Frozen water discovered on the surface of the Moon

Scientists have found the final evidence that confirms the presence of frozen water on the surface of the Moon, BBC reports.

Ice deposits have been found on the north and south poles of the Moon and are likely of ancient origin.

India's Chandrayaan-1 moon mission, whose instruments explored the moon between 2008 and 2009, is credited with the discovery.

The results of the mission were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

The distribution of ice deposits is uneven. At the South Pole, most of the ice is concentrated in craters, while at the North the ice is rarer and more widespread, writes Hina.

The Indian mission used the M3 mineral mapping device and identified three features of ice on the moon's surface.

M3 not only recorded the reflection of the ice, but directly measured the way the ice molecules absorb infrared light. This means that differences between aggregate states can be noted.

Temperatures on the Moon during the day can reach 100 degrees Celsius, which is why the conditions for surface ice on the Moon are not favorable.

However, the tilt of the Moon's axis is 1.54 degrees, so there are places without daylight at the Moon's poles.

Scientists estimate that the temperature in the permanently shaded craters at the Moon's poles does not exceed -157 degrees Celsius, which leads to the formation of permanent ice deposits over longer periods.

The mission's results support earlier indirect detections of surface ice on the Moon's south pole. However, those results did not necessarily prove the presence of ice.

If there is enough ice on the surface, in the first few millimeters, water could be available as a resource for future human missions to the Moon.

Surface ice has also been found on other bodies in the solar system, at the north pole of Mercury and on the dwarf planet Ceres, according to the BBC.