Moon indicated by the youngest dated lunar igneous rock

Lars E. Borg
Charles K. Shearer
James J. Papike
Research11 Nov 2004
Nature

Volume: 432, P: 209-211
High-pressure geochemistry of Cr, V and Mn and implications for the origin of the Moon

A. E. Ringwood
T. Kato
N. Ware
Research13 Sept 1990
Nature

Volume: 347, P: 174-176
Distribution of Sinuous Rilles and Water on the Moon

STANTON J. PEALE
GERALD SCHUBERT
RICHARD E. LINGENFELTER
Research21 Dec 1968
Nature

Volume: 220, P: 1222-1225
Forming the lunar farside highlands by accretion of a companion moon

M. Jutzi
E. Asphaug
Research03 Aug 2011
Nature

Volume: 476, P: 69-72
Antimatter and the Moon

M. Chantell
T. C. Weekes
M. Urban
Research06 Jan 1994
Nature

Volume: 367, P: 25
Lunar nodal tide and distance to the Moon during the Precambrian

James C. G. Walker
Kevin J. Zahnle
Research01 Apr 1986
Nature

Volume: 320, P: 600-602
Periodic collisions between the moon Prometheus and Saturn's F ring

Carl D. Murray
Silvia M. Giuliatti Winter
Research14 Mar 1996
Nature

Volume: 380, P: 139-141
Impact remnants rich in carbonaceous chondrites detected on the Moon by the Chang’e-4 rover

The Chang’e-4 rover observed a small crater formed less than one million years ago, finding glassy materials with spectral characteristics similar to those of carbonaceous chondrites that are identified as remnants of the original impactor that have not yet been affected by weathering processes.

Yazhou Yang
Shuai Li
Yongliao Zou
Research25 Nov 2021
Nature Astronomy

Volume: 6, P: 207-213
Early Moon formation inferred from hafnium–tungsten systematics

The Moon formed around 50 Myr after the Solar System, suggests a lunar silicate Hf/W ratio higher than that of Earth, from high-precision compositional analysis of lunar rock samples.

Maxwell M. Thiemens
Peter Sprung
Carsten Münker
Research29 Jul 2019
Nature Geoscience

Volume: 12, P: 696-700
Reply to: No ¹⁸²W evidence for early Moon formation

Maxwell Marzban Thiemens
Jonas Tusch
Carsten Münker
Research13 Sept 2021
Nature Geoscience

Volume: 14, P: 716-718
Evidence for basaltic volcanism on the Moon within the past 100 million years

The majority of basaltic volcanism on the Moon occurred more than 3 billion years ago. Small mounded formations on the lunar nearside may be products of basaltic eruptions less than 100 million years ago, suggesting a long decline of magmatic activity.

S. E. Braden
J. D. Stopar
H. Hiesinger
Research12 Oct 2014
Nature Geoscience

Volume: 7, P: 787-791
Compositional maps of Saturn's moon Phoebe from imaging spectroscopy

Roger N. Clark
Robert H. Brown
K.-D. Matz
Research05 May 2005
Nature

Volume: 435, P: 66-69
Double ridge formation over shallow water sills on Jupiter’s moon Europa

The formation of double ridges on Europa is poorly understood. Here the authors analyze airborne radar observations of an analog feature on the Greenland Ice Sheet to show that the refreezing of shallow water sills may produce such ridges.

Riley Culberg
Dustin M. Schroeder
Gregor Steinbrügge
ResearchOpen Access19 Apr 2022
Nature Communications

Volume: 13, P: 1-10
Chronological evidence that the Moon is either young or did not have a global magma ocean

Lars E. Borg
James N. Connelly
Richard W. Carlson
Research17 Aug 2011
Nature

Volume: 477, P: 70-72
Large exomoons unlikely around Kepler-1625 b and Kepler-1708 b

A reanalysis of Kepler and Hubble data with Bayesian inference and a photodynamical model shows that the two exomoon candidates around Kepler-1625 b and Kepler-1708 b have a substantially lower probability to be actual detections than previous analyses suggest.

René Heller
Michael Hippke
ResearchOpen Access07 Dec 2023
Nature Astronomy

Volume: 8, P: 193-206
A permanent, asymmetric dust cloud around the Moon

Observations are reported of a permanent, asymmetric dust cloud around the Moon, caused by impacts of high-speed cometary dust particles on eccentric orbits, as opposed to particles of asteroidal origin following near-circular paths striking the Moon at lower speeds.

M. Horányi
J. R. Szalay
Z. Sternovsky
Research17 Jun 2015
Nature

Volume: 522, P: 324-326
Late formation and prolonged differentiation of the Moon inferred from W isotopes in lunar metals

M. Touboul
T. Kleine
R. Wieler
Research20 Dec 2007
Nature

Volume: 450, P: 1206-1209
Asymmetric crustal growth on the Moon indicated by primitive farside highland materials

The origin of the dichotomy between the lunar nearside and farside is unclear. Analysis of spectral reflectance data from the Kaguya lunar orbiter indicates a systematic difference in the degree of differentiation in the oldest lunar crustal terrains, linking the lunar dichotomy to crystallization of the magma ocean.

Makiko Ohtake
Hiroshi Takeda
Paul G. Lucey
Research29 Apr 2012
Nature Geoscience

Volume: 5, P: 384-388
An exomoon survey of 70 cool giant exoplanets and the new candidate Kepler-1708 b-i

A 4.8σ exomoon candidate is found around gas giant Kepler-1708 b, which orbits at 1.6 au around its star. It is the only candidate from a dedicated survey that analysed 70 cool giant exoplanets discovered by Kepler. Kepler-1708 b-i has a radius of 2.6 Earth radii and orbits its planet at 12 planetary radii.

David Kipping
Steve Bryson
Alex Teachey
ResearchOpen Access13 Jan 2022
Nature Astronomy

Volume: 6, P: 367-380
Erratum: Geochemical implications of the formation of the Moon by a single giant impact

H. E. Newsom
S. R. Taylor
Amendments and Corrections23 Mar 1989
Nature

Volume: 338, P: 360
Establishment of a Lunar Unipolar Generator and Associated Shock and Wake by the Solar Wind

C. P. SONETT
D. S. COLBURN
Research01 Oct 1967
Nature

Volume: 216, P: 340-343

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