Chandrayaan-2 detected large amounts of sodium on the Moon for first time

Bengaluru: The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)’s Chandrayaan-2 orbiter X-ray spectrometer ‘CLASS’ has detected large amounts of sodium on the Moon for the first time.

This success of Chandrayaan has opened the way for the possibility of finding out the amount of sodium on the moon. A recent article published in ‘The Astrophysical Journal Letters states that Chandrayaan-2 detected large amounts of sodium on the Moon for the first time using CLASS (Chandrayaan-2 Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer).

According to a PTI report, ISRO said that ISRO’s UR Rao Satellite Center in Bengaluru has provided clear evidence of sodium on the moon. The research suggests that the signs of sodium on the Moon may also come from a thin layer of sodium atoms, which are weakly associated with the particles of the Moon. If the sodium particles were part of the minerals found on the Moon, these sodium atoms could be more easily removed from the surface by solar wind or ultraviolet radiation.

ISRO’s statement said that there is also a daily variation in sodium on the moon’s surface, which may help understand the phenomenon of a continuous supply of sodium atoms to the ecosphere. The presence of sodium in the light atmosphere of the Moon is one such interesting aspect that increases interest in this alkaline element. It is a region that is so light that atoms are rarely found there. This region, called the ‘exosphere’, begins at the surface of the Moon and extends for several thousand kilometers.

ISRO said that the information received from Chandrayaan-2 provides a new opportunity to research the interaction between the surface of the Moon and its ecosphere. This will help in the development of similar models for Mercury and other airless planets in our solar system.