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Some of the strangest but most
beautiful features on the moon

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are lunar swirls. The most
famous one, Reiner Gamma, is a

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favorite target of backyard
telescopes. Using data from the

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Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, we
now know swirls are the result

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of local magnetic fields in the
moon’s crust that act like

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stencils, selectively blocking
radiation from the sun and

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causing parts of the surface to
weather at different rates –

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producing interesting patterns
and coloration.