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According to a new analysis of mineralogy maps, water and hydroxyl – another molecule made up of hydrogen and oxygen – can be found in multiple locations across all lunar latitudes and terrains, even where the Sun shines down most powerfully.
"Knowing where water is located not only helps to understand lunar geologic history, but also where astronauts may find water in the future." The researchers used data from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper instrument on the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, which orbited the Moon in 2008 and 2009, collecting spectroscopic images of the Moon. This data recorded the infrared light reflected by the Moon, looking for colors on the spectrum consistent with water and hydroxyl.
The researchers also found that the water signature of pyroxene – a type of igneous rock – changes depending on the angle of the sunlight hitting it. This tidies up a lunar mystery: scientists had observed this changing signature and not known what it meant. It seemed to suggest that water was moving around on the Moon. It still could be, but not as much as the pyroxene signature had seemed to indicate.
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