Water has also been discovered outside the shadowy craters on the moon

The Sophia airborne observatory has detected water molecules (H2O) in Calveus Crater, one of the largest craters visible from Earth, located in the southern hemisphere of the Moon. Previous observations of the lunar surface detected some type of hydrogen compound, but failed to distinguish water from its close chemical relative, hydroxyl (OH)

Calveus Crater on the Moon with an illustration depicting water trapped in the lunar soil inside, along with an image of NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (Sophia) finding lunar water in a sunny area. Credit: NASA

NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (Sophia) confirmed, for the first time, the existence of water on the moon's sunny surface. This discovery suggests that water may be widespread on the surface of the moon, and not just in cold, shady places.

Sophia Observatory has detected water molecules (H2O) in Calbius Crater, one of the largest craters visible from Earth, located in the southern hemisphere of the Moon. Previous observations of the lunar surface detected some type of hydrogen compound, but failed to distinguish water from its close chemical relative, hydroxyl (OH). Data from this location reveals water in concentrations of 100 to 412 parts per million - roughly equivalent to a 330 milliliter water bottle - trapped in a cubic meter of lunar soil. The findings Are published In the latest issue of NATURE ASTRONOMY.

"We had indications that H2O - the water as we know it - might be found in the 'seas' of the moon," said Paul Hertz, director of the Astrophysics Division of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Now we know they are there. This discovery challenges our understanding of the lunar surface and raises intriguing questions about the availability of the relevant resources for deep space exploration."

For comparison, the Sahara desert has 100 times more water molecules per cubic meter than the amount of water that Sophia detected in the lunar soil. Despite the small amounts, the discovery raises new questions about how water is formed and how it survives on the hard, airless surface of the moon.

Water is a precious resource in deep space and a key component of life as we know it. It is not yet clear whether the water Sophia found is easily accessible for use as a resource. as part of a program NASA's Artemis, The agency is eager to learn all it can about the concentration of water on the moon before sending the next two-person expedition, including the first woman to land on the moon. The current target is the year 2024 and later the proposal is to establish a permanent human presence by the end of the decade.

Sofia's findings are based on years of previous research that examined the presence of water on the moon. When the Apollo astronauts first returned from the moon in 1969, it was considered completely dry. Spacecraft that have circled the moon in the last 20 years have confirmed the hypothesis of the existence of water glaciers in the permanently shadowed craters near the lunar poles. A number of spacecraft, including Cassini on its way to Saturn, as well as ground-based infrared telescopes have intensively observed the moon and found evidence of moisture in sunny areas. However, none of the tasks was able to definitively distinguish the chemical form of the find - H2O or OH.

"Before the observations of Sophia, we knew there was some kind of hydration," said Casey Honeyball, the lead author who published her thesis findings at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in Honolulu. "But we didn't know how many, if any, water molecules there actually were - like the water we drink every day or something that can't be drunk."

The Sophia telescope was a new means of observing the moon. This is a modified Boeing 747 and a 106-inch telescope was installed on it. At the height at which the plane flies, the water vapor in the atmosphere reaches one percent of its concentration near the ground, and thus it is easier to observe the universe in the infrared field. Using the infrared camera for faint objects attached to the Sophia telescope (FORCAST), the scientists were able to locate the specific wavelength unique to water molecules, 6.1 microns, and then a relatively surprising concentration was discovered in the sunny Calbius crater.

"Without a thick atmosphere, the water on the surface of the moon would have had to escape into space. said Honeyball, now a postdoctoral fellow at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "But somehow we see them. Something produces the water, and something must trap it there."

Several forces can play a role in the creation and preservation of water. Micro-meteorites that fell on the surface of the moon, carry small amounts of water and they may bring it to the moon upon impact. Another possibility is that there could be a two-step process whereby the solar wind delivers hydrogen in front of the moon that causes a chemical reaction with oxygen-bearing minerals in the earth to form hydroxyl. Meanwhile, radiation from shelling micrometeorites can turn this hydroxyl into water.

The way the water is stored also raises some intriguing questions. The water can be trapped in tiny bead-like structures in the ground that are created by the high heat generated when the micrometeorite hits. Another possibility is that the water could be hidden between the grains of lunar soil and protected from sunlight - potentially making it a bit more accessible than the water trapped in these beads.

For a mission designed to observe distant and dim objects such as black holes, star clusters and distant galaxies, Sofia's spotlight on Earth's closest and brightest neighbor was a departure from the usual order of business. Telescope operators typically use this particular camera to track stars, keeping the telescope constantly locked on its observation target. But the moon is so close and bright that it fills the entire field of view of the guide camera. With no visible stars, it was unclear whether the telescope could reliably track the moon. To determine this, the operators decided in August 2018 to try and conduct an observation.

"This was, in fact, the first time that Sophia looked at the moon, and we weren't even entirely sure if we would get reliable data, but the questions about water on the surface of the moon forced us to try," said Nasim Rangwala, Sophia's project scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center. in California. "It's amazing that this discovery came out of what was essentially a test, and now that we know we can do it, we plan to do more observation flights. "

The SOFIA follow-up flights will look for water in additional locations and during different lunar phases to learn more about how water is produced, stored and transported on the lunar surface during lunar day and lunar night. The data will inform future lunar missions such as NASA's VIPER, to create the The first water resource maps of the Moon for future human space exploration.

In the same issue of Astronomical Nature, other scientists published a paper based on theoretical models and data from NASA lunar satellites and suggested that the water could be trapped in small shaded areas where temperatures remain below zero. You can read the article HERE.

"Water is a valuable resource, both for scientific purposes and for use by our researchers," said Jacob Bleacher, principal research scientist at NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Administration. "If we can use resources on the moon, we can carry less water and more equipment to enable new scientific discoveries."

Sophia is a joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center. Ames manages the Sophia Science and Mission Program in partnership with the University Space Research Association, based in Columbia, Maryland, and the German Sophia Institute at the University of Stuttgart. The aircraft is maintained and operated by NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Palmdale, California.

More of the topic in Hayadan:

• LCROSS discovered water on the moon
• New research has revealed that the depths of the moon are rich in water
• Re-examination of stones from the Apollo mission confirmed that the moon was formed by a collision between Earth and a celestial body