Where do the moon's weird swirls come from? Scientists are trying to find out

A black and white image of the moon's surface. A large white pattern is seen in the middle-left and there are craters toward the right.

The mystery of the weird, bright patterns on the moon called lunar swirls has moved a step closer to being solved. It's thanks to the discovery that the composition of lunar dirt, or regolith, plays a major role in creating the swirls' alternating light and dark patterns.

The most famous of the lunar swirls is Reiner Gamma, which is visible in Oceanus Procellarum even to amateur astronomers through a backyard telescope. These features are linked to magnetic anomalies under the surface of the moon, but exactly what process is creating them has been a mystery for decades.