February 25, 2021
Particles carried from Earth’s poles via our planet’s magnetosphere could be interacting with lunar rocks to create small quantities of water on the moon.
Artist’s concept of the moon within Earth’s magnetic tail, the part of our magnetosphere that stretches outward away from our sun. The moon sweeps within this tail each month at full moon. Image via E. Masongsong/ UCLA/ EPSS/ NASA/ GSFC/ SVS/ Duluth News Tribune.
By Bob King, aka AstroBob. Originally published in the Duluth News Tribune on February 16, 2021. Reprinted here with permission.
Finding water on the barren moon is one of the most remarkable discoveries of the post-Apollo era. Satellite mapping has revealed ice within permanently shadowed craters at the lunar poles and more recently in Clavius, a prominent crater on the lunar nearside that basks in sunshine two weeks out of every month. Comets and meteoroids likely delivered the water that eventually froze into ice, although water-rich lavas
Astro Bob: Earth wind may generate water on the moon echopress.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from echopress.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Evidence of water in the shadows of craters or locked up in glassy beads like microscopic snow-globes has recently revealed the Moon s surface is far less desiccated than we ever imagined.