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科学家发现月球表面显示地下有水的迹象   

(2013-08-30 11:01:32)
标签:

杂谈

分类: 科学与技术
2013.08.28
http://photos.state.gov/libraries/amgov/3234/Week_5/08272013_AP09082905844-300.jpg

在印度太空研究组织的班加罗尔的卫星中心(Satellite Center in Bangalore)展示的印度第一艘无人月球使命的“月球初航一号”太空飞船,摄于2008年9月。


 

 

华盛顿——美国国家航空航天局(NASA)资助的月球研究项目发现的证据表明,有水分被锁在月球表面的矿物质颗粒中,其来源因深藏在地表下层尚不得而知。

科学家们使用安装在印度太空研究组织(Indian Space Research Organization)“月球初航一号”(Chandrayaan-1)上的NASA月球矿物绘图仪(Moon Mineralogy Mapper, M3)从远处在月球表面探测到了岩浆水,或者说是源自月球内部深处的水。

研究结果刊登在8月25日的《自然地球科学》(Nature Geoscience)杂志上,说明首次在环月轨道上探测到这种形态的水。NASA在8月27日的新闻稿中说,先前的研究从“阿波罗计划”(Apollo program)获取的月球样品中显示有岩浆水的存在。多年来研究人员认为,月球上的岩石干燥无比,从“阿波罗计划”样品中探测到的任何水分一定是受地球污染形成的。

月球矿物绘图仪提供了月球赤道附近撞击形成的陨石坑“布里亚尔德斯”(Bullialdus)的图像。该陨石坑的中间高峰由月壳内部深处和地幔形成的某种岩石组成,其形成是因为岩浆被困在地下所致。

马里兰州劳雷尔市(Laurel, Maryland)约翰斯•霍普金斯大学应用物理实验室(Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory)的行星地理学家雷切尔•克里马(Rachel Klima)说:“这种岩石通常处于地表下的深处,它是由形成“布里亚尔德斯”陨石坑的撞击力从月球深处挖掘出来的。“

克里马说:“通过对比周围的环境,我们发现这个陨石坑的中间部分含有大量的羟基——一种由单个氧原子和单个氢原子组成的分子——这就证明这个陨石坑中的岩石含有月球地表下的水。”

在2009年,月球矿物绘图仪提供了第一幅月球表面的矿物学地图,并在月球的两极地区发现了水分子。有人认为,这种水是由于太阳风刮在月球表面时形成的一个薄层。“布里亚尔德斯”陨石坑所处地区的环境不利于太阳风在月球表面产生大量的水。

加利福尼亚州莫菲特菲尔德市(Moffett Field, California)的NASA艾姆斯研究中心(Ames Research Center)主任皮特•沃登(S. Pete Worden)说: “诸如NASA 的‘月球勘探者’(Lunar Prospector)和‘月球陨石坑观察与感测卫星’(Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite)等使命以及像M3这样的仪器,已经收集到了至关重要的数据,从根本上改变了我们对月球表面是否存在水的认知。同样,我们希望即将实施的NASA ‘月球大气和尘埃环境探测者’(Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer)等使命将改变我们对月球天空的理解。” “月球大气和尘埃环境探测者”使命预定9月6日发射。

克里马说:“既然我们探测到了有可能来自月球内部的水,因此能开始将这种水和月球表面的其它特征作比较。这种内部的岩浆水还提供了月球火山过程和内部构成的线索,能够有助于我们回答月球怎样形成,以及岩浆在冷却时岩浆过程如何变化等问题。”



Read more: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/chinese/article/2013/08/20130828281890.html#ixzz2dPxzpuNy

Scientists Spot Water on Moon’s Surface that Hints at Water Below

27 August 2013
http://photos.state.gov/libraries/amgov/3234/Week_5/08272013_AP09082905844-300.jpg

In this September 2008 file photo, the Chandrayaan 1 spacecraft, India's first unmanned mission to the moon, is unveiled at the Indian Space Research Organization's Satellite Center in Bangalore.

 

Washington — NASA-funded lunar research has yielded evidence of water locked in mineral grains on the surface of the moon from an unknown source deep beneath the surface.

Using data from NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) instrument aboard the Indian Space Research Organization’s Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, scientists remotely detected magmatic water, or water that originates from deep within the moon’s interior, on the surface of the moon.

The findings, published August 25 in Nature Geoscience, represent the first detection of this form of water from lunar orbit. Earlier studies had shown the existence of magmatic water in lunar samples returned during the Apollo program, NASA said in an August 27 press release. For many years, researchers believed that the rocks from the moon were bone-dry and any water detected in the Apollo samples had to be contamination from Earth.

M3 imaged the lunar impact crater Bullialdus, which lies near the lunar equator. The central peak of the crater is made up of a type of rock that forms deep within the lunar crust and mantle when magma is trapped underground.

“This rock, which normally resides deep beneath the surface, was excavated from the lunar depths by the impact that formed Bullialdus crater,” said Rachel Klima, a planetary geologist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland.

“Compared to its surroundings, we found that the central portion of this crater contains a significant amount of hydroxyl — a molecule consisting of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom — which is evidence that the rocks in this crater contain water that originated beneath the lunar surface,” Klima said.

In 2009, M3 provided the first mineralogical map of the lunar surface and discovered water molecules in the polar regions of the moon. This water is thought to be a thin layer formed from solar wind hitting the moon’s surface. Bullialdus crater is in a region with an unfavorable environment for solar wind to produce significant amounts of water on the surface.

“NASA missions like Lunar Prospector and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite and instruments like M3 have gathered crucial data that fundamentally changed our understanding of whether water exists on the surface of the moon,” said S. Pete Worden, center director at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. “Similarly, we hope that upcoming NASA missions such as the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, or LADEE, will change our understanding of the lunar sky.” LADEE is scheduled for launch September 6.

“Now that we have detected water that is likely from the interior of the moon, we can start to compare this water with other characteristics of the lunar surface,” Klima said. “This internal magmatic water also provides clues about the moon’s volcanic processes and internal composition, which helps us address questions about how the moon formed, and how magmatic processes changed as it cooled.”



Read more: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/2013/08/20130827281757.html#ixzz2dPyLUt3q

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