Large amounts of water may have formed on the Moon  

With the help of the Sun

We know that the Moon has water, but the question remains how it got there, where it is stored and how it is transported. A new study by researchers from China has identified tiny glassy “beads” that may contain water. In fact, according to calculations, a huge amount of water can be hidden in these beads, reaching 270 trillion liters.

The new findings come thanks to samples brought back to Earth by the Chang’e 5 mission, which collected them from the lunar surface in 2020. These tiny beads usually form as chunks of space rock collide with the lunar surface, vaporizing minerals that they cool into glassy particles just a few tens of micrometers in diameter.

Recent studies show that a significant percentage of the Moon’s water is produced with the help of the solar wind, as hydrogen ions from solar particles bind with oxygen and are stored in the lunar soil. These glass beads seem to play an important role in the lunar water cycle. As some of this water is lost to space, it is replenished by the water contained in the beads. Each bead can store up to 2,000 micrograms of water for every gram of its mass, accumulating significant amounts of water in just a few years.

Scientists believe that bodies without air, such as the Moon, can store water in their surface layers in the same way.

These findings indicate that these beads on the surface of the Moon and other airless bodies in the Solar System are capable of storing water from the solar wind and releasing it into space.

The research was published in Nature Geoscience .