Deep Impact Identifies Water on the Lunar Surface (IMAGE)

University of Maryland

Deep Impact Identifies Water on the Lunar Surface

Caption

Since successfully carrying out its spectacular impact experiment at comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005, the Deep Impact spacecraft has been on an extended mission (EPOXI), which culminates in a flyby of comet Hartley 2 on November 4, 2010. En route to the comet, the Deep Impact spacecraft observed the moon for calibration purposes on several occasions. In June 2009, the northern polar regions were observed and average spectra were collected (blue and cyan). These data unambiguously include the entire OH/H2O absorption feature (hashed regions; 2.7 to 3.6 µm). This water signature varies in strength. In particular, data acquired over the warm equator (purple; Dec 2007) have a distinct but weaker water signature.

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NASA/University of Maryland

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