Résumé / Abstract Seminaire_IAP
« The formation of our Moon : a debated question: New ideas on an old question »

Sébastien Charnoz
Inst. Physique Globe (IPG), CNRS (Paris, France)

Whereas our Moon is one of the best known astrophysical object its origin and mechanism of formation is still heavily debated, as no model is still able to explain its orbit and composition. After several Apollo missions and large amount of Moon sample analyzed, many unsolved questions remain about the way not formed. The Moon samples are similar to the Earth mantle in many ways. On intriguing aspect is the strong depletion in volatile elements (Na, K, Zn, etc.) compared to bulk silicated Earth. This question has been the matter of a vivid debates in the last ten years, where many mechanisms have been proposed, and all imply a hot environment in which the Moon formed. However, the idea of Giant impact, very popular, is far from answering all questions, and several key aspects of its formation are still unclear. I will review several moon formation scenario and present different hypothesis to devolatalize the Moon. We will see that many uncertainties remain on the Moon context of moon formation, that is still, mostly, a mystery. Combination of numerical modélisations and laboratory experiments could help to better understand the origin of the Moon.
vendredi 18 juin 2021 - 11:00
Amphithéâtre Henri Mineur, Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris
Page web du séminaire / Seminar's webpage