{"id":1723,"date":"2018-04-03T16:05:37","date_gmt":"2018-04-03T16:05:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.nau.edu\/widespread-presence-water-moon\/"},"modified":"2021-11-10T10:49:35","modified_gmt":"2021-11-10T17:49:35","slug":"nau-planetary-scientists-study-suggests-widespread-presence-of-water-on-the-moon-nau-news-nau-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/department-astronomy-planetary-science\/nau-planetary-scientists-study-suggests-widespread-presence-of-water-on-the-moon-nau-news-nau-news\/","title":{"rendered":"NAU planetary scientist\u2019s study suggests widespread presence of water on the Moon – NAU News : NAU News"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By Kerry Bennett
\n<\/strong>Office of the Vice President for Research<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

NAU assistant professor of planetary science Christopher Edwards<\/strong><\/a> co-authored a paper recently published in Nature Geoscience<\/em><\/a> that has generated interest among scientists in the field as well as in mainstream science news, such as Science Daily<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The researchers analyzed remote-sensing data from two lunar missions and concluded that water appears to be evenly spread across the surface of the moon, not confined to a particular region or type of terrain as previously thought. Although the water is not believed to be readily accessible, the findings of this study could help researchers understand the origin of the moon\u2019s water and determine its feasibility as a future resource for space exploration.<\/p>\n

Edwards collaborated on the study, \u201cWidespread distribution of OH\/H2<\/sub>O on the lunar surface inferred from spectral data,\u201d with scientists from NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Johns Hopkins University\u2019s Applied Physics Laboratory, as well as with lead scientist Joshua Bandfield of the Space Science Institute. The study described in the paper builds on work funded through a grant awarded to Edwards by NASA and sponsored by the Space Science Institute.<\/p>\n

\u201cJosh Bandfield and I are longtime collaborators,\u201d Edwards said. \u201cIn fact, he is one of my oldest collaborators and was the lead author on the first paper I ever participated on when I was just an undergraduate. Josh and I have continued to work on similar problems, instruments and generally have the same approach to scientific problems so we work well together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edwards explains how he and his collaborators used improved technology to reach their novel conclusions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe study uses multiple datasets\u2014topography and temperature\u2014to better correct the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) spectral dataset,\u201d he said. \u201cThis improved correction has led to much better constraints on the availability of H2<\/sub>O (water) and OH (hydroxyl, a more reactive form of water) on the moon.\u201d<\/p>\n

He admits he was surprised by the study\u2019s conclusions.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest, I was a little surprised at the beginning, but by the time we had finished the paper I was completely sold,\u201d Edwards said. \u201cThis work has been a long time coming. Josh, I and others submitted abstracts on this topic to the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference<\/a> over the past couple of years.\u201d<\/p>\n

As part of the ongoing project, Edwards plans to bring on a new student next year who will continue to refine this technique and look at the variety of lunar terrains to help understand how this new correction helps with the interpretation of the history of lunar volatiles.<\/p>\n

All planetary bodies are \u201cfair game\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although Edwards may be better known for his work studying Mars, he considers looking at other planetary bodies to be part of the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a planetary scientist, all objects in the solar system are fair game, including Earth,\u201d he said. \u201cIn general, I spend my time thinking about the ancient environments of Mars, but in reality, I use the same techniques developed for Mars on other planetary bodies. While the questions are somewhat different, they all still play on the same theme: what do the observations we make today tell us about how a planet or moon evolved, and what it was like in the past?\u201d<\/p>\n

Edwards\u2019 research focuses on the composition, physical properties and processes and morphology of planetary surfaces, with an emphasis on rocky bodies including Mars and the Earth. A major element of his research has been the design and development of infrared remote sensing instruments for use in space, the laboratory and for fieldwork. His research uses infrared spectroscopy, radiometry, laboratory spectroscopic measurements, geologic field observations and numerical modeling.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source: NAU planetary scientist\u2019s study suggests widespread presence of water on the Moon \u2013 NAU News : NAU News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Kerry Bennett Office of the Vice President for Research NAU assistant professor of planetary science Christopher Edwards co-authored a paper recently published in Nature Geoscience that has generated interest among scientists in the field as well as in mainstream science news, such as Science Daily. The researchers analyzed remote-sensing data from two lunar missions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":1724,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[187],"tags":[178],"class_list":["post-1723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-astronomy-and-planetary-science","tag-viabookmarklet"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/department-astronomy-planetary-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/department-astronomy-planetary-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/department-astronomy-planetary-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/department-astronomy-planetary-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/department-astronomy-planetary-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1723"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/department-astronomy-planetary-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1723\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4326,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/department-astronomy-planetary-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1723\/revisions\/4326"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/department-astronomy-planetary-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/department-astronomy-planetary-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/department-astronomy-planetary-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/department-astronomy-planetary-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}