High energy electrons from Earth’s magnetotail may be forming water on the Moon

Claim of US scientist from remote sensing data of Mineralogy Mapper onboarded onto India’s Chandrayaan 1

Moon (Credits : NASA)

Washington (USA) – According to research led by a University of Hawaii scientist Shuai Li, high energy electrons in Earth’s plasma sheet (an area of trapped charged particles within the magnetosphere, an area of space around Earth controlled by the planet’s magnetic field) are contributing to weathering processes on the Moon’s surface. The electrons may have aided the formation of water on the Moon’s surface. The study was published in Nature Astronomy. Li and co-authors concluded the above by analysing the remote sensing data collected by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper instrument from India’s Chandrayaan-1 mission.

Magnetosphere and Plasma sheet (Credits : NASA/Goddard/Aaron Kaase)

1. The scientist claims, “When the Moon is outside of the magnetotail, the lunar surface is bombarded with solar wind. Inside the magnetotail, there are almost no solar wind protons and water formation was expected to drop to nearly zero. The remote sensing observations showed that the water formation in Earth’s magnetotail is almost identical to the time when the Moon was outside of the Earth’s magnetotail. This indicates that, in the magnetotail, there may be additional formation processes or new sources of water not directly associated with the implantation of solar wind protons. In particular, radiation from high energy electrons exhibits similar effects as solar wind protons.”

(Credits : The Indian Express)

2. The Moon has 14 days of night and 14 days of sunlight. When there is no sunlight, the solar wind bombards high-energy electrons and ions. It is claimed that water was created during this period.

Water on the lunar surface: nearside (left) and farside (right). (Credit : Li, et al)

3. In 2008, Chandrayaan-1 was launched. The information sent by this spacecraft proved that there is ice on the Moon. The Moon’s south polar region, with no sunlight reaching it, could have temperatures as low as minus 200 degrees Celsius, suggesting the existence of water in the form of ice, scientists speculated. After that, ‘Chandrayaan-3’ was sent to search for water there.

Editorial Viewpoint

Earth’s atmosphere undergoes micro-level changes during the full and new Moon. According to Sages, it also affects the human mind. Now, scientists should also do thorough research into this.