Scientists Find Signs of Water All Over the Moon

The moon can be a dark horse when it comes to water.

According to a new analysis of mineralogy maps, water and hydroxyl – another molecule made of hydrogen and oxygen – can be found in many places throughout the moon and regions, even where the Sun shines. in the strongest possible way.

It is a discovery with many implications. It can help us understand the Moon’s geological history and ongoing processes, and inform future human missions to Earth’s satellites.

“Future astronomers may be able to find water even near the equator by exploiting these water-rich regions. Previously, it was thought that only the polar region, in particular, the craters with “The deep shadow is where water can be found in abundance,” says planetary scientist Roger Clark of the Planetary Science Institute.

“Knowing where the water is not only helpful in understanding the moon’s geologic history, but also where astronomers might find water in the future.”

The month seems very dry and devoid of moisture, and in a way it is. There is no surface water – no lakes, ponds, or rivers. But research still shows that the Moon has a lot of water.

Previous studies of where water may be hiding have shown that a large amount may be deep in nunar craters, especially at high altitudes. These deep pockets are never exposed to the direct light and heat of the Sun, meaning they contain ice deposits several meters thick.

But more recent work has found that other parts of the Moon may also contain water. And now, the work of Clark and his colleagues supports this finding. Water and hydroxyl—containing one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom—appear to be abundant on the Moon, combined in the minerals that make up the rocks and dirt on the Moon.

The researchers used data from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) instrument on the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, which orbited the Moon in 2008 and 2009, to collect images of the Moon. These data recorded the infrared light reflected by the Moon, looking for colors in the spectrum that correspond to water and hydroxyl.

Researchers have found that water and hydroxyl can be found across latitudes on the Moon, although the molecules appear to be more abundant on both sides of the moon. But high-water rocks excavated during the impact can be found wherever such impacts occur.

Water does not last forever. Researchers have found that water on the moon’s surface is exposed to cratering events and is slowly destroyed by radiation from the sun’s atmosphere over millions of years. But this process leaves the hydroxyl behind. Hydroxyl is also produced by the solar wind, which deposits solar hydrogen on the Moon, where it can combine with oxygen to form a molecule.

“Putting all the evidence together, we’re seeing a geologically complex lunar landscape with significant water in the subsurface and surface hydroxyl,” says Clark. “Both cratering and volcanic activity can bring water-rich materials to the surface, and both are seen in lunar data.”

The researchers also found that the water signature of pyroxene – a type of igneous rock – changes depending on how much sunlight hits it. This solves the mystery of the moon: scientists had seen this changing signature and didn’t know what it meant. It seemed to suggest that water was still circulating on the Moon. It still could be, but not as much as the pyroxene signature seemed to indicate.

Finally, the group maps give us yet another clue about another mysterious mystery of the Moon – the moon rotates. These are strange, circular patterns on the surface of the Moon, and scientists don’t know what causes them, although magnetism may play a role. Clark and his team found that the swirls are not very liquid.

We don’t know what that means for their formation process, but this signature also appears in parts of the moon that don’t have a swirl pattern. These parts, the researchers think, may be ancient swirls that have disintegrated, leaving only a clear water mark to tell us they were once there. And that can help us figure out what swirls actually are.

Meanwhile, the discovery suggests a possible source of water for lunar explorers. By processing minerals rich in hydroxyl, future scientists could find a way to extract water from the rock.

Research published in The Planetary Science Journal.