Water Detected on Asteroids Iris and Massalia; Spectral Lines Consistent With Findings on Moon
Asteroids also contain water. For the first time, astronomers could find evidence that space rocks have water, too.
Water Detected in Asteroids For the First Time
Various objects, including comets, asteroids, and planets and moons, make up our solar system. An estimated one million asteroids are believed to orbit around the Sun and any water that may have been on them long since evaporated.
However, a new study using data from the SOFIA infrared telescope found out that there was water on the asteroids Iris and Massalia. The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) telescope retired in 2022.
Iris is more significant than 99 percent of the approximately million asteroids, with a diameter of 199 km (124 miles). It takes 3.7 years for one orbit to complete, circling the Sun at an average distance of 2.39 astronomical units within the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Meanwhile, Massalia is about the same size but smaller. It has a diameter of 135 kilometers and a similar orbit to it.
The composition and structure of asteroids varies slightly throughout the Solar System. Asteroids with no ice are more numerous and closer to the Sun than those with ice, although icy asteroids are more prevalent farther away.
Understanding the composition and elemental transport in the solar nebula before the formation of planets and asteroids can be achieved by examining the distribution of asteroids.
It will be easier to comprehend water distribution in exoplanetary systems and the possibility of extraterrestrial life if we can also understand how water is distributed within our system.
It identified the presence of water molecules on the surface using its Faint Object InfraRed Camera (FORCAST), comparable to roughly 350 milliliters of water in one cubic meter of soil.
Dr. Anicia Arredondo of the Southwest Research Institute and the paper's lead author verified that the amount and distribution of water on the asteroids matched that of the Moon based on the strength of the spectral lines. It was trapped, bonded to minerals, and taken up by silicates in this place.
Two fainter asteroids, Parthenope and Melpomene, had data analyzed, but the noise prevented a definitive conclusion. If there was a spectral characteristic of water on these asteroids, the FORCAST sensor was not sensitive enough to detect it.
The water distribution throughout the Solar System still needs to be fully understood. Still, in the interim, the team will use the James Webb Space Telescope, which has superior optics and a considerably higher signal-to-noise ratio, to gather further information.
SOFIA Discovers Water on Moon
In 2020, NASA's SOFIA confirmed for the first time that there was water on the sunlit surface of the Moon, suggesting that the presence of water on the lunar surface was not limited to cold and shadowed places.
SOFIA has found water molecules (H2O) in the southern hemisphere of the Moon at the Clavius Crater, one of the biggest craters visible from Earth. Prior studies of the Moon's surface found hydrogen in some form, but they could not differentiate between water and hydroxyl (OH), a near-chemical relative.
Data from this area show that water is trapped in a cubic meter of dirt scattered throughout the lunar surface in concentrations of 100 to 412 parts per million, or about the same as a 12-ounce bottle of water.
In contrast, SOFIA found 100 times more water in the Sahara desert than in the lunar soil. Even though the levels are tiny, the discovery prompts more inquiries about the formation of water and its persistence on the harsh and airless lunar surface.
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