A new investigation into rust on the Moon implicates Earth as the culprit.

Oxygen leaking out of Earth is likely responsible for the transformation of iron to hematite (Fe 2 O 3 ) at the lunar poles. Lab simulations find it's the only explanation for both the abundance of hematite and the distribution pattern, giving us a new window into the complex chemical exchange between our planet and our Moon.

"We conducted a series of oxygen and hydrogen irradiation experiments to simulate lunar surface irradiation processes," writes a team led by planetary scientist Xiandi Zeng of the Macau University of Science and Technology in China.

"For the first time, our experiments demonstrate both the formation and reduction of hematite minerals."

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