Scientists have finally uncovered the source of water on Moon that formed ice on its surface

The search for life on other planets has been a part of space exploration ever since human beings ventured into the cosmos beyond the horizon, and now meteorites and the Moon are also being explored for resources. The presence of icy structures on the moon is not a secret, but now scientists have finally unlocked the mysterious origins of water found on the Moon. According to a study published in the scientific journal Nature Astronomy, researchers have claimed that the electrons from Earth and the Sun are playing a major role in creating frozen water on the Moon's surface even in areas that are not in the path of solar winds.

The study explains that when the natural satellite orbits our planet, it passes through something called a magnetotail. The magnetotail is described as "a long tail of charged particles that our planet leaves behind as it travels through space." "This provides a natural laboratory for studying the formation processes of lunar surface water," planetary scientist, Shuai Li from the University of Hawaii stated. When the electrons in the magnetotail come in contact with the lunar surface, it results in the formation of water in frozen form.

"When the Moon is outside of the magnetotail, the lunar surface is bombarded with solar wind," Li added. "Inside the magnetotail, there are almost no solar wind protons, and water formation was expected to drop to nearly zero." The reason why water continues to form on the Moon is because of the high-energy electrons that react with the soil on the Moon's surface, releasing trapped hydrogen and eventually forming water that freezes over. Li, who is the author of this study, believes that this discovery can help researchers understand the formation of water on the Moon in a better way and aid future missions of man to the Moon and other planets.

On the other hand, NASA mentions that the lunar surface is 100 times drier than the Sahara desert. In 2009, the Indian Space Research Organization’s Chandrayaan-1 and NASA’s collaborative Cassini and Deep Impact missions first found signs of hydrated minerals present on the Moon in the form of oxygen and hydrogen molecules. However, experts could not differentiate whether they were looking at hydration by hydroxyl or water. The SOFIA mission carried out by NASA in 2020 confirmed the existence of water in the area of the lunar surface that receives direct sunlight. The mission deduced that the water molecules remain stuck to the dust found on the lunar surface.

NASA went on to release the first detailed map of the water distribution on the Moon in 2023. They collected the data from the SOFIA mission and created a map that extends to the south pole of the Moon. The southern part of the Moon will soon become a region for NASA's Artemis mission and will deploy a rover called VIPER to hunt for water on the surface. "It is very likely that water exists on the moon, but it contains contaminants," the Canadian Space Agency wrote in a statement after a NASA spacecraft, LCROSS, deliberately crashed into the icy south polar region of the moon on October 9, 2009. "Lunar purification of in-situ water has never been demonstrated successfully on the lunar surface, and there are multiple challenges that exist in a space-based environment," CSA officials stated.