Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News Feature
  • Published:

Planetary science: The hole at the bottom of the Moon

A giant crater on the lunar farside holds the key to a catastrophic bombardment that reshaped the Moon, Earth and other planets. Eric Hand reports.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Wilhelms, D. E. & Squyres, S. W. Nature 309, 138–140 (1989).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Kring, D. & Cohen, B. J. Geophys. Res. 107, 41–46 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Zahnle, K. & Sleep, N. H. in Comets and the Origin of Life (eds Thomas, P., Chyba, C. & McKay, C., eds) 175–208 (Springer, 1997).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Gomes, R. et al. Nature 435, 466–469 (2005).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Norman, M. D., Duncan, R. A. & Huard J. J. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 70, 6032–6049 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Cohen, B. A., Swindle, T. D. & Kring, D. A. et al. Science 290, 1754–1756 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors

Additional information

See Editorial, page 1143, and News Feature, page 1164 .

Related links

Related links

Related external links

Planetary Science Research Discoveries

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hand, E. Planetary science: The hole at the bottom of the Moon. Nature 453, 1160–1163 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/4531160a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/4531160a

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing