Updated: October 27, 2020 2:35:55 pm
NASA says the amount of water in the Sahara desert is 100 times what SOFIA has detected on the lunar soil. (Reuters photo: Lucy Nicholson, file)
NASA has announced that its Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) telescope has confirmed the presence of water on the sunlit side of the Moon for the first time, which implies that water can be distributed across the lunar surface and is not limited to cool, shady places.
The results of the SOFIA observations and the implications have been published in two articles in the journal Nature Astronomy.
So what has SOFIA discovered?
SOFIA, which is a joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center, is a 2.5m telescope, the world’s largest flying observatory, that is flown on a Boeing 747-SP aircraft, flying at an altitude of approximately 45,000 feet. .
The telescope uses the weak object infrared camera for the SOFIA telescope (FORCAST), with the help of which it was able to capture the specific wavelength of water molecules on the Moon’s surface. It has detected these water molecules in one of the largest craters on the Moon located in its southern hemisphere, which is visible from Earth, called Clavius. So far, previous observations have discovered some hydrogen compounds on the Moon’s surface, but those observations couldn’t distinguish between water and hydroxyl.
Data from SOFIA observations reveal the presence of water in concentrations of 100 to 412 parts per million.
The amount of water found is small. NASA says the amount of water in the Sahara desert is 100 times what SOFIA has detected on the lunar soil.
The researchers suspect that the water found in the crater could have been generated by small meteorite impacts or could have been formed by the interaction of energetic particles ejected from the Sun. When solar winds carry hydrogen to the lunar surface, the hydrogen could have reacted with minerals that contain oxygen in the soil to form hydroxyl. This hydroxyl could then be transformed into water.
A high-resolution mosaic of our moon’s north pole region is seen in this undated image taken by scientists using cameras aboard NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). (Reuters / NASA / GSFC / Arizona State University / Handout)
What is the significance of this finding?
First of all, the finding is important because it is the first time that water has been found on the part of the Moon illuminated by the sun. This implies that water can be distributed over the lunar surface. Second, while the amount of water found is small, it raises questions about how water is created, stored, and persists on a hard, airless surface like that of the Moon.
Additionally, NASA says that learning more about water on the Moon can support long-term study under its Artemis lunar exploration program, as part of which NASA wants to send the next man and first woman to the Moon by 2024. This is because scientists are able to use the resources present on the Moon, they will have to carry less water with them, which will allow them to carry more equipment that allows scientific discoveries.
Significantly, water is a key ingredient for life. “…. Almost everywhere we find water on Earth, we find life, “NASA said previously. 📣 Follow Express explained on Telegram
NEWS: We confirmed water on the sunlit surface of the Moon for the first time using @SOFIAtelescope. We don’t know yet if we can use it as a resource, but learning about water on the Moon is key to our #Artemis exploration plans. Join the media teleconference at https://t.co/vOGoSHt74c pic.twitter.com/7p2QopMhod
– Jim Bridenstine (@JimBridenstine) October 26, 2020
So how is water stored on the lunar surface?
Since the Moon does not have a thick atmosphere, scientists point out that the water in the sunlit part should ideally be lost into space. Therefore, SOFIA’s observations are surprising. “Something is generating the water, and something must be trapping it there,” Casey Honniball, lead author of one of the studies, said in a NASA statement.
As of now, scientists think that water on the lunar surface could be trapped in tiny bead-like structures in the ground that form as a result of high-heat meteorite impacts, or that it could be hidden between grains of lunar soil, which protects the sunlight and also makes it more accessible than if it were stored in the structures in the form of beads.
Where was the water found on the Moon before?
Honniball said in the statement that prior to SOFIA’s observations, “we knew there was some form of hydration.” But it was not clear if any part of this hydration was water molecules, “like we drink every day.”
In 1969, when astronauts returned from the Moon after the first Apollo mission, it was concluded that the surface was “completely dry.” But for the past 20 years, missions have confirmed the presence of water ice in dark, permanently shaded craters around the Moon’s poles. Therefore, the discovery of the presence of water in the sunlit areas of the Moon is especially intriguing to scientists.
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd
.
