A new study published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters reveals that solar wind may not be the only source of water-forming ions on the moon. Researchers show that the moon’s particles with water imply that even other planets can contribute water to their satellites. Water is common in space. It is available from the surface of Mars to Jupiter’s moons and the rings of Saturn, comets, asteroids, and Pluto.
The moon can draw water from ‘wind’
Water has been detected in clouds far away from the solar system. It was previously believed that water was included in these objects during the formation of the solar system. Over time, however, there were indications that water predominates in space and is much more dynamic. Several computer models have predicted that up to half of the moon’s surface water should evaporate and disappear at high latitudes during the time of the full moon.
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The latest analysis of surface hydroxyl / water surface maps by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper of the Chandrayaan-1 satellite revealed that the Moon’s surface water does not disappear during this magnetosphere shielding. Even though Earth’s magnetic field was thought to block the solar wind from reaching the moon. However, researchers later found out that this was never the case.
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The researchers compared the time series of water surface maps before, during and after the magnetosphere passage and argued that the moon water can be replenished by flows of magnetospheric ions. These are called the ‘Earth Wind’. Later, the Kaguya satellite confirmed the presence of these Earth-derived ions near the moon.
THEMIS-ARTEMIS satellite observations were also used to profile the distinctive features of ions. Previous full moon observations by the Kaguya satellite found high concentrations of oxygen isotopes. These were leaked from Earth’s ozone layer and embedded in lunar soil. This was also present with an abundance of hydrogen ions in the Earth’s exosphere.
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