China's Yutu-2 mission has made another fascinating discovery on the far side of the moon. In the middle of the dry gray dust, the rover's panoramic camera captured two small, intact spheres of clear glass.

Such spheres can record information about the Moon's history, including the composition of its mantle and impact events. Unfortunately, Yutu-2 was unable to obtain composition data, but these natural lunar marbles could be important research targets in the future.

Glass is not uncommon on the moonas it might seem. The material is formed when the silicate material is exposed to high temperature.

Volcanic glass or meteorites?

According to a team of scientists led by a planetary geologist Zhiyong Xiao z Sun Yat-sen University a Chinese Academy of Sciences would cause the so-called spheres could be ancient volcanic activity. Likewise, glass can be caused by the impact of smaller meteorites. However, it is difficult to know this for sure, because most of the glass found so far on the moon looks different from the Yutu-2 sphere discovered. Scientists add that there is a lot of spheres on the moon, but so far we have only found ones that were less than one millimeter in diameter.

The bullets currently discovered by Yutu-2 are much larger. They are 15 to 25 millimeters in diameter.

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Impact craters

These balls were found near fresh impact craters, which could indicate that they formed during the impacts of lunar meteorites. But it is also possible that on the moon have long been, just hidden under the surface. The impact of the meteorite is then thrown back to the surface.

Theory of volcanic glass

However, the team believes that the most likely explanation is that they originated from volcanic glass called anorthosite. This melts again on impact and re-forms into translucent spheres.

"Taken together, the special morphology, geometry and local context of the glass beads are consistent with the fact that it is an anortic impact transparent glass," scientists write in an academic article.

This could make lunar objects the equivalent of terrestrial formations called tektites - pebble glassy objects that form when the earth's material melts and splashes into the air. When it falls back, it hardens and forms into a shiny sphere.

Possibilities of using the Moon Glass

Without a deeper study of their composition, we cannot know for sure, but when it comes to lunar tektites, they can be quite common on the lunar surface. This offers some interesting opportunities for future research, says the team.

"The study predicts that such spheres should be abundantly available in the lunar highlands, which provides promising goals for further exploration and revelation of the moon's early history." they write.