image: Distribution of water ice bearing pixels (green and cyan dots) overlain on a mosaic from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter for the (a) northern and (b) southern polar regions. Each dot represents a 280 m x 280 m pixel from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper instrument on the Chandrayaan-1 orbiter. view more
Credit: PNAS
A study reports direct evidence of water ice on the surface of the moon, discerned via a distinct signature in the near infrared reflectance spectra that suggests the ice was formed by slow condensation either due to impact or water migration through the lunar exosphere; the ice was detected in areas of permanent shadow in the moon's polar regions, and only in around 3.5% of the shadowed area, suggesting that the ice accumulation processes are different from those on Mercury or Ceres, where water ice is purer and more abundant than on the moon.
Article #18-02345: "Direct evidence of surface exposed water ice in the lunar polar regions," by Shuai Li et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Shuai Li, Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, Honolulu, HI; tel: 401-632-1933; e-mail: shuaili@hawaii.edu
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