News Astronomy A damp moon: Water found inside and out Spacecraft reveal higher than expected abundances of the liquid on the lunar surface and in volcanic rocks Share this:EmailFacebookTwitterPinterestPocketRedditPrint By Ron Cowen September 23, 2009 at 8:06 pm GO WITH THE FLOW This illustration shows one scenario to account for the newly discovered water on the moon’s surface. When a stream of hydrogen ions carried from the sun (extreme right) by the solar wind hits the moon (extreme left), it may liberate oxygen from lunar material to form water. At high temperatures (red-yellow), most of the newly formed water is released into space but at lower temperatures (green-blue) water accumulates on the surface. This scenario doesn’t address the other new finding of water below the moon’s surface. F. Merlin/Unversity of Maryland, McREL Scientists’ understanding of the moon could be all wet. Its surface is surprisingly dewy and its interior contains more water than previous analyses of moon rocks have indicated, according to new studies. More Stories from Science News on Astronomy Space Meet Porphyrion, the largest pair of black hole jets ever seen By Lisa GrossmanSeptember 18, 2024 Space How a dying star is similar to a lava lamp By Lisa GrossmanSeptember 16, 2024 Space The historic ‘Wow!’ signal may finally have a source. Sorry, it’s not aliens By Lisa GrossmanAugust 21, 2024 Astronomy The nearest midsized black hole might instead be a horde of lightweights By Ken CroswellAugust 20, 2024 Astronomy A distant quasar may be zapping all galaxies around itself By Ken CroswellAugust 16, 2024 Astronomy Some meteors leave trails lasting up to an hour. Now we may know why By Lisa GrossmanAugust 8, 2024 Astronomy The North Star is much heavier than previously thought By Ken CroswellJuly 25, 2024 Astronomy A middleweight black hole has been spotted for the first time in our galaxy By Lisa GrossmanJuly 10, 2024