Scientists with San Antonio-based Southwest Research Institute made a first-of-its-kind discovery of water molecules on an asteroid's surface.
Scientists looked at four silicate-rich asteroids using a FORCAST infrared camera. It isolated spectral signatures that were indicative of water molecules on two of the asteroids, Iris and Massalia.
The data was retrieved using the retired Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) — a joint project of NASA and the German Space Agency at DLR.
SwRI’s Anicia Arredondo is lead author of a Planetary Science Journal Paper about the discovery.
“Asteroids are leftovers from the planetary formation process, so their compositions vary depending on where they formed in the solar nebula,” Arredondo said in a press release. “Of particular interest is the distribution of water on asteroids, because that can shed light on how water was delivered to Earth.”
Dry silicate asteroids are formed close to the sun, while icy materials combine farther out. Researchers also said the distribution of water on asteroids in our solar system can help detect the same in other solar systems.
This will help drive where to look for potential life in our solar system and beyond.
SOFIA was previously used to detect water molecules in one of the largest craters on the southern hemisphere of the moon.
“Based on the band strength of the spectral features, the abundance of water on the asteroid is consistent with that of the sunlit moon,” Arredondo said.
Scientists detected about an equivalent of a 12-ounce bottle of water trapped in a cubic meter of soil spread across the lunar surface.
Data from the two other asteroids, Parthenope and Melpomene, was too noisy to draw a definitive conclusion.
SwRI said it is enlisting NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to investigate more targets and gain a better understanding of water in our solar system.
