- Original Caption Released with Image:
-
Many small, fresh craters bear signatures of water and hydroxyl, which are
detected as absorptions of infrared light in the range of 3 micrometers by
NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper. Figure A, on the left, shows feldspar-rich
terrain on the side of the moon facing away from Earth. The arrows point
to the location of small, fresh craters. Figure B, on the right, indicates
the reflectance as a function of wavelength for craters in Figure A. The
water and hydroxyl signature in these regions is seen as a characteristic
dip in reflectance in the infrared light near the 3-micrometer range, a
region noted with a light-blue band. The dashed line shows background soil
that doesn’t contain significant water or hydroxyl.
- Image Credit:
-
ISRO/NASA/JPL-Caltech/Brown Univ.
Image Addition Date:
-
2009-09-24
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