PIA12236: How to Find Water on the Moon
 Target Name:  Moon
 Is a satellite of:  Earth
 Product Size:  910 x 521 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  JPL
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA12236.tif (1.424 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA12236.jpg (67.3 kB)

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Original Caption Released with Image:

These graphs show detailed measurements of light as a function of color or wavelength. The data, called spectra, are used to identify minerals and molecules. On the left are spectra of lunar rocks, minerals and soil returned to Earth by NASA's Apollo missions, taken in the visible to shorter wavelength infrared range. The blue bar shows where a dip in the light is expected due to the presence of water and hydroxyl molecules. To the right are model spectra for pure water (H2O) and hydroxyl (OH-).

Image Credit:
ISRO/NASA/JPL-Caltech/Brown Univ.

Image Addition Date:
2009-09-24