Water is found on the moon again, but this time there is something special in it

A group of Chinese scientists have discovered water in impact glass balls is located in lunar crater. This is not the first time water has been found on the moon. However, this is a unique case, since it is a new enclave, which indicates the presence of possible masses of water that would moderate its circulation on our satellite.

It should be noted that the search for water on the Moon is important for the future. Not only in order to better understand how it was formed. Also because it will help the astronauts who colonize our satellite, no need to transport it from Earth. There are options like getting it from urine, but that would be a more pleasant way.

The problem is what to find water on the moon there is a long way to go to turn these reserves into a supplier. We must not forget that liquid water cannot remain on the surface, and vapor is decomposed by sunlight. Usually found as ice in shady places or as a thin layer of gas on the surface. However, the masses of water discovered so far are not consistent with the water cycle, which allows it to be maintained on the satellite in the same way as on Earth. That is, there must be a balance between the release, retention and replenishment of water on the Moon. There was a missing element in this cycle, and now the scientists behind the Chang’e-5 mission believe they have found it.

Impact glasses: a new source of water on the moon

If we stick only to what has been found so far, the water on the Moon would gradually disappear. For this reason, scientists have for years raised the question of the possibility of the existence of hydrated layer deep in our moon’s soil to buffer the water cycle.

To verify this, many mineral grains and stonescollected in different missions. But it was not possible to find such a coveted deposit. At least it hasn’t been possible so far.

And this is what in a study published in natural sciencea group of scientists from various Chinese research centers described what it could be damper of the water cycle on the moon.

We are talking about impact glass found in the crater where the Chang’e-5 landed. These glasses are formed upon cooling shooting rock after the meteorite fell to the surface. It is subjected to intense pressure, heats up, and then cools suddenly, forming glass beads. The presence of this glass is nothing new. However, this time he attracted the attention of scientists; since when analyzing its chemical composition, they found up to 2000 µg/g water.

The role of solar winds.

When looking for the origin of water on a planet or moon, one usually analyzes hydrogen isotope ratio. Let’s see what that means.

The water molecule H₂O consists of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen. However, hydrogen is not always the most common on Earth. There may also be so-called isotopes. These are variants of the same atom, more or less light. In this case, in water we can find atoms deuteriumwhich is heavier than the usual isotope of hydrogen.

On Earth, for example, there was a time when it was believed that all water was formed as a result of asteroid impacts. However, the deuterium coefficient does not add up. There are lighter molecules small amount of deuterium, which is inconsistent with the asteroid theory. This was solved many years ago when it was found that it was the action of solar winds that could turn the rocks present in the very surface layer of the object into water.

This is what seems to have happened to this water humidifier on the Moon. The glass beads found in the crater contained an amount of deuterium that would correspond to the water formed solar winds.

This is a very interesting discovery that brings us one step closer to understanding the behavior of water on the Moon. Before the installation of the first moon bases, there is still quite a bit of time, so you can still try to find out more. Undoubtedly, these scientists will continue to pull the thread they have just found.