Laura is a science news writer, covering a wide variety of subjects, but she is particularly fascinated by all things aquatic, paleontology, nanotechnology, and exploring how science influences daily life. Laura is a proud former resident of the New Jersey shore, a competitive swimmer, and a fierce defender of the Oxford comma.
Scientists have detected water molecules on the surface of an asteroid in space for the first time. The findings reveal new details about how water is distributed in the solar system and are detailed in a study published February 12 in The Planetary Science Journal. Water molecules have been detected in asteroid samples returned to Earth, but this marks the first time that the molecules have been discovered on the surface of an asteroid in space.
Since water is necessary for all life on Earth, pinpointing where water could exist can drive where to look for life in our solar system and even beyond. “We detected a feature that is unambiguously attributed to molecular water on the asteroids Iris and Massalia,” said Arredondo “We based our research on the success of the team that found molecular water on the sunlit surface of the moon. We thought we could use SOFIA to find this spectral signature on other bodies.
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