Nasa's SOFIA finds water on sunlit surface of Moon

Nasa’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) – a telescope operating from an aircraft - has confirmed, for the first time, water on the sunlit surface of the Moon. This discovery indicates that water may be distributed across the lunar surface, and not limited to cold, shadowed places, Nasa revealed today.SOFIA, a joint project of Nasa and the German Aerospace Centre. has detected water molecules (H2O) in Clavius Crater, one of the largest craters visible from Earth, located in the Moon’s southern hemisphere, the US space agency said. While previous observations of the Moon’s surface had detected some form of hydrogen, Nasa said, they were unable to distinguish between water and its close chemical relative, hydroxyl (OH). Data from this location reveal water in concentrations of 100 to 412 parts per million – roughly equivalent to a 12-ounce bottle of water – trapped in a cubic meter of soil spread across the lunar surface. The results are published in the latest issue of Nature Astronomy.“We had indications that H2O – the familiar water we know – might be present on the sunlit side of the Moon,” said Paul Hertz, director of the Astrophysics Division in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Now we know it is there. This discovery challenges our understanding of the lunar surface...

Read More........→October 30, 2020

A New Way To See The High-Energy Sky

Credit: HAWC Collaboration University of Maryland (UMD) physicists pioneered development of observatory that has located new high-energy sources in the universe and provided more detail on known sources in first year of full operation. HAWC observations show that a previously known gamma ray source in the Milky Way galaxy, TeV J1930+188, which is probably due to a pulsar wind nebula, is far more complicated than originally thought. Where researchers previously identified a single gamma ray source, HAWC identified several hot spots. The United States and Mexico constructed the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Gamma-ray Observatory to observe some of the most energetic phenomena in the known universe--the aftermath when massive stars die, glowing clouds of electrons around rapidly spinning neutron stars, and supermassive black holes devouring matter and spitting out powerful jets of particles. These violent explosions produce high-energy gamma rays and cosmic rays, which can travel large distances--making it possible to see objects and events far outside our own galaxy. Today, scientists operating HAWC released a new survey of the sky made from the highest energy gamma rays ever observed. The new sky map, which uses data collected since the observatory began running at full capacity last March, offers a deeper understanding...

Read More........→April 25, 2016