What is it about?
By measuring the small amounts of water in Moon rocks, we see that much of the Moon's water came from its formation. However, later additions of water were mostly from comets, making this the first time someone has measured cometary water. It's the first measurements of this water, and changes what we know and expect about the Moon's water.
Featured Image
Photo by Luca Calderone on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Water is the most important resource in the solar system, and understanding where it comes from is fundamental to humanity's dreams of living amongst the stars. These are measurements of a key resource, from one of the biggest repositories of water in the solar system (comets)
Perspectives
I'm genuinely excited to show this data to the world. The co-first author, Morgan's work was the first time anyone had measured lunar water, and the data tells us a fascinating story. This is the tale of water, 4.5 billion years in the making.
Dr. Maxwell Marzban Thiemens
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Triple oxygen isotopes of lunar water unveil indigenous and cometary heritage, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, December 2024, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2321069121.
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