Astronomer discovered water on the surface of the moon, around the lunar south pole where deep craters are covered in permanent darkness. Astronomers spy young ice on the lunar surface, hinting at the new source for water on the moon. Until now, astronomers believed that water on the surface of the Moon was left behind because of water-bearing comets or due to volcanic activities billion years ago. However, satellite data collected by NASA uncovered young deposits of ice in the small south pole craters. The surprising finding suggests that there is an end number of unknown processes through which water reached the Moon. Astronomers at Brown University, Rhode Island, in the USA, were behind this breakthrough. Ariel Deutsch led this study, who is a graduate student at the University. She said that the discovery was surprising, as there were no observations of ice in younger cold traps until nsow.
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has been photographing the Moon surface since the year 2009. Ms. Deutsch and her team studied pictures snapped by LRO. Researchers used cues to date ancient craters those are nearly 3.1 billion years old. Further, as the ice deposits confined within the craters cannot be older than the craters. Hence, the scientists had an approximate knowledge of the age of the ice. The scientists found that smaller impact craters were home to sharp and well-defined ice deposits. The ice deposited is quite young, and the team at the University is still discovering about its formation. Because of the Moon’s position, many times, sunlight never reaches numerous craters on the Moon South Pole. This prevents the ice deposit from melting.
Further, Ariel added the age of these ice deposits could potentially tell more about the origin of these ice deposits. This information will help a better understanding of water distribution amongst the inner solar system. For the exploration, purpose scientists need to find the lateral and vertical distribution of these ice deposits to figure out the best way to access them. The discovery of water on the Moon is critical element of NASA’s upcoming Artemis Moon landing program in 2024. In this program, NASA is off to send next man and first women on the Moon. Now the US space agency will be focusing on the lunar South Pole.