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Solar Winds Create Water on the Moon and other non-atmospheric bodies - Is this why COMETS are Icy???
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This is just crazy cool. Solar winds produces water on airless bodies, in other words, celestial bodies without atmospheres. So, this would include planets like Mercury, as well as some of the larger asteroids. They discovered this while researching how water was on the moon. It was thought that only comets were responsible for water being found on places like the moon. But it's the SUN as well!
University of Tennessee study confirms solar wind as source for moon water
Three years ago University of Tennessee, Knoxville, researchers helped to discover water on the surface of the moon. Now, they are piecing together the origin of that water: solar wind. A new study confirms solar wind as a source for water embedded in the lunar surface...
... This year, Yang Liu, research assistant professor, and Taylor have confirmed solar wind as the source for water on the outside-by depositing positively charged hydrogen atoms, or protons, onto its surface, allowing it to combine with the moon's oxygen to create water.
"When those protons hit the lunar surface with enough force, they break apart oxygen bonds in soil materials to join together and form water," said Liu...
... The researchers discovered that most of the water in the agglutinates came from solar wind. Confirming the solar-wind- induced hydroxyl emphasizes the possibility of finding water on the surface of other similar airless bodies.
"This means water likely exists on Mercury and on the asteroids such as Vesta or Eros further within our solar system," said Liu.
"These planetary bodies have very different environments, but all have potential to produce water. The finding also implies solar-wind contributes to water ice in lunar poles."
[link to www.space-travel.com]
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