- 3165 - WATER - on the moon, asteroids? The moon has been considered a waterless world. However, a discovery has shown that at least some parts of the moon, such as the large, permanently shadowed craters at its poles, contain significant deposits of water.
- ----------------------- 3165 - WATER - on the moon, asteroids?
- NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), which is a modified Boeing 747SP jet provides its 2.7-meter telescope a view above 99 percent of the atmosphere’s obscuring water vapor. This telescope has a unique capability that allows observations in infrared without the use of space-based facilities.
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- In late August, 2018, SOFIA’s observations, which spanned a10 minutes of focus on a region at high southern latitudes near the moon’s large crater Clavius. The Measurement revealed a strong infrared emission at a wavelength of six microns (µm) from the crater and the surrounding landscape. Warmed by the sun, something on the lunar surface was reemitting the absorbed radiation just as molecular water, plain H2O.
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- The water is most likely stored in naturally occurring volcanic glass or sandwiched between microscopic grains of rock dust. This could provide shielding from the extreme temperatures and near-vacuum conditions on the moon’s surface, allowing the water to persist.
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- As to how it got there in the first place the leading explanation is that the water could have formed from free oxygen and hydrogen liberated from lunar rocks by micrometeorite impacts.
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- This is not the first time Earth-bound observations have revealed a six-micron emission from the moon. Balloon-borne observations by astronomers G. R. Hunt and J. W. Salisbury made no mention of this in their paper on their research, published in 1969. Instead they focused on characterizing “minerals” on the lunar surface.
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- Extraction will be straightforward if the water exists predominantly on the surfaces of rock grains. One will just need to scoop up lunar soil and subject it to moderate heating. If, however, the water is locked in glass, the material must be melted to release the water for collection, a much more energy-hungry process.
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- The question is if the SOFIA data may be related to the possible weak bonding of solar wind hydrogen with oxygen at the surface of grains of silicate glasses and minerals in the regolith rather than being actual molecular water?
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- One product of such reactions could be hydroxyl, a molecule just one hydrogen atom short of water. However, the six-micron emission seen by SOFIA is not consistent with hydroxyl.
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- Heating of hydrogen-bearing regolith to several hundred degrees would result in some of the hydrogen reacting with oxygen in silicates to produce water almost anywhere on the moon.
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- The distribution of permanently shadowed areas on the moon, sunlight-shy places known as cold traps, in which extremely low temperatures could freeze and sequester water essentially indefinitely, allowing it to accumulate into significant deposits over geologic time.
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- Scientists have studied such lunar regions for decades for their water-harboring potential, but previous work has focused on large cold traps within huge craters at the moon’s poles.
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- In contrast, this latest result extends the range of considered cold trap sizes down to one centimeter in diameter. Such “micro” cold traps are far more prevalent than the well-studied large ones in the vicinity of the lunar poles. The new accounting raises the total surface area with the capacity to trap water to roughly 40,000 square kilometers, a pan-lunar region that, collectively, would be twice the size of New Jersey, or 16,000 square miles.
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- The newly discovered micro cold traps are the most numerous on the moon, thousands of times more abundant than previously mapped cold traps. The micro cold traps are much more accessible, which could enable more efficient extraction and utilization for both science and exploration purposes.
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- Eventually the development of lunar water as a resource could spark an entire extraterrestrial economy in which the substance would become a lucrative feedstock for rocket fuel and other precious consumables.
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- For now, though, “‘ground truth’ measurements are urgently required to confirm inferences made on the basis of remote-sensing measurements. Confirmation of not just the existence of water ice but its, concentration, distribution and abundance is a must to proceed with existing exploration and resource-utilization plans.
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- How did water get here on Earth? There remains a number of mysteries on our planet including the elusive origin of water on the earth. Active studies suggested that terrestrial water had been delivered by icy comets or meteorites containing hydrous silicates that came from outside the "snow line" , the boundary beyond which ice can condense due the low temperatures.
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- Scientists have found the interstellar organic matter could produce an abundant supply of water by heating, suggesting that organic matter could be the source of terrestrial water.
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- Heating of the interstellar organic matter at high temperature could yield abundant water and oil. This suggests that water could be produced inside the snow line, without any contribution of comets or meteorites delivered from outside the snow line.
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- Analysis of absorption spectra revealed that the main component of the aqueous product was pure water. Additionally, chemical analysis of produced oil showed similar characteristics to the typical crude oil found beneath the earth.
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- The interstellar organic matter inside the snow line is a potential source of water on the earth. Moreover, the abiotic oil formation we observed suggests more extensive sources of petroleum for the ancient Earth.
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- Future analyses of organic matter in samples from the asteroid Ryugu, which the Japan's asteroid explorer Hayabusa2 will bring back later this year, should advance our understanding of the origin of terrestrial water. Both for here and on the Moon!
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- 2936 - MOON - facts from moon-watching? - If you view the crescent moon seen from Mill Valley set behind Mount Tamalpais, Marin County, California, you see the brightness of the portion of the Moon not directly lit by the Sun, but instead illuminated by “Earthshine“. It will change over time, dependent on how reflective the Earth is, which is dependent on a number of factors, including cloud cover, ice cover, the time of day and the Earth's rotation, and even the seasons.
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- 2919 - MOONS - in our solar system? The discovery of moons around another planet left centuries’ worth of astronomers desperate to learn more about what other natural satellites the solar system holds. Increasingly powerful telescopes and interplanetary spacecraft have revealed that there are many of the moons in the solar system and they are far stranger than anyone could have imagined.
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- 2527 - MOON - Take Me to the Moon. - Twin astronauts, Mark Kelly and Scott Kelly, were part of a survival experiment. From March 2015 to March 2016 Scott spent a year on the International Space Station while his brother, Mark, remained on Earth. In April 2019, the results of a 3 year study was published of what changed between them with the two different year experiences. Can we survive on he Moon?
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- 2919 - MOONS - in our solar system? The discovery of moons around another planet left centuries’ worth of astronomers desperate to learn more about what other natural satellites the solar system holds. Increasingly powerful telescopes and interplanetary spacecraft have revealed that there are many of the moons in the solar system and they are far stranger than anyone could have imagined.
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- 2791 - MOON - measuring the distance? - The distance to the Moon is 240,000 miles. I learned that in High School. Today the average distance is measured to be 238,856 miles. Actually that distance can be measured to within less than an inch.
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- 2752 - MOON - mining the Moon? Forty-five years have passed since humans last set foot on an extraterrestrial body. Now, the moon is back at the center of efforts not only to explore space, but to create a permanent, independent space-faring society.
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- 2450 - MOON - new analysis 50 years later. The Apollo missions brought back 200 pounds of rocks and soil samples. Half of these samples were locked in a vacuumed safe to be analyzed 50 years later with more advanced scientific instruments. New sample testing inspired these new theories about the formation of the Moon.
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- 2241 - Some Moon eclipse party trivia. Happened December 20 , 2019.
- 1902 - The Moon and angular momentum.
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- 1901 - Other moons around the planets.
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- 1900 - Moons in our Solar System. Totals 161.
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- 1704 - There are two sides to get a Full Moon. The size of the Moon is 27% the size of the Earth. However, the Moon is only 1.2% the mass of the Earth. To get a rocket to leave the Moon it needs to accelerate to only 5,400 miles per hour.
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- 1681 - Enceladus and Europa might support life? We have 173 moons orbiting our 8 planets. Over 150 asteroids also have orbiting satellites.
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- 1678 - Moon history from the beginning. The Moon has almost no atmosphere. You can count catering yourself on website “NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter” www.moonzoo.org The Moon is 250,000 miles away but these images are from only 400 miles away.
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- 1450 - Full Moon on Doug’s birthday.
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- 1291 - Two Moons over Miami. The early Universe was a chaotic place.
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- 1243 - What is behind the Man in the Moon? As the Moon cooled it preserved some water in the form of hydroxyl. The Moon is spiraling away in its orbit 1.5 inches each year.
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- 1651 - Moon may be the best habitats for life.
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- 64 - 424 - What you did not know about our Moon.
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- May 21, 2021 WATER - water everywhere? 3165
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