【Laruan】

Source：Inspiration Information Network Editor：Digital Culture Time：2025-06-26 09:06:26

Something big is Laruanlurking under the moon's deepest crater, and fans of video game Destinycan't stop talking about it.

An anomaly, which astronomers believe to be metal, is hiding under the South Pole-Aitken basin, and could be lodged as deep as far as 300 kilometres (186 miles) under the surface. The study was published in Geophysical Research Letters.

"Imagine taking a pile of metal five times larger than the Big Island of Hawaii and burying it underground. That’s roughly how much unexpected mass we detected," the study's lead author, Peter B. James, said in a statement.

The Twitter account for video game series Destiny, had something to say about the mystery which was lurking below.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

The news story also got the attention of Destinyfans online.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

To explain, it's largely in relation to the recent announcement of the Destiny 2: Shadowkeep expansion, which is set on the moon.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

As you'll spot in the trailer, the moon isn't a great place to be, where "new nightmares have emerged from the shadows of our long-forgotten moon." Really, the research about the moon mass was a great bit of timing.

The mass could've possibly been from an asteroid which crashed into the moon's surface and formed the crater, which was created an estimated 4 billion years ago.

Researchers were measuring the subtle changes of gravity around the moon, when they discovered the mass which sat underneath its surface.

“When we combined that with lunar topography data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, we discovered the unexpectedly large amount of mass hundreds of miles underneath the South Pole-Aitken basin," James added. "

"One of the explanations of this extra mass is that the metal from the asteroid that formed this crater is still embedded in the Moon’s mantle."

Whatever the mass might be, it's weighing down the basin's floor by half a mile. The crater, as James notes, is "one of the best natural laboratories for studying catastrophic impact events, an ancient process that shaped all of the rocky planets and moons we see today."

Even though it's huge, the crater can't be seen from Earth -- as it resides on the dark (or more accurately, far) side of the moon.

With the exception of Destinyfans, maybe.

Featured Video For You

Take a look inside the 3D printed habitat that could be home for astronauts living on Mars

Previous：NYT Connections Sports Edition hints and answers for April 26: Tips to solve Connections #215

Next：Turtle Beach Recon 50P gaming headset deal: 28% off

【Laruan】

Related Articles

Related Recommendations

Categories

Latest Articles

Popular Articles

Hot Recommendations

Featured Column

Quick Links

Quick Links