NASA's SOFIA Discovers Water on the Sunlit Surface of the Moon

摘要

NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) has confirmed, for the first time, water on the sunlit surface of the Moon. SOFIA has detected water molecules (H2O) in Clavius Crater in the Moon's southern hemisphere, one of the largest craters visible from Earth. Previous observations of the Moon's surface detected some form of hydrogen, but were unable to distinguish between water and its close chemical relative, hydroxyl (OH). This discovery indicates that water may be distributed across the lunar surface, and not limited to cold, shadowed places.