Lunar subsurface investigated from correlation of seismic noise

By correlating seismic noise recorded by four sensors placed on the Moon during the Apollo 17 mission, we have retrieved a well-defined dispersed Rayleigh wave pulse. Inversion of its group velocity provides new constraints on the lunar subsurface structure. The estimated ”signal-to-noise” ratio (SNR) of the retrieved Rayleigh wavetrain is strongly dependent on solar illumination, effectively making solar heating a source of seismic noise on the Moon. This result suggests that in future planetary missions it is feasible to extract information on the internal structure of extraterrestrial objects by correlating seismic noise even when natural quakes are absent.

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