New study finds water on moon is widespread and not restricted to area
24 Feb 2018
A new study has discovered that water on the moon is widespread and it is not restricted to a particular area or region. However, it is not easily accessible, but it lunar surface appears to have more of it.
Also the water on the moon appears to remain static and does not move around.
They further discovered that moon water appeared to be present day and night. According to experts, the new results go against some of the earlier research, which suggested that moon water was found at the poles and that the strength of the water signal fluctuates throughout the day.
"We find that it doesn't matter what time of day or which latitude we look at, the signal indicating water always seems to be present," said Joshua Bandfield, a senior research scientist with the Space Science Institute and lead author of the new study, Phys.org reported. "The presence of water doesn't appear to depend on the composition of the surface, and the water sticks around."
Scientists, however, have not yet characterised the moon water and are trying to figure out whether it can be accessed.
"Water on the Moon is of intense interest for many reasons," Dr Michael Poston, a scientists with the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and coauthor of the new research, said in a statement.
According to experts, the findings could help researchers understand the origin of the Moon's water and how easy it would be to use as a resource.
The finding suggests that water many be present primarily as OH, a more reactive relative of H2O that is made of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom. OH, also called hydroxyl, does not stay as OH for long, and reacts with molecules or attaches itself chemically to them.
