Temperature, Reflectance Point to Frost near the Moon's Poles

  • Released Wednesday, May 31st, 2017
  • Updated Wednesday, November 15th, 2023 at 12:10AM
  • ID: 4574

A view of the south pole of the Moon showing where reflectance and temperature data indicate the possible presence of surface water ice. Includes music and narration. Music by Killer Tracks: Full Charge - Zubin Thakkar.

Scientists studying data from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) have found evidence of surface frost near the poles on the Moon. Elizabeth Fisher, Paul Lucey, and their colleagues combined temperature data from LRO's Diviner instrument with reflectance from its laser altimeter (LOLA) to find places that are cold enough and shiny enough to indicate the possible presence of surface water ice. Their results appear in the August, 2017 issue of the journal Icarus.

A view of the south pole of the Moon showing where reflectance and temperature data indicate the possible presence of surface water ice. This is the source visualization, without titles or sound.

For More Information

See NASA Orbiter Finds New Evidence of Frost on Moon's Surface

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NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

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Papers used in this visualization

Evidence for surface water ice in the lunar polar regions using reflectance measurements from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter and temperature measurements from the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment, Icarus 292 (August 2017), 74-85

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