New discovery: The moon is shaped like a lemon

We all know that the Moon is a planet that does not glow itself or does not generate heat. In the night of the universe, we observe that the Moon is due to the reflection of light from the Sun.

However, the mystery of the Moon is still not less. A recent study published in the journal Nature describes the Moon as not really round, "like a lemon with a large equatorial bulge" , or shaped like a water balloon when spinning.

Picture 1 of New discovery: The moon is shaped like a lemon

The moon lies on a rotating orbit, which means it almost keeps one side facing the Earth at all points. When it first formed, the Moon turned slowly and locked in its current position because friction effects appeared along with the phenomenon of tidal deformation caused by the Earth.

This friction force causes the crust to expand, expanding at some point. As the Moon moves further than Earth, a wave of Earth's tidal deformation seems to have "frozen" , causing the Moon to have a big "bulge" - about 6 meters high.

Picture 2 of New discovery: The moon is shaped like a lemon

Garrick-Bethell - planetary scientist at the University of California, Santa Cruz and colleagues used a laser altimeter to create a super-accurate map for the surface of the Moon.

According to him, the distortion of the Moon due to gravity from Earth is a major challenge in measuring and finding the true shape of the Moon. Garrick-Bethell said: "This method will help us get the clearest picture of the true shape of the Moon."