ISRO’s Chandrayaan-2 orbiter has detected Argon in the equatorial and mid-latitude regions of the Moon. Argon is an inert, colourless and odourless noble gas. It serves as important tracer to study the processes of surface-exosphere interaction. The ‘exosphere’ is the outermost region of the upper atmosphere of a celestial body.
Argon-40 has been detected for the first time by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) using data from the CHACE-2 and LADEE missions. The vast majority of Argon occurs in its isotopic form of Argon-40, resulting from the radioactive disintegration of Potassium-40 (K-40) present below the lunar surface. It diffuses through the inter-granular space and makes its way up to the lunar exosphere through seepages and faults.
Chandrayaan-2’s findings of Ar-40 up to the mid-latitude regions play a significant role in bridging the gap in the knowledge of the element’s presence on the Moon, according to researchers at the University of Bristol. The observations suggest there is a need for improvement in our understanding of the surface-exosphere interactions and source distributions of Ar 40, they say.
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