A bit of water found on Moon!

William Atkins
Friday, 25 September 2009 20:31

Science - Space

For additional information on this important discovery on the Moon, read the NASA article “Deep Impact and Other Spacecraft Find Clear Evidence of Water on Moon.” The article states that a, “Thin layer of surface 'dew' appears to form, then dissipate each day.”

The article further makes a statement from University of Maryland astronomer Jessica Sunshine. Dr. Sunshine writes, "The Deep Impact observations of the Moon not only unequivocally confirm the presence of OH/H2O on the lunar surface, but also reveal that the entire lunar surface is hydrated during at least some portions of the lunar day.”

A paper, written by Dr. Sunshine and co-authors, appears in the September 24, 2009 issue of the magazine Science.

The Science article, which reports on the Sunshine paper, is titled “A Whiff of Water Found on the Moon.”

The original article in Science is called “Temporal and Spatial Variability of Lunar Hydration as Observed by the Deep Impact Spacecraft.”

Its authors are Jessica M. Sunshine, Tony L. Farnham, Lori M. Feaga, Michael F. A'Hearn, and Frédéric Merlin, from University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, U.S.A.; Olivier Groussin, from Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, Marseille, France; and Ralph E. Milliken, from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, U.S.A.

They state in the abstract to their paper, “The Moon is generally anhydrous, yet the Deep Impact spacecraft found the entire surface to be hydrated during some portions of the day. OH and H2O absorptions in the near infrared were strongest near the North Pole and are consistent with <0.5 wt% H2O. Hydration varied with temperature, rather than cumulative solar radiation, but no inherent absorptivity differences with composition were observed.”

“However, comparisons between data collected one week (a quarter lunar day) apart show a dynamic process with diurnal changes in hydration that were greater for mare basalts (~70%) than for highlands (~50%). This hydration loss and return to steady state occurred entirely between local morning and evening, requiring a ready daytime source of water group ions, which is consistent with a solar wind origin.”