Oxford: Solved: New analysis of Apollo Moon samples finally settles debate about the Moon's magnetic field

Researchers from the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, have resolved a long-standing debate about the strength of the Moon’s magnetic field. For decades, scientists have argued whether the Moon had a strong or weak magnetic field during its early history (3.5 - 4 billion years ago). Now a new analysis – published today in Nature Geoscience – shows that both sides of the debate are effectively correct.

Using samples from the Apollo missions, the researchers found that at times the Moon had an extremely strong magnetic field- even stronger than Earth’s. But these periods were very short and the exception – for most of the time, the Moon had a weak field.

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