The Moon is one of the celestial bodies that conquers more admirers throughout the world. Its energy is so enigmatic that every time it appears in the sky, there are many who stop to look at it, as if trying to decipher an enigma. What secrets does this natural satellite hide? Is life possible there?
Is there water on the Moon?
According to experts, the Moon would have been formed at the beginning of the Solar System, due to a collision of a celestial body with the Earth. Due to the impact, certain material was ejected, orbited around the Earth, merged and formed what is now the Moon.
Until now it was believed that it would be impossible to find water there, because the hydrogen that forms part of its composition (H2O) could not have withstood the heat of the impact. But there is increasing evidence suggesting that there would be water on the Moon; either because it somehow managed to survive or because it was introduced after the collision by comets or asteroids, shortly before it completely solidified.
Already in 2008, a research team had detected water in some of the crystalline formations that the Apollo 15 and Apollo 17 missions brought from the Moon to Earth. In turn, in 2011, an investigation into these indicated that they contained water .
On the other hand, an even more recent study, from 2016, published in Nature Geoscience, revealed that many volcanic deposits on the lunar surface contain large amounts of trapped water, in the form of glass beads generated by the explosive eruption of magma from the lunar surface. inside of the moon
These clues were remotely detected by observing the wavelengths of light that are absorbed or reflected by the surface, to learn what minerals and other compounds are there.
In short, everything would suggest that the Moon’s mantle, or some parts of it, could contain as much water as the Earth’s. Would that mean that there could be some form of life there? The questions remain unanswered…